The film is the story of two women with a fascination for magic who meet as they embark on a series of adventures where they encounter a house as they would play the role of a maid in a murder mystery from the past. It is a film that doesn’t have much of a plot as its screenplay is loose in its presentation but also has these layers of stories within a story that includes this murder mystery from the past. The script does feature a lot of literary references in not just some of the works of Henry James but also Lewis Carroll and Marcel Proust in relation to the idea of alternate realities. The film begins with Julie reading a book on magic where she catches Celine running through a park leaving things as Julie would follow her as the two eventually meet and become friends with Celine moving in to Julie’s apartment. Julie is a librarian while Celine is a cabaret performer/magician as the two would know more about each other’s lives but also this home near a house where a childhood neighbor of Julie lived in. There on different days, they would separately encounter this story of two sisters who are in a love triangle with a man as Celine and Julie would play a maid on different occasions where a young girl is murdered.
Jacques Rivette’s direction is largely simple in its presentation as it doesn’t emphasize on anything stylish but rather shoot on actual locations as the film is largely set in Montmartre near Paris. Shot on the 1:37:1 aspect ratio, Rivette uses the format to play into the film’s simple presentation as there are some unique wide shots of the location as well as a few scenes in a room with one of the characters in the foreground and another in the background. There are also some incredible compositions that Rivette uses in the close-ups and medium shots as it play into the way Celine and Julie interact with one another but also in how they try to figure out this murder mystery in this old house where it’s opened at a specific time. There are also these moments in the film where whenever Celine or Julie leave that house. They are disoriented as they would get these flashes of what they had experienced while they would eat a piece of candy later on where they remember what they saw. The scenes inside the house showcase these two women in Camille (Bulle Ogier) and Sophie (Marie-France Pisier) who are sisters who are taking care of their niece Madlyn (Nathalie Asnar) while pursuing her father Olivier (Barbet Schroeder) on Madlyn’s first birthday since the death of her mother.
Rivette’s direction also play into individual pursuits of Celine and Julie with the former being a magician and the latter is a librarian as they would eventually switch roles with the former trying to deal with the latter’s childhood sweetheart and the latter filling in for the former in an audition. It adds to the film’s whimsical tone while also playing into how they uncover the mystery from this candy that they eat as they would take notes on what they remember. The film’s climax is about uncovering what really did happen but also play into this idea of what is real and what is fantasy as it is followed by an aftermath that blur the lines of all of that and more. Overall, Rivette crafts an intoxicating yet exhilarating film about two women who embark on a weird adventure involving a murder mystery from the past and other alternate universes.
Cinematographer Jacques Renard does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as its usage of natural lighting for many of the daytime exteriors as well as the usage of lights for some interior scenes in the day and night. Editor Nicole Lubtchansky does amazing work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump cuts to help blur the ideas of fantasy and reality. Costume designers Jean-Luc Berne, Pierre D’Alby, and Laurent Vicci do fantastic work with the costumes from the more conservative look of Julie to the more hippie-inspired look of Celine as well as the posh clothing of Camille and Sophie. The sound work of Paul Laine is superb for the way sound is presented in its natural setting including some of the music that is played on location. The film’s music by Jean-Marie Senia is wonderful as it is largely a cabaret piano-based piece that is performed for Celine’s stage performance.
The film’s incredible ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from composer Jean-Marie Senia as the piano player Cyrill, Jerome Richard and Michael Graham as a couple of men watching Julie’s audition, Adele Taffetas and Monique Clement as a couple of fellow performer friends of Celine, Anne Zamire as a co-worker of Julie at the library, Jean Douchet as Celine’s boss at the club, Philippe Clevenot as Julie’s childhood sweetheart Guilou, and Marie-Therese Saussere as an old neighbor of Julie in Poupie whom Julie asks about the house next door. Nathalie Asnar is fantastic as the young girl Madlyn who deals with her upcoming birthday but also unaware of the tension surrounding her family with Celine and Julie observing her. Barbet Schroeder is excellent as Madlyn’s father Olivier who is in love triangle with her aunts as he deals with being in love with two women but also trying to seduce the family maid who are played on different occasions by Celine and Julie.
