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My tribute to Antoine Doinel, a character played by actor Jean-Pierre Léaud in a 5 film series spanning 20 years from his childhood to his adulthood. The initial film and the subsequent series was revolutionary in cinema at the time, and "The 400 Blows"(1959) along with Godard's "Breathless"(1960)were the establishing films of the French New Wave era.
"The 400 Blows" (1959) - Age 14
"Antoine et Collete" (1962) - Age 17
"Stolen Kisses" (1968)- Age 23
"Bed & Board" (1970)- Age 25
"Love on the Run" (1979) - Age 34
Antoine Doinel was played by the same actor over the course of 20 years. As both the character and the actor mature, the films mature as well. We get to see this boys entire growth into adulthood. There are two central themes that surrounds all 5 films. The first theme, Antoine Doinel does not respect any form of authority(couldn't respect his parents as a child). The second theme, he is a hopeless romantic in a world surrounded by cold women whom care nothing for love; only excitement(denied love as a child from his mother). You can see how his life in "The 400 Blows" sets his life path for the next 4 films.
I fell in love with "The 400 Blows" during a cinema course in college. I was glued to the screen after he got into trouble in the first classroom scene. I eerily related to almost every aspect of Antoine's childhood/early teenager life. Stealing, running away, getting kicked out of class, having a troublemaker best friend, forging sick notes, playing at the arcade, disrespecting grownups, parents threatening military school, finding a safe place in art, being afraid to love your mother, overhearing harsh truths from parents arguments, sneaking around beer/cigars, ending up in trouble with the police, and finally running away completely from everything. The ending scene is iconic, and leaves you with an empty, almost sad feeling. It blew my mind that this film was made in 1959 by an independent filmmaker. I never expected to see such a realistic take on themes like personal family relations, marriage/infidelity, the dualistic sexual nature of women, and broken isolated children so early in the history of cinema. Hollywood could never pull this film off back then or even now, they'd sacrifice the purity of the films message in order to entertain ALL demographics and probably keep things "politically correct" to not offend anyone. (destroying the film)These French New Wave films are very deeply rooted in reality and were created during a very "Hollywood" saturated state of cinema, thus giving birth to the French New Wave era.
French New Wave directors direct their films with an intent to ride off on the audiences expectations. This was their fight against the mainstream "Hollywood" cinema of the time. Some key characteristics of French New Wave are:
- Filmed on location; like streets, houses, alleys (no stages/sets)
- Natural lighting; like street lights or the sun (set lights only when necessary during dark indoors)
- Plot involving real world problems, often of poverty class
- Non-traditional endings (ambiguous, humbling, sad)
- Non-traditional editing techniques (jump cuts)
- Non-traditional protagonist/antagonist dynamic (the "hero" isn't such a great person, just the focus of the story. The "antagonists" could be parents trying to discipline their kids, a teacher doing their job or police just doing their job. Not villainy cops/teachers either, just normal people doing their job)
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