A little while ago a French television program, At the Movies, featured an excerpt from Stolen Kisses, played by Delphine Seyrig and Jean-Pierre Léaud.
On the following morning I stepped into a café where I had never been before. The owner came up to me, saying: “I recognize you! I saw you on television yesterday!” Obviously, it was not me he had seen, but Jean-Pierre Léaud in the role of Antoine Doinel; however, since I seldom bother to rectify a misunderstanding, I let this go and simply asked him for a strong cup of coffee. When he brought it over, he took a closer look at me and added: “That film must have been made a long time ago. You looked much younger then!”
The reason I mention this incident is that it illustrates fairly well the ambiguity (as well as the ubiquity) of that imaginary personage, Antoine Doinel, who happens to be the synthesis of two real-life people: Jean-Pierre Léaude and myself. – François Truffaut
Directed By: François Truffaut
Written By: François Truffaut from a short story from Maurice Pons
Starring: Gérard Blain, Bernadette Lafont, Michel François, Alain Baldy, Robert Bulle, Henri Demaegdt, Dimitri Moretti, Daniel Ricaulx
Les Films de la Pléiade, Running Time 18 minutes, Not Rated, November 6, 1958
Les Quatre Cent Coups (The 400 Blows)
Directed By: François Truffaut
Written By: Marcel Moussy & François Truffaut
Produced By: Georges Charlot
Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Guy Decomble, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay, Richard Kanayan
Les Films du Carrosse, Running Time 99 minutes, Not Rated, May 4, 1959
Antoine et Colette (Antoine and Colette)
Baisers Volés (Stolen Kisses)
Domicile Conjugal (Bed and Board)
L’Amour en Fuite (Love on the Run)
Works Consulted:
The Adventures of Antoine Doinel Criterion Collection: 2003
Godard, Jean-Luc. Godard on Godard. Trans. & Ed. Tom Milne. Da Capo Press, New York: 1972
Ingram, Robert. François TruffautL Film Author 1932-1984. Ed. Paul Duncan. Taschen, China: 2013.
Truffaut, François. The Films in My Life. Trans: Leonard Mayhew. Simon and Schuster, New York: 1978.
Vincendeau, Ginette. The French New Wave: Critical Landmarks. Ed. Peter Graham. BFI Palgrave Macmillian, London: 2009
Michael J. Cinema 