Truffaut. No French in the top 10? Blasphemy, right to a country with such a rich tradition in cinema? I know. I’m actually more bullish on Truffaut than most cinephiles. Playful and largely accessible- he’s very different from like Kubrick, Bergman and Tarkovsky. He arrived on the scene with three big masterpieces, gave us the first masterpiece of the French New Wave (as an important a movement as any in film history), basically invented the freeze frame (from his mentor and hero Hitchcock but it was not alive in 1959), gave us the closest thing to “catcher in the rye” there is on film (and it isn’t even his best film). Sadly, Truffaut never made another masterpiece after his first three films and that’s the blemish—his next highest rated film is Day for Night at #415 but he was very prolific and he did make another 16 archiveable films before his early death at age 52. Over 25 years from The 400 Blows to his death he made 19 archivable films). He will, of course, always be linked to Godard and the way it looks now, historically, he will be second fiddle to most cinema devotees- but not in my book. He’s also a little overshadowed because of the overt influences of Hitchcock and Renoir on his own work (Truffaut was a massive film buff and critic himself).
Best film: Jules and Jim. Although The 400 Blows has grown on me over the years I still think this is clearly his best film and I have it right there with Breathless as the best of the new wave.
total archiveable films: 19
top 100 films: 3 (The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player)
top 500 films: 6 (The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, Shoot the Piano Player, Day for Night, The Wild Child, Two English Girls)
top 100 films of the decade: 6 (The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, Jules and Jim, Day For Night, The Wild Child, Two English Girls
most overrated: The Woman Next Door. Truffaut doesn’t have any really overrated work but TSPDT has this as his 6th best film and I wouldn’t start here. Not in my top 10.
most underrated : Shoot the Piano Player is #73 for me and #378 all-time on TSPDT. This is woefully underrated. It’s an homage to American film noirs and it’s packed with flair and panache. It is gloriously and unapologetically style-over-substance and I adore it for that.
gem I want to spotlight: Day for Night and The Wild Child are two of the more entertaining movies in foreign film history. They are slyly simplistic and straightforward but are quite brilliant and they grow on you days and weeks after watching and upon revisiting. The Wild Child is for everyone and Day for Night is for cinema lovers.
stylistic innovations/traits:
It’s editing with Truffaut so the still-frames are harder to find. He’s a master with freeze frames (2 of the 4-5 best uses of it all-time are by Truffaut) but he’s much more than that. Again, I wish he had continued to be as experimental through the rest of his career but check out Piano Player or Jules and Jim for the full display. He uses cutaways (the mother dropping dead when the gangster swears on her grave in Shoot the Piano Player) and creative transitions for almost every edit.
top 10
- Jules and Jim
- The 400 Blows
- Shoot the Piano Player
- Day For Night
- The Wild Child
- Two English Girls
- The Story of Adele H.
- The Last Metro
- Mississippi Mermaid
- Stolen Kisses
By year and grades
| 1959- The 400 Blows | MP |
| 1960- Shoot the Piano Player | MP |
| 1962- Jules and Jim | MP |
| 1967- Fahrenheit 451 | R |
| 1968- Stolen Kisses | R |
| 1968- The Bride Who Wore Black | R |
| 1969- Mississippi Mermaid | R |
| 1970- Bed and Board | R |
| 1970- Wild Child | MS |
| 1971- Two English Girls | MS |
| 1972- Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me | R |
| 1973- Day for Night | MS |
| 1975- The Story of Adele H | HR |
| 1976- Small Change | |
| 1977- The Man Who Loved Women | R |
| 1978- The Green Room | |
| 1979- Love on the Run | R |
| 1980- The Last Metro | R |
| 1981- The Woman Next Door | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Wild Child (1970)
Notes:
Interesting return to black and white after several films in color
Child running through woods, later given the name Victor
Set late 18th early 19th century
Truffaut playing doctor, he’s solid
10 min dissolve edit
26:45 nice shot of Truffaut and his fellow doctor watching through the window while it rains
29 min process of civilizing the child begins
Truffaut uses a number of Iris shots throughout
37:44 great use of doorway as frame for shot
46:36 again great frame using window
49:25 the score picks up before another iris shot moving 3 months ahead
1:08:33 another iris shot focusing on progress made by Victor
1:10:20 scene lite by candlelight
1:10:36 great shot of moon
1:19:50 great shot of Victor who returns to the woods
A happy ending or sorts that doesn’t feel forced
Thoughts:
Truffaut is back to his favorite subject matter; the development of a child with little direction only here it is far more extreme than the 400 Blows as this kid does not just have bad parents, he was literally living out in the wild by himself
This was my first viewing of this film, and I was quite impressed