Bulle Ogier and Marie-France Pisier are phenomenal in their respective roles as Camille and Sophie as two sisters who are watching over their niece but also vying for the affection of Olivier with Ogier being more out there as someone who is losing her mind while Pisier plays a woman with an immense fear for flowers. Finally, there’s the duo of Julie Berto and Dominique Labourier in spectacular performances in their respective roles of the titular characters in Celine and Julie. Berto provides a bit of sensuality in her work as a magician but also this exuberance in the way she is introduced into the film while Labourier is more reserved early on while also having a few quirks of her own. Together, the two women display an air of mischievousness in how they plot schemes but also play into the way they react to the other world they’re in as they are a major highlight of the film.
Celine et Julie von ten bateau is a magnificent film from Jacques Rivette that features tremendous leading performances from Julie Berto and Dominique Labourier. Along with its ensemble cast, colorful visuals, whimsical presentation, and its story of two women going into a moment in time that also involve alternate worlds. It is a film that is definitely offbeat in its presentation and premise yet it has a looseness that is engaging to watch as well as what two women would do to uncover this murder mystery but also themselves. In the end, Celine et Julie von ten bateau is an outstanding film from Jacques Rivette.
Jacques Rivette Films: Le Coup du berger - (Paris Belongs to Us) – (The Nun (1966 film)) – (L’amour fou) – (Out 1) – (Duelle) – (Noroit) – (Merry-Go Round (1981 film)) – (Le Pont du Nord) – (Love on the Ground) – (Hurlevent) – (Gang of Four (1989 film)) – (La Belle Noiseuse) – (Joan the Maid) – (Up, Down, Fragile) – (Lumiere and Company-“Une aventure de Ninon”) – (Secret Defense) – (Va savoir) – (The Story of Marie and Julien) – (The Duchess of Langeais) – (Around a Small Mountain)
© thevoid99 2022
Directed by Francois Truffaut and written by Truffaut, Marie-France Pisier, Jean Aurel, and Suzanne Schiffman, L’amour en fuite (Love on the Run) is the fifth and final part of the Antoine Doinel story. The film explores Antoine’s search for love as he has trouble trying to navigate his journey prompting some of his former lovers to help him find his way. With Jean-Pierre Leaud playing his famous character for the final time along with Claude Jade and Marie-France Pisier reprising their roles as Christine and Colette, respectively. Also starring Dorothee and Dani. L’amour en fuite is an extraordinary film from Francois Truffaut.
On the day that Antoine Doinel and Christine Darbon finalize their divorce, Antoine has to take his son Alphonse (Julien Dubois) to the train station so that he can go to camp. This forces Antoine to cancel plans with his current girlfriend Sabine (Dorothee) who is upset by the news as she wants to break-up with Antoine. At the train station, Antoine notices his former girlfriend Colette as he boards her train where the two meet to discuss Antoine’s book and his life. Things start out fine until Antoine nearly causes trouble for Colette as he decides to leave the train. Returning to Paris where he works as a proofreader, Antoine meets a man from his past in Monsieur Lucien (Julien Bertheau) where the two have lunch and talk about Antoine’s mother.
The meeting would have Antoine come face-to-face with his own past as he tries to make amends with Sabine while Colette tries to pursue a bookstore owner named Xavier (Daniel Mesguich). After finding a picture of Sabine in her book that Antoine had accidentally dropped on the train, Colette wants to meet her as she bumps into Christine. The two have a conversation where they devise a plan for Antoine to get his life in order and find happiness.
