Now yet again I am going to be watching a French New Wave film- though this time it is in black and white so the whole color palette of 2 or Three Things I Know About Her is gone. But that seems to not be a bad thing- the film from my quick search about it is that it yet again has the idea of the auteur in this film as well, with the character of Antoine Doinel being the alter ego in a way of the director himself. In a way its a stylized biography of the director and had a few sequels by the same director later on. And the plot synopsis makes it sound like a better French version of Rebel Without a Cause so seeing a possible kind of delinquent film from France might be rather cool. Also I do have to say that if you want to take the actual title and not directly translate it to English it would be something like a reference to a longer phrase meaning "To Raise Hell" and therefore sounds much less coporal punishment like than the American title.
I do have to say that yet again the opening of the film is rather nice. The credits are rolling and the background is just some nice shots of French buildings and the like. Rather nice use of the beauty of architecture itself. Though I have to say that the film itself makes the opening credits rather long since the film itself is only 100 minutes long so having about three and a half minutes of the film itself be opening credits is a bit weird. Though I guess it made it so people had to sit through and appreciate the film's work and cinematography and the ilk. And its rather nice to see that the film is dedicated to the memory of Andre Bazin- which I do have to say that while I did not know of him, thanks to the film class I took rather recently, I have herd of the thing he co created with a few others- Cahiers Du Cinema which really helped influence film criticism and was really a birthplace of the French New Wave himself so while it was sad that it is dedicated to his memory it seems that Francois Truffaut really wanted him to be remembered and that he really liked him as a guiding figure. So yet again we have some random trivia related to a history based thing of films.
And the films starts off in some random school that Doinel is attending and the classic idea of people passing a note of some kind is in force here. He gets caught replying to the note and gets sent to pretty much a dunce corner- while of course the film's story has this incident taking place during a test. Though I do have say its rather nice to see that in some cases the classroom behavior of children has not changed in decades with people hurriedly finishing up tests and calling each other names. Though the teacher seems real harsh with calling "recess is a reward, not a right" in regards to Doinel trying to leave and enjoy the break. And Doinel himself taking a role as a narrator (so far I think he's the only one though unlike 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her there's been no real narration so calling out the fact that Doinel is right now his own narrator and that he's mad for getting caught with a pinup that had done the rounds at school? Definite idea of a theme. The themes are a character study, yet again, and the treatment of juvenile offenders if I am reading the wikipedia article correctly. Though I do have to say that so far because of that three minute opening credit sequence that eight minutes in and while we have a story that is much more that of a story, not much has actually happened. Though yeah the teacher character in this scene is kind of a strict teacher from another time tossing Doinel from the corner because he "abused French verse" rather comedic in a way since he's saying that Doinel is a Juvenal who was a Roman Satirist known for his prose. Ironic because the teacher says that Doinel is complete trash at actually writing in verse. Though its a rather long shot reverse shot of the teacher writing some French poem on the blackboard and some random kid just failing to write his notes. Don't know why its in there but its got a hint of slapstick comedy there- not much but seeing that he keeps trying to write down he poem that the teacher is saying and that he is failing its rather cute. I do have to give them props that yet again the kids in these films feel like kids- their mannerisms and their just goofy things that they do while the teachers back s turned is rather nice to see because some boring romantic poem in a class of twelve year old kids? Of course they will turn it into some reference to kissing and whatnot.
Though come on teacher man, calling everybody a bunch of idiots because of it and making Doinel write down that his parents will pay for the cleanup of the wall (while warranted since Doinel did actually dirty the wall). Funny though that he says that France will be doomed in ten years because of the terrible state of his class. Funny because since this was filmed in 1959 and 2 or 3 Things was filmed in 1967 and that was currently much more bleak and detached- yes somehow that line became true in a way. Though its not really funny.And finally after seven minutes of not much really happening we move onto the next scene. And the scene begins with some little delinquent kids talking abut how everyone steals from their parents to get awesome stuff- well we are eleven minutes in and I don't think this is a great film because the characters for being children are rather unlikable though that may change depending on future scenes. And of course it seems like Doinel has a family that isn't really that great with him seemingly being alone for a while before his mother comes home. Yep terrible parent saying that he should have got all the things on the grocery list, which he says he lost, and then she calls him out on his terrible grades. Somehow losing a list and forgetting one thing shows that he might not be all that smart in her eyes. So we have a kid who has a terrible home life and a terrible school life- looks like at some point he will either act out or try to leave.