While I don’t think he’s amazing Truffaut is certainly a better actor than 90% of other directors who cast themselves in their own movies
This film is an almost documentary level of precision to it, it’s almost like Truffaut is recording an experiment, quite fascinating
Verdict: HR/MS
Bed and Board (1970)
Notes:
More of Antoine Doinel, I could watch this series all day
Antoine is now selling flowers, he has had like 10 different jobs in the series
Antoine has settled in married life with Christine
22:25 zoom in on Antoine lending money, same character asks for more money later
50:22 nice camera movement showing the growing disconnect between Antoine and Christine
Similar to Stolen Kisses, this film is much more weighted toward comedy than The 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette
60 min Antoine reading book about Japanese women while in bed with Christine, the Doinel series is amongst other things a brilliant character study
70 min camera zooms in Christine to ominous music after she reads love notes
Thoughts:
From Roger Ebert’s review “At the end of “The 400 Blows,” we expected, I think, that Antoine would grow up to be an extraordinary human being of some sort, but we were wrong. Truffaut aged him into a pleasant, rather ordinary young man in his early 20s, and now with “Bed and Board,” Antoine has actually become bourgeois”
I posted this on the 1959 page:
“I thought this was interesting mainly because I thought the same thing as Ebert, that Antoine would become as Ebert puts it this “extraordinary human being” which is not to say that his character is disappointing because on the contrary I love the entire Antoine Doinel series not just the 400 Blows although the 400 Blows is undoubtedly the best of the series. But it is true that the Antoine Doinel character turns out to be a pretty typical young French man when after watch the 400 Blows I thought he would end up a politician or big shot businessman or something.”
As said above the Doinel series is amongst other things a brilliant character study, he has a natural tendency for rebellion and struggles with any type of dedication whether its jobs (he’s had like 10 different ones in the series) or a relationship, he needs drama in his life
Verdict: HR
Mississippi Mermaid (1969)
Notes:
Starts with intense almost sinister music with voiceovers pertaining to a dating in the Classified section in a newspaper
7:10 nice composition of boats
15:32 dissolve edit
15:50 camera zoom during wedding vows
17:27 Church bells accentuated
17:47 nice foreshadowing as Belmondo’s Louis and Deneuve’s Julie get married and enter car a black storm cloud lurks above
23:20 another zoom out, this one from Louis and Julie eating in kitchen to wooden trunk in another room
27 idyllic lifestyle living in the country
31:20 brief freeze frame
33:41 Julie’s sister’s face is hologram on letter Julie sends to Louis
37 min Louis realizes he’s been robbed, foreshadowed earlier with focus on wooden trunk, Truffaut doing his inner Hitchcock here
40 min Louis and sister of the real Julie talk to police about the imposter pretending to be Julie
46:40 Belmondo having nightmares a la Vertigo (for the record this scene has nothing on the dream sequence from Vertigo but still there are similarities
54:24 nice composition, Louis tracks down Julie, their faces meet in mirror
1:11:00 nice shots of skyline at night
83 min Belmondo reacts with violence in protecting his con artist wife, safe to say she qualifies as a femme fatale
89 min great crane shot of the city
94 min Louis and Julie/Marion leave cinema showing Johnny Guitar, a film Truffaut and his fellow New Wave brethren greatly admired
Belmondo and female become accomplices on the run, sounds familiar
Belmondo reveals he is aware Julie/Marion is poisoning coffee, yet another Hitchcock reference (in this case Notorious)
Admittingly I did not see that ending happening but I do not mind it
Thoughts:
Different vibe from the prior Truffaut films, definitely a darker tone, more a mystery/thriller than his prior films up to this point in his career (at least the ones I’ve seen as I still need to watch the Bride Wore Black as I could not find it)
Great use of green and red throughout the film, when he tracks down Julie, she is wearing red outfit, again hard not to think of Vertigo, Louis car is red definitely not a coincidence
While Belmondo is solid in this role I much prefer when he plays cocky character like Breathless and Pierrot le Fou
Verdict: HR
Drake,
Do you know where I can find “The Bride who wore Black”?
It’s next on my list of Truffaut films but I’m having trouble tracking it down.
@James Trapp- I am not sure- sorry. I couldn’t find it either here checking my usual resources.
@Drake – no problem, I appreciate the response, I have plenty of other Truffaut films for the study so skipping a few is no big deal.
@James Trapp- sure- eventually they do come back around- at least most of them it seems. I’m hoping to get to four Pasolini films in the next month or so that are now on Criterion streaming that were not around anywhere it seemed late in 2020 when I did my study.