Throughout the life of Antoine Doinel, here is this man who has been running all of his life trying to find something or someone as he often stumbles around and will often undo something that had been good to him. In this final chapter of the Antoine Doinel story, it is clear that here’s a man who is still immature and unable to come to terms with his own past despite the book that he wrote about himself. At this point, he’s at a crossroads where he just ended his marriage to Christine while his relationship with new girlfriend Sabine is a tumultuous one. An encounter with Colette and later on, her mother’s former lover would eventually force Antoine to look back even more as he would eventually find ways to win the heart of Sabine.
The screenplay is an intricate one as it has a narrative that does move back-and-forth where it incorporates many scenes from the previous films telling Doinel’s life. Particularly as its characters would often reflect on these moments where Doinel is forced to confront his own past including his own troubled relationship with his mother who he hadn’t seen as a child as well as the fact that he never had the moment to mourn her death. His meeting with Monsieur Lucien becomes a turning point in the film’s second act where Antoine is forced to realize why he had so many problems with women as it all relates to his mother. The third act reveals what event eventually broke up Antoine’s marriage to Christine as she reveals it to Colette who also reveals about her own life in a conversation that would lead the two to make some moves for Antoine.
Truffaut’s direction is very stylized in the way he incorporates footage from his previous films to help tell the story of Antoine Doinel and his search for happiness. While a lot of the present-day shots are very straightforward and engaging in the way Truffaut frames a scene. They also say a lot such as the divorce meeting between Antoine and Christine where it flashes back to their life as a married couple where they reflect on good times and bad times. There’s always scenes of Doinel running around Paris or whatever location he’s in as Truffaut captures these moments with a lot of wide shots. He also knows how to match the flashbacks with the present scenes to help tell a story that includes a key moment where Doinel finally comes to the conclusion about what he should do. Overall, Truffaut creates a very witty and fascinating that ends the Antoine Doinel story on a high note.
Cinematographers Nestor Almendros, Florent Bazin, and Emilia Pakull-Latorre do excellent work with the film‘s photography from the exterior locations in Paris to the interiors at the train and at the record store that Sabine works at. Editors Martine Barraque, Jean Gargonne, and Corinne Lapassade do brilliant work with the editing to create unique rhythms for Antoine‘s running scenes while utilizing stylish cuts for the film‘s flashback scenes. Art directors Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko, Pierre Gompertz, and Jean-Louis Poveda do wonderful work with the set pieces such as the press room that Antoine works at to the record store that Sabine works at.
Costume designer Monique Dury does terrific work with the costumes from the more proper dresses that Christine wears to the more stylish look of Colette. The sound work of Michel Laurent is very good for the atmosphere that is set in various locations to the intimacy in the scenes between Antoine and the people he meets. The film’s music by Georges Delerue is a delight to play to the sense of melancholia and humor that is displayed with its quaint, orchestral score. The title track sung by Alain Souchon is a lovely song that plays to the misadventures of love.
The film’s ensemble cast is remarkable for the appearances that are made as it features small performances from Rosy Varte reprising her role as Colette’s mother, Julien Dubois as Alphonse Doinel, Marie Henriau as the divorce judge, Daniel Mesguich as the bookstore owner Xavier, and Julien Bertheau as Antoine’s mother’s former lover Monsieur Lucien. Dani is very good in a small role as Christine’s friend Liliane who would help play a role into Christine’s split with Antoine. Dorothee is wonderful as Antoine’s current girlfriend Sabine who tries to deal with his old life as well as his immaturity as she becomes more unsure about the relationship.
Claude Jade is brilliant as Christine who tries to deal with Antoine’s post-divorce life as well as reflect on her time with Antoine as she later befriends Colette. Marie-France Pisier is great as Colette who meets Antoine after having not seen him for some years as she tries to understand more about him as she also deals with her own issues as she later meets Christine. Finally, there’s Jean-Pierre Leaud in a superb performance as Antoine Doinel as there’s a lot of energy to Leaud’s approach to the character as he’s always running while trying to deal with his own past and failings as a man.