Okay so he goes to get the flour and then there's some two old ladies talking about the horrors of cnthildbirth and all that which just seems out of place so far and then a scene transition showing a change in time and Doinel is getting helped from a random old dude we've never seen before- which after I saw further into the scene is that of his father. Don;t know his name of his mom and dad and since I am calling the main character by his last name I pretty much don't care. While I thought 2 or 3 Things was rather long and talky at least it was filmed and created in a way that made me force myself to listen. So far we got in this movie some delinquent behavior and a terrible life. Great view in a character that is a teenage delinquent or something but its not really stimulating in the philosophical pursuits of the previous film I watched.
And for a bit his dad and him were just shooting the breeze while they were eating dinner. Sure this seems like I am leaving out a lot here but so far its rather lackluster in the plot- maybe it will get better once he gets caught with something illegal or something.
Yeah while I'm all for the walls being rather thin, I would hate living in this kids apartment if he can hear his parents arguing all the time. And this seems like some kind of Cinderella story with the terrible home life and him doing a ton of chores. Seems rather boring enough for it to fit right in.
Because of Sourpuss's- the teacher's- whole disdain for him, Doinel and one of his friends skip out of school and have a rad time by going to the cinema, the arcade, and what seems to be the amusement park because the film films one of those washing machine looking rides where tough static electricity and friction because of speed you can stick to the walls. Rather cool to see a movie use this even for a little bit because its a cool spinning thing in the movie and reminds me of a thing I used to go to in my own nearby amusement park because they had the exact same ride except that's been replaced now. But it was a really great little ride that is somewhat memorable. Though watching it further, it definitely gives a sense of vertigo or motion sickness because they film the people watching the ride and because its spinning so quick its like a motion blur. What I like in cinema though is these kinds of strange shots that are weird or track a character's movements. In the same scene Doinel turns himself upside down because thanks to the rotational forces in that ride he could and the spinning whirligig of faces that you've seen turns upside down. Because he himself is upside down, the film reflects what he sees. Though I do have o comment on the sound design for this scene as well- because it is supposed to be disorientating and its an amusement park ride- the sounds behind these images are a thing of hellish nightmares with how the echoing enjoyment of the ride and the overall feel of the scene being rather hectic and disjointed in the spinning view its painful and I got some form of motion sickness headache because of it. And its like a two minute scene- you want it to end but it doesn't and it just ends when the ride itself ends.
I do have to say that its great to see that Antoine Doinel's mom is cheating on her husband and now Antoine knows it because while he is having fun and going home after a long day of skipping class he sees his mom making out with another man. The family life here is just great.This friend of his who I have no clue what his name is is a complete beast with Antoine being worried about the note back from school and the friend- Rene if I am understanding that Antoine couldn't use the note he was copying out because he accidentally put in Rene's name instead of his- still Rene is the real juvenile delinquent because he knows all the tricks.
And actually now the dad in this next scene with them being alone cooking is rather sweet because it seems that he has an interest in Antoine and that he is a joker character yet is laying down some truth bombs for Antoine. Good guy dad figure. Okay scratch that because it seems that the one berserk button of his dad is when he can't find his stuff and because his dad expects Antoine to steal things to "trade" for stuff he gets mad at Antoine which knowing how movies work will come into play later. Its just an interesting way to graphic match two scenes that contain Antoine and his dad and one scene is loving and the other is more gruff and seriously worrying. Wonder what that means though it gives the characters more depth.
And what we find out in this next scene of Antoine listing to his parents fighting is that his mom is cheating his dad with her boss because she's a secretary and this was before sexual harassment type things were really thought of. His dad calls her a prostitute in a sneaky way and that she lies, and she says to ask Antoine. Cool dad drops the bombshell that Antoine is not his son and that actually he's Antoine's stepdad and then his terrible mom is wanting peace and quiet so she joke that she should send Antoine to the orphanage or army school.
A truly happy image of the 1950's/1960's family of course.
Well now Antoine's parents know he skipped out thanks to some random classmate of his. That's going to be a problem and I hope Antoine gets caught by the school or something because its one third of the way through the film and going by a three act structure something major will happen to change the film. Okay you idiot I know Sourpuss is a complete tool and would have not cared if you got a fake note or not but seriously why say your mom died to get away from this mess. That's a thing that is easily checked and since we know the mom isn't dead and that the idea of doing a big lie to cover up something small will bite Antoine hard- I bet Sourpuss or something will happen to realize that Antoine is lying out of his teeth.Seriously though, is this English class or Poetry since all they have been doing in the Sourpuss classroom scenes is reciting poetry and the like. And Antoine is so super busted since his mom and stepdad came to the classroom and pulled out Sourpuss- who has thought that Antoine's mom just died. Way to make extra homework and skipping class into an existential crisis of juvenile proportions. Good guy stepdad just lays the smack down on Antoine with smacking him in front of his classmates.