Stolen Kisses (1968)
Notes:
Back to the Antoine Doinel series, always exciting. It has been 6 years since Antoine and Colette.
Starts with shot of Paris including Eiffel Tower
Right from the beginning the tone seems lighter than the 2 previous films
Antoine seems to be continuing his rebellious ways in getting discharged from the Army
19 min Antoine crosses paths with a private detective, very excited for me as I work as a PI, Antoine quickly loses his job at Hotel but gets a new one working as a PI
21 min mark Antoine is following a woman
22:05 interesting frame, not sure of the name of it but I’ve seen it in other Truffaut films in this study
54 min Antoine crosses path with his boss’s wife, it’s pretty clear where this is going
1:05:00 tension brimming with Antoine alone with his boss’s wife, Antoine can’t handle it so he runs away, literally
Great camera work starting around 73 min mark, frenzied movements
Thoughts:
This series has clearly made a significant change in tone, this is lighter and more comedic than the 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette
Watching several of the scenes where Antoine is following someone made me realize the cinematic potential of PI characters since you have potential for great camera movement/tracking shots
This is first film in the series in color although Truffaut does not use it to great effect (an observation not a complaint) like he did in Fahrenheit 451
Jean-Pierre Léaud is so good in this series, he always strikes the right notes and avoids over or under acting, very naturalistic
Verdict: HR
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Notes:
– A series of gorgeous shots in variety of colors, exciting to see Truffaut’s 1st film using color
– The return of Oskar Werner from Jules and Jim, playing firefighter Guy Montag and he is joined by Julie
Christie as the leads
– Starts with raid on house storing variety of books including Don Quixote which I assume is a nod to Jules
and Jim, the raid is carried out in a very methodical way
– 9 min meeting between Werner’s character who plays a firefighter and Julie Christie character, Clarisse
– Julie Christie also plays Guy’s wife, Linda; Linda has long hair which makes it easy to distinguish
– 21 min Montag
– 31:17 nice dissolve edits
– 34:12 the unusual Roeg editing
– 41 min Dystopian atmosphere, police conduct random searches of anyone anywhere at anytime
– Orange, red, and yellow in mise-en-scene
– 51:32 great shot of Guy after admitting to Clarisse that he read a book, great dissolve edits
– 53 min Montag reading books wearing a white robe, 1st time he is shown wearing white rather than
uniform, very next shot he’s wearing all black uniform at work
– 54:40 to 55:10 great series of shots with red in background as crew leaves station
– 65 min woman refuses to leave house filled with books and willingly dies along with books in fire
– 1:08:00 great frame within a frame using bedroom door
– Montag’s dream 73 min to 75 min has some of the best shots of the film, almost Vertigo like
– 81 min score very effective
– 1:32:30 Montag leaves for “final job” according to his superior
– 96 min close ups of books burning
– A sort of upbeat ending as Montag becomes part of a secret society of “books”
– 1:49:00 nice zoom in shot with young kid and old man, circle of life
– 1:50:30 zoom in repeated with change in seasons as it is now snowing, beautiful shots of winter
–
–
–
Thoughts:
– This film has some heavy hitters; aside from Truffaut directing there is Nicolas Roeg who does the
cinematography and the score by the legendary Bernard Herrmann
– Interestingly it was Truffaut’s first color film and only non-French language film
– Great use of color, especially red and orange in the mise-en-scene
– Montag’s dream sequence around 73 min mark is one of the visual highlights, almost Vertigo like
– This film has many strong visuals, quite impressive
– I found the story engaging as well
–
–
– Verdict: HR
The Soft Skin (1964)
Notes:
– 0:40 close up on man and woman holding hands
– This film establishes Pierre an intellectual man who is a writer of literary magazine and is a happily
married family man with young daughter
– 4 min mark has strange music more appropriate for a thriller, a little strange but a minor complaint
– 5:30 dissolve edit Truffaut really loves these
– Pierre crosses paths with attractive air hostess named Nicole during a flight
– 17:10 Pierre meets Nicole for drinks
– 20 min to 22 min strong scene leading to 1st (assumed) sexual encounter with tense music
– 28:22 an Antonioni-esque shot with physical objects or in this case a wall serving as barrier between 2
individuals on opposite sides of the frame
– 38:34 a great dissolve edit
– 43:18 noir like shot at night with dim streetlights
– 56:40 suspenseful moment, environment feels more tense
– 60 to 61 min a series of cuts back and forth demonstrating passage of time
– 1:01:46 great silhouette shot at theatre
– 1:25:25 his wife is suspicious leading to intense fight
