Stolen Kisses (1968, François Truffaut) (Patreon)

78/100

Second viewing, last seen 1993. Both the title and the two subsequent Doinel films (which I likewise saw in the '90s) instilled a false memory of its being primarily about Antoine's relationship with Christine, when in fact it's a far more free-ranging portrait of haplessness both sexual and vocational. Tone gets set beautifully at the outset, as Antoine endeavors to get laid by exactly 5pm (constantly checking his watch while navigating the brothel), thereby fulfilling a whimsical promise he made to fellow soldiers on his way out of the pokey; the film continually returns to this awkward intersection of lovemaking and clock-punching, eventually settling on the private dick as its fulcrum. Truffaut's playful here but not experimental, allowing interludes like Antoine's infatuation with Madame Tabard to accumulate real emotional force. (Pretty sure I didn't know who Seyrig was the first time I saw this, and probably failed to appreciate how acutely she captures the blend of amusement and giddiness that such a woman might feel upon learning of a young man's devotion.) That helps to counteract an overall sense of fluffy amiability that's really my only significant reservation. It almost seems too cute to be great. Having forgotten the ending, I initially found Antoine's sudden commitment to Christine overly facile, even as a pivot/rebound from l'aventure Tabard; that magnificent final scene—shot from behind the couple, never once cutting to their reaction, conjoining them with us in passive spectatorship—puts the entire movie in retroactive focus, blurring the line between irrational passion and contractual work (read: marriage). Also arguably peak Léaud, subject to another look at The Mother and the Whore. Antoine's valiant effort not to smile while being dressed down by his commanding officer, with the final grin barely visible as he about-faces to leave after being brusquely dismissed, defines the character's post-adolescent temperament more concisely and eloquently than could any line of dialogue.