While it is the weakest segment of the Antoine Doinel series, L’amour en fuite is a marvelous film from Francois Truffaut. Thanks to the winning performances of Jean-Pierre Leaud, Marie-France Pisier, and Claude Jade, it’s a film that explores the world of growing up and love in all of its complications. Largely through the eyes of one of cinema’s great unsung heroes in Antoine Doinel. In the end, L’amour en fuite is an excellent film from Francois Truffaut.
Francois Truffaut Films: The 400 Blows - Shoot the Piano Player - Jules & Jim - Antoine and Colette - The Soft Skin - Fahrenheit 451 - The Bride Wore Black - Stolen Kisses - Mississippi Mermaid - The Wild Child - Bed and Board - Two English Girls - Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me - Day for Night - The Story of Adele H. - Small Change - The Man Who Loved Women - The Green Room - The Last Metro - The Woman Next Door - Confidentially Yours
(The Auteurs #40: Francois Truffaut (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2))
© thevoid99 2012
Directed by Francois Truffaut and written by Truffaut, Claude de Givray, and Bernard Revon, Baisers voles (Stolen Kisses) is the story of Antoine Doinel’s life as he becomes part of a private detective agency where he deals with his relationship with a young woman while falling for the wife of a man he‘s investigating. The film is the third part of the Antoine Doinel story as Jean-Pierre Leaud plays the character for the third time in this exploration of love and adulthood. Also starring Claude Jade, Delphine Seyrig, and Michael Lonsdale. Baisers voles is a marvelous yet witty film from Francois Truffaut.
After a dishonorable discharge from the army, Antoine Doinel struggles to return to normal life as he is desperate to find work and re-establish contact with his girlfriend Christine (Claude Jade). With the help of Christine’s father (Daniel Ceccaldi), Antoine gets a job as a concierge at a hotel where things seemed to go well until he lets a couple of men who were trying to break into a room. The incident left Antoine without a job as one of the men he meets in Monsieur Henri (Harry-Max) is a private detective. Antoine gets a job at the private detective agency where he works to tail people and make reports about those he’s investigating. While it does create some problems with his time with Christine, Antoine also has trouble trying to keep up with his work.
When he’s asked to investigate the a shoe sales manager (Michael Lonsdale), Antoine works as a stock boy for the investigation where he meets and falls for the manager’s wife Fabienne (Delphine Seyrig). Antoine tries to deal with his issues with Christine as he’s also being pursued by Fabienne where he goes into conflict over what to do. Eventually, trouble would arrive as Antoine ponders about his own place in the world as well as his feelings for Christine.
When a young man reaches into adulthood as he tries to find out the world of love and identity, it becomes a very confusing place to be in. For Antoine Doinel, it’s much more complicated as he had just find himself ousted from the army for not fitting in. After his post-military life, he deals with trying to find his place in the world as he also wants to pursue a relationship with a young woman he cares about but things aren’t going very well. Once he takes a job as a private detective as he’s investigating a shoe sales manager, he finds himself being attracted to the man’s wife as it creates more complications about his ideas on love and the world in general.
The screenplay explores the world of love and life as it is a film that is part-mystery and part-comedy as it continues Antoine Doinel’s misadventures into the world. The film starts off with Doinel at a military prison where it’s very clear that he seems out of place in that world as once he re-enters society, he has no idea what he’s doing or where he’s going. Even the hookers he encounters just after he leaves the military has him confused by their new rules. His relationship with Christine is a friendly one as they don’t really act upon their romance as she’s always out and he is naïve in trying to push their relationship forward. Upon his time working as a detective where he would meet Fabienne, it would give him a much broader understanding about love while he also goes into his own internal conflicts about his work. Francois Truffaut and his co-writers create a character who is just coming into his own as a young adult as he’s also aware that he still has a lot of growing up to do.