– 1:37:45 shot of Pierre and Nicole at dinner, Pierre looks the same as when he was having a beer earlier,
he never is quite satisfied with his situation
– 1:40:29 interesting series of shots on a photo shop receipt that Pierre’s wife finds in coat pocket leading to
pictures of Pierre and Nicole
– 1:42:40 Nicole breaks it off to a stunned Pierre, followed by great overhead shot of Nicole driving off
– 1:51:10 frame within frame
Thoughts:
– I was excited to revisit this one as I had only seen it once
Truffaut’s 4th feature had the unfortunate task of following 3 MP’s and the main character here is much
more of an everyman character a la Hitchcock
The use of planes seems like a sort of motif with Pierre always arriving or leaving between his home with
his wife and various meet up spots with his mistress
The suspense starts to build rapidly in the 2nd half of the film making it more of a thriller
Crazy ending, this was an intense film not everything worked but I thought the suspense was highly
effective
– Verdict: HR
Antoine and Colette (1962)
Notes:
– 3 years after the 400 Blows he have Antoine waking up and smoking a cigarette
– 3:28 Antoine stands on his balcony and narrator catches us up regarding Antoine’s current status as he
works at record store and lives on his own
– 5:40 interesting editing bringing us to flashback from 400 Blows
– 12:20 Antoine and Colette walking together at night
– 13:10 a series of dissolve edits showing Antoine and Colette spending time together
– 17:39 titled angle shot of Antoine knocking on door
– 20:36 classical music playing as Antoine and her parents enter his apartment
– 25 min mark Antoine and Colette see a movie together, the aspect ratio changes
Thoughts:
– This is a fun little, short film about a teenage crush and heartbreak
– I think it works well as a short and am happy it is only that
– I am excited to revisit the rest of the Antoine Doinel series and see Love on the Run (1970) for the 1st
time
– Verdict: R
Jules and Jim (1962)
Notes:
– Off to the races, the opening 10/15 min is insane in its pace
– We have Jules, the shy Austrian and Jim, the more outgoing Frenchman
– 2:44 brilliant shot of stopwatch around a woman’s ankle indicating she is a “professional”
– Jules and Jim embrace Bohemian lifestyle, teaching each other their native languages and translating
poetry
– 9:07 Jules and Jim transfixed on statue that Albert shows them
– 11:18 dissolve edit after showering at boxing gym to the 1st shot of Catherine
– 12:08 frame is black except for shot of Catherine and Jules in top left-hand corner of the frame
– 12:40 “Jim not this one”
– Catherine cheats during race she proposes at 14:34 as she is dressed like a man
– 18:36 great use of cricket sound, reminds me of Italy scene in Godfather 2
– 19 min great score during their journey to the beach
– 20:47 Jim warns Jules that Catherine will never be satisfied by any one man
– 23:56 brilliant composition with Catherine in the middle of a triangle
– 24 to 25 min several freeze frames of Catherine making faces
– 28:08 Catherine leaps into water to protest Jules comments about the play
– 32:50 brilliant dissolve edits from Jules in bed on the phone with Jim to WW1 breaking out with shots of
trench warfare
– 38 min their 3-way friendship resumes after the war, plus Jules and Catherine have daughter
– 46 Jules confesses marital issues to Jim; Catherine hates order
– 48:14 great edit as frame expands from top right corner to full screen
– 56 min reference to Oscar Wilde, Truffaut loved literature
– 59:44 great composition of Jules, Jim, Catherine, and Albert in the house before Albert plays guitar with
Catherine singing
– 64 min mark Jules encourages Jim to pursue Catherine, so Jim won’t view Jules as an “obstacle”
– 67 min haunting score
– 69 min mark outstanding 360 degree shot of the 3 of them and Sabine playing the “Village Idiot” game
– 1:12:02 great overhead shot of train leaving station as Jim leaves for home
– 1:20:25 Sweeping overhead shot
– 1:25:33 a rare close upon the faces of Jules and Catherine
– 1:26:26 great use of earlier morning fog in this composition
– 1:30:20 amazing editing as Jim reads Catherine’s letter while a projection of her face talking is shown
floating through the landscape
– 91 min mark Catherine pulls gun on Jim followed by shot of cloudy day
– 1:41:38 aspect ratio briefly changes as they are in movie theatre watching people burning books (funny
considering that the actor who plays Jules, Oskar Werner, would start in Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 which is
about a society that burns books)
– 1:43:32 “Watch Jules” says Catherine
–
Thoughts:
– The opening 15 minutes is like the opening of Goodfellas or The Magnificent Ambersons, I had to watch
the opening 15 min 3 times just to take notes it mores at breakneck speed here is a good article:
– https://the-take.com/watch/how-does-the-opening-of-ajules-and-jima-define-the-narrative-and-thematic-
tone-of-the-film
– The scene around 38 min when Jim meets backup with Jules and Catherine (who now have daughter)