Rene is a dick though to Antoine and Antoine himself is a complete idiot. "I've done worse than this, Antoine" don't worry about your parents they can''t be that bad and Antoine wants to run away from home because his terrible parents- who I don't mind besides maybe his mother who's rather terrible- is going to wreck his day up because he is almost definitely close to either quitting or getting kicked out of school. This sounds so messed up since he's what like fourteen at the max and he's planning on becoming a hobo and a bum because its better than his home and school life. Though I do like that Rene right now is a foil to Antoine because unlike Antoine who's getting the stuffing handed to him because of delinquent behavior, Rene is constantly saying that why should he care about school or why should Antoine care that his parents are mad because Rene himself is a much worse delinquent with what seems like a similar situation that we don't see. But seriously Rene is a kind of devil on Antoine's should just urging him on to do worse and worse stuff because why not.
His parents find the letter and it looks like Antoine is found. And like how Die Hard is a Christmas movie but a good one- The 400 Blows seems to take place in part of the movie on Christmas. And Antoine just stole a glass bottle of milk for some stupid reason. I will now think its an alcohol reference cause he's pounding back that milk hardcore in an alley in some black trench coat like like an adolescent abroad. Seriously he's just slumming it around Paris now And for some reason he's back at school- and Sourpuss takes an interest if Antoine got his face rocked by his parents for being a tool. But no in a rather nice humorous take for French stuff, Antoine says that everything went well last night- primarily because he slummed it on the streets of Paris. On that note, why do his parents just not care that antoine is now homeless by choice- wouldn't they call some police or something?
But hey we got a new teacher- English this time and because its accented English it doesn't use a subtitle here in some sentences. At least its better than the American in 2 or 3 Things- that was painful. And on the whole bit of some people aren't able to do that sound- that of "th", I know your pain little French kid.
I do have to say that I haven't commented on the weirdest thing about Antoine's room- his parents sleep on a bed with sheets and all. Antoine sleeps in every scene except it seems like the scene right after English class, in a sleeping bag. I don't know what constituted a harmful or neglectful childhood but this seems rather weird to see his parents have him in a sleeping bag. Wow I don't care about the whole "when I was your age, I did the same things you did you should listen to me" speech by his mom. Sure that's an okay argument and can be true but she's a terrible mother figure. Antoine wants to leave school and says he can't concentrate- maybe there's some learning problems there- he does seems to have a lot of issues in school with completely trash grades and all. And it is pretty much 1960- the brain and learning was just really starting to be a thing so having a character who knows that he thinks school is complete rubbish- rather interesting.His mom doesn't like that idea since she never went past high school and his actual? father or maybe stepdad never finished high school. And she does say that the school learning is complete trash since people don't use math or science outside of school-but French? French is super important for writing and speaking and what the hell else French people love how French they are.And terrible mom figure tells Antoine that she will give him a thousand francs if Antoine gets a French essay in the top five in his class. Yes the mom is so desperate to conform her son into her beliefs of success that she has decided that outright bribery is a good thing to do.
I bet it fails.
Nope it does worse than fail- Antoine plagiarizes a bit from Honore de Balzac, a French writer well known and, well, French. I wonder if the director has an idea that Balzac himself could be similar to Antoine- I don't know a lot about him because on the subject of me reading French works, I really haven't done that cause I have no time to sit down and read through that. But it seems that to a French person or someone more in the know they could debate why the choice of Balzac was chosen by the director to be the French Essay plagiarism that Antoine does.Remember kids, cutting corners by plagiarizing can have terrible consequences so don't do that. But hey Antoine now loves Balzac's works if he hung up a picture of the writer.
But seriously? "Write about a topic/event that has influenced you personally" Well why plagiarize? I know that the internet really wasn't a thing in 1959- but the school system was more by memorization and there were things like classic books and dictionaries. Your teachers aren't stupid so plagiarizing a whole thing about "My Grandfather's Death" from, I'm guessing, Balzac? Yeah that won't be a problem even though the French take French things super seriously.Okay actually it's weirder that Antoine like Honore de Balzac- he has a shrine to him.
Also the whole thing that makes the stepdad mad every time he things about it? He's lost his Michelin guide- that is the Michelin Star guide where the best restaurants are ranked and can be known for excellence- its a French company- good old Michelin Man and all but its rather European and French in particular so its not that weird to them. Just think like French chefs or something.
