So, we're in another one of those "I had no idea what I was getting" films - (I suspect this will happen a lot) - BUT I have seen a French New Wave film or two, and what I didn't know is this was one of the founding films of the French New Wave.
There are a lot of definitions of French New Wave, and wikipedia has a few but the best way I can say it is, it's cinema trying to be art - and it's generally a very beautiful and engaging thing.
I actually had gotten this copy initially from my library as part of the Art House Collection - I was a bit dissatisfied with that letterbox crammed into a 4:3 print, so I looked on Netflix, and lo and behold, they had one of the two or three re-releases - (and in fact, it's being re-released again in Jan.) - Imagine my even more pleasant surprise to find I had accidentally checked out the Blu-Ray - so we got to go hi-def on this one. In one last bit of amusement, much of the film seems to take place around the holiday of Christmas, so here I was two days before Christmas reading Joyeux Noel on the windows in Paris and seeing Christmas trees :)
This is the film of a young adolescent coming to grips with a failed family and social structure and becoming a delinquent. It actually reminded me a bit of the previous film I had seen, Amarcord, in how the youth are left to some degree, without the guidance or resources needed to develop properly. The main character, Antoine, has a mother who doesn't like him, a congenial but not over-adoring step-father, and teachers with whom he just doesn't get along. He has a good friend, Rene, who is a co-conspirator and fellow troublemaker, with another set of neglectful parents who aren't able to provide the stability needed.
What I found very interesting was how this was mostly a semi-autobiographical story of the Director, Francois Truffaut. Many events shadow his life, and near the end, a monologue of questions about upbringing and life choices apparently were right out of the Director's life. The director himself was almost saved from a life of petty crime, and so in this way, the movie is a lot like Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" as Antoine and his friend Rene were semi-biographical fictional representations of the Truffaut and his good friend, who also worked on this movie
A couple brief asides...this would end up being the first of Four movies (and one short) by Francois to feature the same actor as the character of Antoine over the course of 20 years. In fact, they'll all be part of a boxed set up there in the 180's - and that's fine - (I don't think they all have the same flavor as the French New Wave) but knowing that the story goes on kinda spoiled the ending for me a bit which left us wondering what Antoine's future was or where he would manage to go or have one in the final shot
The other aside is merely this - Paris is a magnificent supporting actor in almost any movie. It's my favorite European City, and the New Wave films such as "Paris Belongs to Us" and this one use it to wonderful effect. I am reminded of a non-Criterion release that takes place in Newfoundland (The Shipping News) and how that locale as well, becomes one of the characters in the story.
One of the most powerful scenes to me was Antoine crying as he is hauled away in a paddy wagon, looking out over the neon and city lights of Paris, no longer free to wander them like a giant playground. He is being hauled away ironically, for attempting to right a wrong he had committed. I almost expected to see him running to Paris at the end of the movie with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Paris is his playground for much of the movie, and much of French New Wave shows the youth of Paris coming of age and making the most of this wonderful and ancient city
This is another movie where if I have time, I may try and catch the commentaries - (There are two) but there are over 800 films to go and a long time to get there :) - I prefer to play them on the PC where I can speed up the audio and get it done a bit quicker the 2nd time around which is much harder with blu-ray, but in any case, this is a very good film, and was famous in ways I didn't know about before starting and wouldn't have probably seen had I not started these in numerical order of release - I definitely look forward to more French New Wave after seeing this and "Paris Belongs to Us"
RB
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