after the War has a different tone than everything that comes before it; a noticeable shift has occurred
– Catherine is one of the greatest characters in all of Cinema; very complex but also amoral and incredibly
selfish or independent depending on your perspective
– This is a love triangle like no other, Jules and Jim mean more to each other than anything else including
Catherine
– I don’t think I gave enough credit to the brilliance of the score in my previous viewings, it is so crucial to
the changing atmosphere throughout the film
– There is heavy nostalgia in the 2nd half of the film as Jules, Jim, and Catherine attempt to relive those
magical years in the films 1st act
– This film has a magical quality to it that is hard to put in words, it is just so engaging for the entire 1 hr 46
min runtime and really just a perfect film, an all timer
–
– Verdict: Masterpiece (a top 25 film of all time)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Notes:
– Starts off with piano keys moving with opening credits, Truffaut goes with 2.35 to 1, widescreen
– Noir style lighting around 2 min with brother of main character (played by same actor from 400 Blows who
plays Antoine’s father) running in the streets from mobsters
– 5:30 we first see the main character, Charlie Koller in piano bar
– Nice composition at 5:36 making use of widescreen with brothers on opposite sides of frame with neither
looking at the other while they talk
– 8:30 we learn Charlie’s real name is Edward
– 12:43 first time we get internal dialogue from Charlie
– 14 min back and forth close up shots of the faces of Charlie and his manager
– 15 min Charlie walks home with Lena, I love the internal dialogue here as Charlie awkwardly tries to court
Lena and keeps messing up
– 18 min Charlie with the trench coat a la Melville, chain smoking cigarettes
– 21 min John Wayne reference, Truffaut always the cinephile
– 26:00 one of the best shots, its like the Polanski peep hole shot but three consecutive images within the
same frame of Charlie’s boss who gives information to the mobsters in return for money
– 27 min great internal shots of car, places the viewer inside the car
– 31 mark a couple of great dissolve edits taking the narrative to Charlie’s past from a couple of years prior
where it’s clear he’s a much happier person than he is in the present time
– 35:42 great shot with piano taking up most of the frame aside from a small part of the upper right-hand
corner where Charlie is playing the piano, following this are a number of interesting and unconventional
camera angles
– 45:48 tragedy strikes, this is consistent with many American noirs; Charlie is the doomed protagonist
– 47:16 unique camera angle of Charlie playing piano
– 48:00 a series of dissolve edits returns us to the present narrative
– 56:25 the piano has served as Charlie’s escape so far, here he decides to take a stand against his
abusive manager
– 58:48 given Truffaut’s affinity for Hitchcock I imagine this must be a homage to the scissors scene with
Grace Kelly’s character in Dial M for Murder (1954)
– 59:50 great low angle tracking shot
– 1:07:00 great POV shots of car ride to cabin
– 1:15:14 frame within frame as tension mounts
– Starting 1:17:00 last sequence history repeats itself as Charlie loses 2nd girlfriend who dies after he walks
away although here is intended on returning to Lena
– 1:20:10 tragic ending that felt inevitable
– Charlie ends up exacting where he started in the film
–
–
Thoughts:
– Movies don’t get much more fun than this, even though there are
– tragic elements this is a blast to watch
– Charlie is quite a different character than a lot of typical noir leads such as the detective characters played
by Bogart, Charlie is not some smooth talker ladies mans, he’s quite shy with women
– I love the gangster characters here; they are not your usual tough guy intimidating gangsters but rather
incompetent buffoons who make you laugh far more than scare you, they actually reminded me a bit of
Travolta and Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction with their musings on random topics and their general laid-back
approach even if the gangsters in this film are much less competent than the Pulp Fiction hitmen duo
– A clinic in great editing, loved all the dissolves edits especially
– A unique noir for sure as it uses tropes of American gangster films both in terms of style and narrative and
sprinkles onto it the Truffaut touch
– Very lean as it clocks in at just 81 minutes and I loved every minute of it
– Great chemistry between musician Charles Aznavour’s Charlie and Marie Dubois’s Lena
–
– Verdict: an (unfortunately) overlooked Masterpiece
@James Trapp- Happy to see this- great work. What a start to Truffaut’s career!
@Drake – thank you, I have Jules and Jim coming up next, amazing start indeed. For the 400 Blows and Shoot the Piano Player there is a lot of great supplements from the Criterion editions, mainly interviews with Truffuat which have been quite interesting knowing his reputation as a massive Cinephile on par with someone like Tarantino.
