Stolen Kisses
Encyclopedia
Stolen Kisses is a 1968 French film directed by François Truffaut
. It continues the story of the character Antoine Doinel
, whom Truffaut had previously depicted in The 400 Blows
and the short film Antoine and Colette
. In this film, Antoine begins his relationship with Christine, which is depicted further in Bed & Board and Love on the Run
.
The original French title of the film comes from a line in Charles Trenet
's song "Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" which is also used as the film's signature tune. The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
) seeks out his sweetheart, violinist Christine Darbon (Claude Jade
). He has written to her voluminously (but, she says, not always nicely) while in the military. Their relationship is tentative and unresolved. Christine is away skiing with friends when Antoine arrives, and her parents must entertain him themselves, though glad to see him. After she learns that Antoine has returned from military service, Christine goes to greet him at his new job as a hotel night clerk. It is a promising sign that perhaps this time, the romance will turn out happily for Antoine. He is, however, quickly fired from the hotel job. Counting the army, Antoine loses three jobs in the film, and is clearly destined to lose a fourth, all symbolic of his general difficulty with finding his identity and "fitting in".
Later, Christine attempts to guess Antoine's latest job, amusingly tossing out guesses like sheriff or water taster. Finally, his job as a private detective is revealed. Throughout the film, Antoine works to maintain the job, working a case that requires him to pose as a shoe store stock boy. The job separates Antoine from his relationship with Christine. Soon, he falls for his employer's attractive (and older) wife, who willingly seduces him. He quarrels with Christine, saying he has never "admired" her. Fired from the detective agency, by the film's end, Antoine has become a TV repairman. He still avoids Christine, but she wins him back by deliberately (and simply) disabling her TV, then calling his company for repairs while her parents are away. The company sends Antoine, who is once again bumbling and inept,trying for hours to fix a TV with just one missing tube. Morning finds the two of them in bed together.
The film's final scene shows the newly engaged Antoine and Christine, strolling in the park. A strange man who has trailed Christine for days approaches the couple and declares his love for Christine. He describes his love as "definitive" and unlike the "temporary" love of "temporary people". When he walks away, Christine explains that the man must be mad. Antoine, recognising similarities in much of his own previous behaviour, admits, "He must be".
comments:
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
. It continues the story of the character Antoine Doinel
Antoine Doinel
Antoine Doinel is a fictional character created by French film director François Truffaut. Doinel is to a great extent an alter ego for Truffaut, sharing many of the same childhood experiences, looking somewhat alike and even being mistaken for one another on the street.Although Truffaut did not...
, whom Truffaut had previously depicted in The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows is a 1959 French film directed by François Truffaut. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. The story revolves around Antoine Doinel, an ordinary adolescent in Paris, who is thought by his parents and teachers...
and the short film Antoine and Colette
Antoine and Colette
Antoine and Colette is the second film — a short — in François Truffaut's series about Antoine Doinel, the character he follows from boyhood to adulthood through five films...
. In this film, Antoine begins his relationship with Christine, which is depicted further in Bed & Board and Love on the Run
Love on the Run (1979 film)
Love on the Run is a 1979 French film directed by François Truffaut. It is Truffaut's fifth and final film about the character Antoine Doinel. A lot of the film is made of a "clip show" of the previous films in the series...
.
The original French title of the film comes from a line in Charles Trenet
Charles Trenet
Charles Trenet was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s...
's song "Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" which is also used as the film's signature tune. The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Plot
There are many continuations from "The 400 Blows". Discharged from the army as unfit, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre LéaudJean-Pierre Léaud
-Early years:Born in Paris, Léaud made his major debut as an actor at the age of 14 as Antoine Doinel, a semi-autobiographical character based on the life events of French film director François Truffaut, in The 400 Blows....
) seeks out his sweetheart, violinist Christine Darbon (Claude Jade
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
). He has written to her voluminously (but, she says, not always nicely) while in the military. Their relationship is tentative and unresolved. Christine is away skiing with friends when Antoine arrives, and her parents must entertain him themselves, though glad to see him. After she learns that Antoine has returned from military service, Christine goes to greet him at his new job as a hotel night clerk. It is a promising sign that perhaps this time, the romance will turn out happily for Antoine. He is, however, quickly fired from the hotel job. Counting the army, Antoine loses three jobs in the film, and is clearly destined to lose a fourth, all symbolic of his general difficulty with finding his identity and "fitting in".