And yes the candle he lit accidentally lights a fire and his stepdad gets super mad cause well Antoine did start a fire. Though because he said that he wrote a good essay his mom makes his stepdad take them to the movies. And his dad makes a great joke about how "They aren't found of arsonists in the theater." It made me chuckle and in a movie about a juvenile delinquent that doesn't do a lot of juvenile delinquent stuff thanks to movies getting more dark and real as time went on- yeah.
And yes Sourpuss calls out Antoine for having a plagiarized paper in front of the whole class. And Sourpuss sends him to the principal's office and yells that he doesn't want to see him this next term. Antoine runs away and because Rene speaks up for Antoine he gets kicked out too- but because its Rene he doesn't care.
And now it makes sense why Rene doesn't care at all- his family is loaded. Though his family is equally messed up because while they are rich, his mother is a drunk and Rene's dad is a gambler.
They go to the movies for a very short scene cause why not and then afterwards they go back and play some board games and seemingly drink wine and smoke cigars cause also why not. They don;t have to go to school so they rules of decency don't have to apply to them.But seriously I wonder how awesome it was to live before a time with smoke detectors cause the whole room is smoky and the somoke detectors don't exist so nothing beeping is happening.
I don't know why Rene and Antoine are watching what is close to a Punch and Judy show while deciding how to get money but there's so many screaming kids I don't like it. And now Rene and Antoine are stealing, I think, Antoine's Cool Dad's typewriter for some dumb reason to get money but that fails cause of course a pawn shop wouldn't want to deal in some form of stolen or shady goods. And finally Rene and Antoine are having an argument because stealing a typewriter from Antoine's dad's workplace was a terrible idea. Finally Antoine is seeing how much of a terrible person Rene is for a twelve year old and doesn't want to deal with him. Seriously though the idea of somebody not arresting Antoine for breaking into the place to return the typewriter in the stupidest hat and coat combo ever is great- his true crime is a crime against fashion. And for that crime his father takes him to the police to have him scared straight.
Finally after an hour and twenty five minutes it seems like the third part of the film really starts where Antoine is going to a place out in the country to get him okay- sure this is just talked about but finally we have the final stretch almost to the end of the movie and finally we get the out in the country bits.And the juvenile system sounds bad- signing away the rights to Antoine, the statement seemed a bit too cut and dried, and now he gets to spend the night in jail with a drunk and some prostitutes. Wonder why Antoine had to give his tie, belt, and shoelaces to the pretty much Boy's Home people- oh wait I think those could be used to commit suicide with. Of course they would take those items that would be dangerous if they let him keep it.
But hey now he lives in pretty much Boy Prison where he eats terrible food everyday so I guess he is having a wonderful time. And he only had to steal a typewriter for this fantastic experience of getting a criminal record.
And now his mother is trying to get him back but the judge is not having her story because he says that pretty much she was a terrible parent with discipline and that leaving your kid home alone is rather bad form. Though I thought he would get to the observation center seventy five minutes into the film- the film made Antoine finally get to the place by the seashore (haven't commented on this but hiis dream of seeing the sea is a character trait of Antoine- he really wants to see the sea.) and so the last fourteen or so minutes are there to just end the film on a note. Seems like it will not be a happy one. But hey we get to hear the life of a juvenile delinquent now since this is right now sharing stories of each kid in a way. Remember guys, character studies in film can be rather good. But I notice that the use of the school in the beginning to show the problems of Antoine is brought back in the joking nature of the boys in the observation center and the more disciplined nature of the people in charge here- its like a school for delinquents and since they are in the system now they might have some repeat offenders later in life. Even the punishment is similar to his school experience with Sourpuss being a mean teacher- since Antoine ate his food early he gets to choose which hand he is hit with by the overseer. Harsh discipline to change what is seen as a delinquency problem of course honorable judge character, this is going to be a great learning experience for Antoine..
And now we get to have Antoine meet the female psychologist where he explains his reasoning for what he did. Man some of his lines here are just fantastic. Well at some point Antoine stole ten thousand francs from his grandmother cause she wouldn't notice and she was going to die soon. Rather realist in his way of doing things. Lying is easier than to tell the truth because his parent's wouldn't believe him anyway. Or that his mom had him out of wedlock and wanted to abort him- yeah that would make anyone be a little messed up. Or that for some reason he gets asked if he ever had sex with girls and then he talks about how he knew where prostitutes were and that he almost had the chance to to do it with a prostitute who liked younger ones which you know actually surprised me since this is a film from 1959- extremely out there for hinting at some perverse material. But that was a nice five minute question and answer monologue scene. Wish we really had more than what we got because I rather like character monologues it seems.