@James Trapp- Oh yes for sure- and they made an entire movie about him and Hitchcock and this book is sacred text https://www.amazon.com/Hitchcock-Revised-Francois-Truffaut/dp/0671604295
Also: when Léna rescues Charlie it looks a lot like Grant rescuing Bergman in Notorious.
Going to do a Truffaut study, was going to do this before but decided to do a Jean Pierre Melville study instead.
The 400 Blows (1959)
Notes:
– What an opening scene, we have a shot of Eiffel Tower followed by tracking shot down the streets of Paris until we finally arrive at base of Eiffel Tower. This shot is matched perfectly with the music; a simplistic childlike melody
– 5:20 Antoine singled out as the only kid who doesn’t get recess
– 11 min mark Antoine and his friend leave class
– 12:50 Antoine can be seen in 3 reflections as he sits in a room with multiple mirrors
– 14:25 Antoine’s mother is self-absorbed and pays little attention to him
– 18 min Antoine’s parents constantly arguing
– Movie posters in the background, no surprise given Truffaut’s reputation as a Cinephile
– 23 min the ride, great POV shot while Antoine is spinning around
– 25:12 Antoine catches mother with another man while he plays hooky from school
– 31:13 Antoine overhears mother talking about giving him away
– 36 min Camera glides across classroom after Antoine slapped in front of classmates by his father
– 44 min mother starts to become loving and affectionate toward Antoine for the first time in the film after he spends the night out
– 47 min great overhead tracking shot
– 57:24 camera moves to overhead shot at Antoine’s friend’s house
– 1:00:03 great shots of Paris with Antoine and his friend running down the huge steps
– Great shot at 1:13:43 with Antoine at police station sitting next to his father but on the opposite side of the frame spacing out while his father explains to police that Antoine will not communicate “he’s a thousand miles away”
– 1:16:04 Antoine behind bars in prison cell followed by slow zoom out
– Around 77 min mark some of best camera movement in the film as it glides across the local jail cell finally showing Antoine behind bars all alone around 1:18:00 in one of the best frames of the film, shortly after this there is a great change to POV shot as Antoine is driven away in the back of police van taking him and other people arrested that night to jail
– Around 1:20:12 one of the first dissolve edits
– 1:34:36 Antoine’s mother cruelly disowns him to which Antoine shows no emotion
– 1:35:34 beginning of Antoine running away from the camp with nowhere to go, tremendous tracking shot ending on the shore
– 1:39:47 the famous freeze frame ending
–
–
Thoughts:
– Antoine has little direction at school where his teach insults students and a self-absorbed mother who pays little attention to him, and a weak-willed Father
– The score is used so perfectly throughout the film, I love when it kicks in during Antoine trying to survive the night alone, stealing the milk
– The camera moves so masterfully throughout this film, I really loved the way Truffaut gives us Antoine’s perspective in the scene where his father turns him into the police, and we see Antoine behind bars
– Another great camera movement comes in the final scene where the camera glides across the shoreline showing us that Antoine really has nowhere to go when he reaches the water right before the famous freeze frame
– While you won’t confuse this with Stalker Truffaut holds many shots long enough to absorb us into Antoine’s world
– This clearly has influence from Italian neo-realism with the focus on mundane tasks like Antoine taking out garbage and other chores
– With this most recent viewing I forgot how relatively plotless much of the film is, this is an observation not a criticism, in fact I think it makes the film stronger as it feels more personal than some cookie cutter plot. So much of the film is just Antoine walking around aimlessly trying to make sense of his world. This personal touch is what gives the film so much of its power, it does use cheap sentimentality to manipulate emotions from the viewer
– This just seems to get better with each viewing
–
– Verdict: Masterpiece (a top 25 film of all time)
A few more thoughts…
– There are several scenes that intercut object and subject shots such as the spinning wheel scene where
we see the dizzying effective as well as the excitement from Antoine’s point of view in addition to a 3rd
person POV
– Antoine’s face in the scene where his mother essentially disowns him is similar to his face in the final
freeze frame; not outright happy or sad but more perplexed; this seems appropriate as so much of the film
revolves around Antoine trying to make sense of his world, the therapist scene is interesting because it
allows Antoine to almost speech to the audience in a way as he answers questions that we (the audience)
have been thinking about throughout the film
– While Antoine has relatively bad parents and teachers and little direction, he is not entirely blameless as
he steals, plagiarizes, and lies. Had Truffaut Antoine an angel who goes through a series of terrible
injustices the film would have been much less interesting and powerful. Truffaut shows constraint in
refusing to manipulate the audience by making the film excessively sentimental nor does it try to offer
explanations for his behavior
– There are a number of dissolve edits, this is something I did not remember noticing before, the majority of
them are in the last 30 minutes
– This just seems to get better with each viewing and makes me excited to revisit the rest of the Antoine
Doinel series
James Trapp – Why do you think it’s a top 25 film of all time? Is it just the filmmaking on display? Or do you put a lot of weight on the fact that it essentially started the French New Wave? I don’t think I see enough in it to put it on my top 25, but I’d love to be wrong. Can you help me out here?