Truffaut’s direction is brilliant for the way he presents the story as he definitely aims for a sense of style as he would shoot scenes on locations in Paris while playing to the crazed world that Antoine is in. Truffaut does create some amazing shots with striking compositions to play out the sense of Antoine’s sense of confusion as well as the world of being a private detective. Even by utilizing hand-held cameras and wide shots to create the sense of mystery as there’s Antoine often tailing someone or a mysterious man (Serge Rousseau) following Christine.
The direction of the film also explores the world of love as Truffaut does create stylish montages to establish Antoine’s naiveté where the film’s second half as a looser feel. Even in a scene where Antoine’s boss (Andre Falcon) is fighting against a client where Antoine tries to intervene leading to all sorts of craziness. Antoine’s moments with Fabienne are tense and calm as it revels in Fabienne’s experience with love as Truffaut always has the camera fixated on Fabienne. The film’s final moments does have some revelations while it also reveals that Antoine has just taken some major steps into the world of adulthood. Overall, Truffaut creates a very compelling film about growing up.
Cinematographer Denys Clerval does excellent work with the film‘s colorful yet vibrant cinematography to capture the beauty of the Parisian locations as well as some of the interiors to display the different worlds that Antoine is encountering. Editor Agnes Guillemot does superb work with the editing by utilizing stylish cuts such as montages and jump-cuts to play with the film‘s rhythm and its structure. Production designer Claude Pignot does terrific work with the set pieces such as the shoe store and the detective agency that Antoine works at.
The sound work of Rene Levert is wonderful for the intimacy that is created in some sparse moments in some of the film‘s locations as well as the raucous world of the agency where there‘s a lot of calls and such. The film’s music by Antoine Duhamel is sublime for its serene and playful orchestral score to capture the energy of Antoine’s misadventures. The film’s soundtrack includes the song Que reste-t-il de nos amour? by Charles Trenent that opens and closes the film as it plays to the world of love.
The film’s ensemble cast is fantastic for the actors that are hired for this film as it features some notable appearances from Serge Rousseau as the mysterious man who follows Christine, Harry-Max as the private detective who shows Antoine the ropes to be one, Andre Falcon as Antoine’s agency boss Monsieur Blady, Catherine Lutz as the private detective Catherine, Michael Lonsdale as the insecure shoe sales manager Georges Tabard, Daniel Ceccaldi and Claire Duhamel as Christine’s parents, Jean-Francois Adam as Albert Tazzi, and Marie-France Pisier as Antoine’s former girlfriend in Colette Tazzi. Delphine Seyrig is amazing as the evocative Fabienne Tabard as she creates a radiant presence that is intoxicating to watch as she tries to seduce Antoine. Claude Jade is wonderful as the more reserved Christine who tries to deal with Antoine’s new life as well as trying to keep him at arm’s length over his attempt to woo her.
Finally, there’s Jean-Pierre Leaud as Antoine Doinel as he makes Doinel a much more confused person in trying to re-establish contact with society and love as there’s also a great sense of humor in Leaud’s performance. Leaud also adds a moment of restraint in the way Doinel tries to come to terms with his choices as he eventually reveals his frustrations about how Christine tries to push him away when all he wants to do is love her.
Baisers voles is a remarkable film from Francois Truffaut that features Jean-Pierre Leaud as Antoine Doinel. Along with amazing supporting work from Claude Jade and Delphine Seyrig, it’s a film that explores the world of early adulthood and the struggle to find an identity in that world. It’s also a film that explores Doinel’s fascination with love as he tries to ponder what to do as a man. In the end, Baisers voles is an extraordinary film from Francois Truffaut.