And for those who wonder- Rene comes back and is at the observation facility too but when Antoine tries to get Rene's attention, Rene just walks away barely noticing his former friend. See? Thanks to Rene, Antoine got a criminal record and Rene doesn't even care. He's the true delinquent in this film in a way. Or he's some form of uncaring figure that is- okay so Rene is not even arrested or a delinquent. I guess he was going to maybe visit Antoine and then he chickened out and takes his bike and starts on home. Rather weird characterization here but either way, Rene, for somebody like twelve years old or so I can't tell, got away completely Scot free with no actual consequences. Unlike Antoine- I don't think he even has a criminal record- or if he does it was barely mentioned for a kid who actively steals from his parents, forges notes, drinks and smokes, etc. He's the bad parts of Antoine and actively ramps up Antoine's stupid ideas- pawning the typewriter to get money and the last time we see him he's riding off into the sunset on his bike whistling.
Hey at least for once his mom actively did mom things like actually visit him in Boy Prison. No wait she's actively pissed off- remember that weird short scene where Antoine sees his mom actively cheating on his stepdad with her boss? Yeah I forgot for a moment. But Antoine sent a letter to his stepdad to tell him about it. Seems to have hurt his Cool Dad cause he doesn't come with his Terrible Mom to even say hi. And seriously you two may be a "devoted couple" in your eyes but your marriage is a sham and you actively hurt Antoine's self esteem and everything. You uncompromising, self righteous terrible lady. And oh no now she won't take him back because for some reason she thinks Antoine told all the neighbors that she was cheating- sure that could have been possible but you know what was more likely? That your walls were made of thin plaster and everyone could hear you arguing about your infidelity Seriously I liked the dad character even if he was a bit strict at points but no I guess he's done with the kid he raised and all. At least I have to say that the choice of lighting is nice to show the change in the character of the mother- when she was trying to connect to Antoine by saying she also had some troubles in her past it was a nice soft lift that kind of brightened her features and she spoke more in a softer more attempted caring tone. In this completely unflattering scene, she's not in darkness but she's changed her appearance more with the hat and nice clothes that she rarely if ever wore in the film and there's a part of a shadow caused by that hat that covers part of her face. Short answer: They made her a truly detestable and petty character in this scene.
Though I have to give her props for bringing the ironic echo to that nice scene of Antoine saying that he wanted to leave school and earn a living. She's wiped his hands of Antoine and pretty much means that she's not going to help him ever again because in her eyes he's not earned it, in my opinion, she's reminding that he's still a child because he doesn't get how the world works and now that he's wrecked his future thanks to getting kicked out of school and getting a criminal record thanks to being an idiot? Yeah his life will be fantastic now.
Finally we see Antoine escape by leaving while the whole group of boys were out playing football or something. We've been foreshadowing a moment like this for a while with a few times that Antoine said he really wanted to see the sea. Actually this is a cool shot since he's just running and the camera is following right along side him. Wonder what kind of way they filmed that but its rather nice. He has finally reached his dream of seeing the sea. I do have to say that the cinematography is on point in this ending few running to the sea scenes with the scenery being rather pretty in the beach shots. And he steps his feet into the water, uncertain and the film ends with a moving freeze frame of his uncertain face. His future is his own but he is maybe too young to truly know what to do with it.
Overall my feelings of this film really depend on which point of the film I see to be watching- the middle thirty or so minutes with Antoine just chilling in Paris or hanging out with Rene? Didn't like those at all. Though some of the scenes were pretty in them but I thought that for a 100 minute movie it could be trimmed a few minutes out here or there and you doing miss much. While I love the cinematography and filming of the scene where Antoine is on the amusement park ride it was like two minutes long and actually almost made me have motion sickness because of the spinning. And the opening credits sequence of three and a half minutes in length could have been sped up a tad.
Overall I have to say yet again that this film isn't for everyone. In a way it reminded me of Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger with the young morally ambiguous characters and the whole idea of them being royally messed up in some ways and normal in others. And it reminded me of a less racist and much more interesting Rebel Without a Cause with like twelve year old characters and a good portrayal of topics and themes of family and juvenile delinquency.
Did I like the characters? Yeah- Antoine was a good kid making awful choices, Rene was an awful kid that looked rather good, Antoine's step-dad/dad was a weird mix of funny and wise with complete somewhat justified anger.
His mom though? Didn't like her one bit.
Overall I have to say that adding up all these ideas I'd have to give this movie a low to medium eight. This is right now the highest film on the list as of this posting. But I know that will probably change later on.
But hey French New Wave cinema is right now killing it with the two films I watched being rather nice to see.
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