A 13-year-old Parisian boy, Antoine Doinel, neglected by his derelict parents, spends his days skipping school and sneaking into lots of movies. His life is on somewhat of a downward spiral as teen angst catches up with him and he begins to be seen as only a trouble maker by the adults in his life. Antoine runs away from home, is a failed thief and suffers through believing he is in the right as he continues to do wrong. Living in between arcades, abandoned factories and Paris flats he sees the city as opportunity and hope, but his vision is still only that of a child.
The films most analyzed shots involve Antoine after he has run away from the detention home and ends up on the beach. Truffaut ends the film on a freeze frame with Antoine looking into the camera. He has finally made it to the sea for the first time in his young life and he is seemingly caught between past and future.
This will not be the only time Leaud will play Antoine as he and Truffaut will have a long collaboration. Leaud will play the on screen youthful biographical Truffaut through four more films. The most notable is Stolen Kisses. However, none of the films come close to this first feature of Truffaut. This film was his release and breakthrough of the French New Wave.
The film is simple movie making, while at the same time showing layers of feeling and longing for something more. Jean-Pierre Leaud is stunning in his role and his innocence breathes right on the screen. The film, at times, almost takes on a feeling of documentary because of the vividly personal scenes. The story is told with deliberate measure.
At the beginning Antoine is living with his mother and stepfather in a elbow-room-only flat. They are literally stepping over one another. The mother (Claire Maurier) is attractive beyond her means while the stepfather (Albert Remy) is doing is best in a bad situation. Both struggle in their own way to keep everything together but nothing keeps Antoine's trouble from their doorstep and their over the top reactions.
Once Antoine has hit the streets adult hope is lost and he is at the mercy of social services. While on the streets Antoine hovers around trouble and close to disaster. He goes to the movies a lot which is clearly a force that he uses to stave off the tragedies that come his way. There are times when he is genuinely happy but the cold chill is always there threatening to break through his jacket with turned up collar - his shield against the bad over his shoulder.
This film is François Truffaut's savior from himself. His ability to bring his wild child story to the screen with such feeling and honesty has made him a directing legend and started the New Wave from classic to modern French cinema. Like Antoine, Truffaut was saved by movies and once this first and legendary film was made by the time he was 27 years old, he would never have to look back on that bad kid except through a lens.
The films most analyzed shots involve Antoine after he has run away from the detention home and ends up on the beach. Truffaut ends the film on a freeze frame with Antoine looking into the camera. He has finally made it to the sea for the first time in his young life and he is seemingly caught between past and future.
This will not be the only time Leaud will play Antoine as he and Truffaut will have a long collaboration. Leaud will play the on screen youthful biographical Truffaut through four more films. The most notable is Stolen Kisses. However, none of the films come close to this first feature of Truffaut. This film was his release and breakthrough of the French New Wave.
The film is simple movie making, while at the same time showing layers of feeling and longing for something more. Jean-Pierre Leaud is stunning in his role and his innocence breathes right on the screen. The film, at times, almost takes on a feeling of documentary because of the vividly personal scenes. The story is told with deliberate measure.
At the beginning Antoine is living with his mother and stepfather in a elbow-room-only flat. They are literally stepping over one another. The mother (Claire Maurier) is attractive beyond her means while the stepfather (Albert Remy) is doing is best in a bad situation. Both struggle in their own way to keep everything together but nothing keeps Antoine's trouble from their doorstep and their over the top reactions.
Once Antoine has hit the streets adult hope is lost and he is at the mercy of social services. While on the streets Antoine hovers around trouble and close to disaster. He goes to the movies a lot which is clearly a force that he uses to stave off the tragedies that come his way. There are times when he is genuinely happy but the cold chill is always there threatening to break through his jacket with turned up collar - his shield against the bad over his shoulder.
This film is François Truffaut's savior from himself. His ability to bring his wild child story to the screen with such feeling and honesty has made him a directing legend and started the New Wave from classic to modern French cinema. Like Antoine, Truffaut was saved by movies and once this first and legendary film was made by the time he was 27 years old, he would never have to look back on that bad kid except through a lens.