Francois Truffaut Films: The 400 Blows - Shoot the Piano Player - Jules and Jim - Antoine and Colette - The Soft Skin - Fahrenheit 451 - The Bride Wore Black - Mississippi Mermaid - The Wild Child - Bed and Board - Two English Girls - Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me - Day for Night - The Story of Adele H. - Small Change - The Man Who Loved Women - The Green Room - Love on the Run - The Last Metro - The Woman Next Door - Confidentially Yours
(The Auteurs #40: Francois Truffaut (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2))
© thevoid99 2012
Written and directed by Francois Truffaut, Antoine et Colette is the second part of the Antoine Doinel story as it explores Antoine’s relationship with a young, icy woman named Colette. The short was part of an anthology film Truffaut participated in called Love at Twenty as the short explores the world of young love with Jean-Pierre Leaud reprises the role of Doinel. Also starring Patrick Auffay and Marie-France Pisier. Antoine et Colette is an extraordinary short from Francois Truffaut.
The film is the story of Antoine Doinel pursuing a secondary student named Colette (Marie-France Pisier) as he met at an orchestral concert with his friend Rene (Patrick Auffay). Antoine and Colette become friends as she introduces him to her stepfather (Francois Darbon) and mother (Rosy Varte) as they take him in. Though Antoine enjoys his time with Colette and her family, he wonders why Colette isn’t responding to him as things eventually become complicated. It’s a love story of sorts about a boy trying to win the heart of this girl but for some reason, she doesn’t respond to his attempts to woo her. She thinks he’s a nice guy but the sad part of it is that she just wants to be friends.
What Francois Truffaut creates is a story about a boy who falls in love for the very first time as he also deals with heartbreak as it’s also a coming of age story of sorts. With narration by Henri Serre, the film explores the evolution of Antoine’s relationship with Colette and how it would play into his perspective on love. Truffaut’s direction is very stylish in terms of its compositions from the use of framing montages and shooting on locations to the wide shots he use to capture the scenes in the concert halls and the apartments where Antoine lives across from Colette’s family. Even as he uses flashbacks to help reveal some of Antoine’s past while the narration helps establish what Antoine is dealing with. Overall, Truffaut creates a very captivating film on the world of love.
Cinematographer Raoul Coutard does brilliant work with the black-and-white photography to capture the look of Paris as well as some of the interiors in the locations that Doinel goes to. Editor Claudine Bouche does excellent work with the editing to create an array of stylish cuts to play with the film‘s rhythm. The film’s music by Georges Delerue is wonderful for its serene yet playful score while the rest of the music soundtrack features an array of classical and opera music that helps drive the relationship between Antoine and Colette.
The ensemble cast features an array of terrific appearances from Pierre Schaeffer as himself in the lecture scenes, Francois Darbon and Rosy Varte as Colette’s family, and Patrick Auffay reprising his role as Antoine’s best friend Rene. Marie-France Pisier is great as the ambiguous Colette who treats Antoine very kindly around people but when they’re alone, she’s very cold about him as she is more interested in being a friend. Finally, there’s Jean-Pierre Leaud in an incredible performance as Antoine Doinel as he makes Doinel a more mature, determined figure that is getting his life in control except in the ways of love as Leaud still makes Doinel a young man still trying to find his way around the world.
Antoine et Colette is a marvelous short from Francois Truffaut that features superb performances from Jean-Pierre Leaud and Marie-France Pisier. It is among one of Truffaut’s finest works as well as a great follow-up to The 400 Blows as it continues the story of Antoine Doinel. In the end, Antoine et Colette is a must-see short for fans of the French New Wave and Francois Truffaut.
Francois Truffaut Films: The 400 Blows - Shoot the Piano Player - Jules & Jim - The Soft Skin - Fahrenheit 451 - The Bride Wore Black - Stolen Kisses - Mississippi Mermaid - The Wild Child - Bed and Board - Two English Girls - Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me - Day for Night - The Story of Adele H. - Small Change - The Man Who Loved Women - The Green Room - Love on the Run - The Last Metro - The Woman Next Door - Confidentially Yours
(The Auteurs #40: Francois Truffaut: (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2))
© thevoid99 2012