@Pedro – Sure, the fact that it is considered by many to have launched the French New Wave (although there is some debate here) is certainly not immaterial but at the same time it is difficult to assess exactly how much I factored that in. With that said I believe the film excels in many ways as I listed above:
the camera work is tremendous, with the opening tracking shot through Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the background is genius, one review I read pointed out that the opening shot POV seems to be similar to a child in the back seat of a car who doesn’t really know where his parents are driving. It so perfectly sets the tone for the film which consists of Antoine trying to make sense of his world and not having any real sense of everything going on around him. In fact, Truffaut inter-cuts between objective and subjective POV shots in certain scenes such as the wheel of death
One of the film’s greatest achievments is in it’s ability to make us (audience) see the world in the way Antoine does. There are a number of pans used to allow us to see things from Antoine’s perspective.
For example, the scenes with Antoine wandering through the city at night, these scenes immerse the audience into Antoine’s world and really much of the film is light on plot but I view this as a huge positive otherwise it would be a conventional coming of age film. It has a documentary like precision to it
The shots of Antoine behind the bars in the jail scene followed by a slow zoom out are tremendous
The final shot, the freeze frame is absolutely brilliant in its refusal of giving the audience closure, the perfect way to end. I love the pan showing the vastness of the ocean right before the freeze
Given that it is a debut from a 27 year old, it is such a confident film, it knows what it wants to be, Truffaut doesn’t compromise his vision with cheap sentamentality or coming of age cliches.
@James Trapp – Perfect. I agree with everything you’ve said, especially about the camera work – there are wonderful pans and tracking shots here that I don’t see a lot of people mentioning -, but I don’t think I should factor in “confidence” when judging a film, and still the filmmaking doesn’t get me to top 25, but maybe that’s just me. I’m thinking: if it were released today, would it be a top 25 film?
@Pedro – I am not saying that I necessarily use “confidence” as part of the criteria for ranking a film per se, but the overall cohesiveness of the film does factor in. Truffaut knows what he wanted from this film and I think that is reflected in the final result.
As far as ranking it if it were released today, I find this a difficult question to answer in general when assessing older films as it can be difficult to But I think The 400 Blows stands the test of time, it is such personal filmaking and I think that resonates across eras. In fact, of all my director studies so far (I am currently doing my 10th study) I found the Truffaut study to probably be the most enjoyable. I am saying that I neccessarily think he’s the best of the directors I have covered as he is very accessible (as noted on this page).
@James Trapp – Thank you, James. You make a good case for the film here.
@Pedro – While I loved both immediately I was definitely more impressed by Jules and Jim on my 1st viewing, the entire film but especially the first 15 min move so quickly in setting up the relationships of the film’s 3 stars. With repeated viewings of both the 400 Blows has slowly crept up on my rankings although if forced to choose I would still pick Jules and Jim.
I believe there are certain films which do not necessarily have a lot of amazing individual scenes but are instead more “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” while other films may be all time greats and also have a lot of great individual scenes. While The 400 Blows has some great scenes I would probably categorize it closer to the “whole is more than the sum of its parts”.
@James Trapp – That’s totally fair. I just have trouble seeing how this sum is top 25 material; here I am deciding if I think it’s a full-on MP or not.
[…] 13. François Truffaut […]
Have you ever seen this Truffaut film?
https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/03/09/truffauts-unjustly-neglected-the-soft-skin-ripe-for-reappraisal/
@Drake – Sweet!
@Drake- Do you plan on doing a Truffaut study?
@Finn – I certainly do- I’m just not sure about the timing. Never seems like enough time for all the great films and filmmakers
Shoot the Piano Player doesn’t get nearly enough credit, it’s a unique genre blend of romance, comedy, and gangster and constantly changes tones. The gangsters in the film are not your usual tough guy gangsters but rather incompetent buffoons that are more comedic than intimidating. Charles Aznavour is perfect as the noir style protagonist with a tragic past. But unlike many typical noir leads he doesn’t exude confidence a la Humfrey Bogart but is shy and nervous around women. I love the internal dialogue in the scene when he walks homes with the Marie Dubois character but is hesitant to make a move. Maybe it’s due to it being sandwiched between the 400 Blows and Jules and Jim (2 of the 40 greatest films of all) but it is an absolute Masterpiece in my book.