Later, Christine attempts to guess Antoine's latest job, amusingly tossing out guesses like sheriff or water taster. Finally, his job as a private detective is revealed. Throughout the film, Antoine works to maintain the job, working a case that requires him to pose as a shoe store stock boy. The job separates Antoine from his relationship with Christine. Soon, he falls for his employer's attractive (and older) wife, who willingly seduces him. He quarrels with Christine, saying he has never "admired" her. Fired from the detective agency, by the film's end, Antoine has become a TV repairman. He still avoids Christine, but she wins him back by deliberately (and simply) disabling her TV, then calling his company for repairs while her parents are away. The company sends Antoine, who is once again bumbling and inept,trying for hours to fix a TV with just one missing tube. Morning finds the two of them in bed together.
The film's final scene shows the newly engaged Antoine and Christine, strolling in the park. A strange man who has trailed Christine for days approaches the couple and declares his love for Christine. He describes his love as "definitive" and unlike the "temporary" love of "temporary people". When he walks away, Christine explains that the man must be mad. Antoine, recognising similarities in much of his own previous behaviour, admits, "He must be".
Cast
- Jean-Pierre LéaudJean-Pierre Léaud-Early years:Born in Paris, Léaud made his major debut as an actor at the age of 14 as Antoine Doinel, a semi-autobiographical character based on the life events of French film director François Truffaut, in The 400 Blows....
as Antoine DoinelAntoine DoinelAntoine Doinel is a fictional character created by French film director François Truffaut. Doinel is to a great extent an alter ego for Truffaut, sharing many of the same childhood experiences, looking somewhat alike and even being mistaken for one another on the street.Although Truffaut did not... - Claude JadeClaude JadeClaude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
as Christine Darbon - Daniel CeccaldiDaniel CeccaldiDaniel Ceccaldi was a French actor.He was born in Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, France. The mild-mannered Daniel Ceccaldi is famous as Claude Jade's father Lucien Darbon in François Truffaut's movies Stolen Kisses and Bed & Board.Note: Christine refers to him twice as "Lucien", not papa, indicating...
as Christine's father - Claire Duhamel as Christine's mother
- Delphine SeyrigDelphine SeyrigDelphine Claire Beltiane Seyrig was a stage and film actress and a film director.-Early life:...
as Fabienne Tabard - Michael LonsdaleMichael LonsdaleMichael Lonsdale , sometimes billed as Michel Lonsdale, is a French actor who has appeared in over 180 films and television shows....
as Georges Tabard - Harry-Max as Monsieur Henri
- André Falcon as Monsieur Blady, Manager of the private detective agency
- Catherine LutzCatherine LutzCatherine Lutz is an anthropologist who is currently Chair of the Anthropology Department at Brown University. She is also a director of the Watson Institute's Costs of War study, an attempt to calculate the financial costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars....
as Catherine - Martine Ferrière as Gérante
- Jacques RispalJacques RispalJacques Rispal was a French film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1952 and 1986.-Selected filmography:* Stolen Kisses * Le Chat * Le Prussien * The Invitation...
as Monsieur Colin - Serge RousseauSerge RousseauSerge Rousseau was a French film and television actor and agent. He was a close friend of François Truffaut. He played the husband of murdered Jeanne Moreau in The Bride Wore Black and the unknown man who declares his love for Claude Jade at the end of Stolen Kisses...
as The unknown man - Paul Pavel as Julien
- François Darbon as Adjudant Picard
- Albert Simono as Albani
Critical response
Stolen Kisses was well-reviewed by critics all over the world. In an enthusiastic article from the New York Times (March 4, 1969) Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
comments:
- With what can only be described as cinematic grace, Truffaut's point of view slips in and out of Antoine so that something that on the surface looks like a conventional movie eventually becomes as fully and carefully populated as a BalzacHonoré de BalzacHonoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
novel. There is not a silly or superfluous incident, character, or camera angle in the movie. Truffaut is the star of the film, always in control, whether the movie is ranging into the area of slapstick, lyrical romance or touching lightly on DeGaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's France (a student demonstration on the TV screen). His love of old movies is reflected in plot devices (overheard conversations), incidental action (two children walking out of the shoe store wearing Laurel and HardyLaurel and HardyLaurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
masks), and in the score, which takes Charles TrenetCharles TrenetCharles Trenet was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s...
's 1943 song, known here as "I Wish You Love," and turns it into a joyous motif.
See also
- List of submissions to the 41st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of French submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
External links
- Stolen Kisses review, New York Times, March 4, 1969
- Criterion Collection essay by Andrew Sarris