@James Trapp- Happy to hear we’re on the same page. I mean I’m always happy to hear it– but its one thing when it is a film as highly regarded as Vertigo or Apocalypse Now or something– and another when it is something that we both agree is underappreciated.
@James Trapp; Yes, agreed on those actors for sure. Funnily enough since Belmondo put the French on my mind and I recently viewed a few of his films Alain Delon was actually one of the actors I considered for Clyde. Would absolutely love to see him directed by Truffaut.
Just watched Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and in reading about it came across an article that Francois Truffaut was asked to direct.
This is of course hypothetical but if he had and knocked it out of the park how would that impact Truffaut’s legacy and ranking?
@James Trapp- interesting hypothetical- so we’re talking about adding another major film (I’d have it as his fourth best- TSPDT would have it as his third)– it would be huge. I’m not sure if it would be enough to crack the top 10 but it’d be close. Also, it would have been interesting as Bonnie and Clyde is part of the start of the The New Hollywood movement in the US– so Truffaut could have started the French New Wave and The New Hollywood movement? haha– hard to top that resume in terms of impact.
After Truffaut left, he gave the project to Godard, saying “he’ll give you [the writers] sort of an American Breathless,” who left himself after his request to shoot the film in New Jersey in winter instead of in Texas in the summer was refused. “I am talking about cinema and you are talking about the weather,” was his response. Really would be interested to see Truffaut’s or Godard’s take on the movie though. Being so major in two huge trans-Atlantic film movements would be a huge feat for either.
Interesting tidbit I forgot to mention: when Truffaut and Godard were in command of the production, Jean-Paul Belmondo was considered for Clyde Barrow. I love Warren Beatty in the role but god Belmondo is so good he might be even better. I’d still go with Beatty because we already have the foreknowledge of how good he is. I also don’t want to change his dynamic with Hackman, since this film was so crucial to his future and I believe it was Beatty that got him the part (though he was also the producer so it might not even matter). Who would you pick, Drake, and anyone else?
@Zane- and @James Trapp– certainly I’m happy we got the film we did with Penn, Beatty and Dunaway– but yeah what a fascinating “what if”
Yeah, it’s so hard with any great movie to have to imagine someone else in the role just because the actual role itself becomes in the words of Cate Blanchett describing Stalker “every single frame of the film is burned into my retina”.
I am definitely grateful we got what we got but of all the actors to play the role of Clyde there probably aren’t many actors who would be more perfect for the role than Belmondo. I imagine Jack Nicholson would be great as would Alain Delon or Paul Newman.
Interesting I didn’t know about Godard potential involvement, it would have made an interesting comparison with Pierrot Le Fou, Godards classic and very bizarre road movie
Scorsese loved this film, it was a big influence on Goodfellas and the Wolf of Wall Street opening 5 mins or so the way he narrated the story and used freeze frames.
It has almost boundless energy, especially the first 20 min or so
Narratively it avoids the common cliches of love triangle movies
Despite the title Catherine is easily the most important and interesting character, your simultaneously captivated and appalled by her behavior
I just watched Jules and Jim finally and I barely even know what to write. I mean holy shit. It had everything. Incredible acting, a compelling story with compelling characters, and the most important element, great directing. I mean we’ve got freeze frames, long takes, camera movement including pans and zooms, dissolve cuts, angled shots, close-ups, far-away shots, blocking, rule of thirds, voice-over, diegetic and non-diegetic sound, and the whole kitchen sink. I can hardly even believe the movie I just watched is real. It was just so utterly mesmerizing.
what are your 10 favorite scenes of all time?
@KidCharlemagne — ok got it. Again thanks for the comment- you equip yourself very well in English actually
Haha sorry for my english. I say that Truffaut deserves his 12th spot (« No frogs in the top 10? »). I agree with the directors you put above him (except Antonioni maybe)
HI @ KidCharlemagne . Thanks for the comments– i don’t fully understand the first one. As for Truffaut– i’m excited to see “the last metro” again- you could be right- it’s been a long time— but for what it’s worth the consensus agrees with me. He has 7 films in the TSPDT top 1000 (they shoot pictures don’t they composite website) and “Metro” isn’t one of them.
I don’t know if this is a blasphemy. Doesn’t seen Tarkovsky & Bergman movies (& still have to finish Ford’s filmography) but for the rest (except Antonioni) really deserves their higher spot.
About Truffaut,i disagree about one movie : Le Dernier Métro. For me it’s at least a MS movie,deserves your 5th spot in your Truffaut ranking.