Themes: Foibles of Marriage, Breakups and Divorces, Infidelity
Main Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Hiroko Berghauer, Claire Duhamel, Barbara Laage, Danièle Gérard
Release Year: 1970
Country: FR/IT
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
In the fourth installment of François Truffaut's Antoine Doniel series, this romantic comedy shows how Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) went from being a mischievous boy to an adorably charming young man of 26. Domicile Conjugal begins with Antoine settling down with Christine (Claude Jade), his girlfriend from the previous film, Baisers volés. He finds himself accepted and loved by his wife and her family, so the young couple move in to an apartment building together. They live in a lively neighborhood of interesting characters, such as the old man who never leaves and the opera singer who fights with his wife. Antoine finds work as a florist painting roses, while Christine makes a living by teaching violin lessons. After he gets involved in an accidental fire at the florist's, he gets a new job with an American corporation where he steers radio-controlled boats around a pond all day. A big change occurs when Christine becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy, while Antoine grows increasingly distant. Eventually, he becomes infatuated with a Japanese girl, Kyoko (Hiroko Berghauer), resulting in some shifts in lifestyle. The fifth and final Antoine Doniel film L'Amour en fuite was released in 1979, picking up the story with Antoine after he reaches his thirties. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
Though not as well received as some of the other tales in Truffaut's semi-autobiographical Antoine films, Domicile Conjugal has some simple beauty to it. The opening scene with the camera following on Claude Jade's legs walking down a Paris street is a good example of how the French New Wave had fun with filmmaking. Not much happens in the story as the young couple experiences everyday events and petty newlywed squabbles. It looks beautiful, though, as their charming apartment community is populated with eccentric and colorful neighbors. Most notably, the opera singer who is increasingly impatient with his wife acts as something of a symbol of the drudgery of daily married life. Also featured in the supporting cast is veteran Jacques Tati for some genuine comedic bits. As with many Truffaut movies, the funniest parts are in the small details, and the episodic nature of this film is filled with such moments. However, after their child is born, the warmness gives way to a more subdued drama. The scene where Antoine meets his father-in-law in a brothel hallway is treated tenderly, but still has a sobering effect. It's as if his delightful mischief is finally seen as having serious consequences on others, bringing some maturity to his character and causing him to reflect. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Daniel Ceccaldi - Lucien Darbon; Billy Kearns - M. Max; Annick Asty - Mother of young violinist; Marcel Berbert - Employee in US Company; Sylvana Blasi - Tenor's wife; Jacques Cottin - Mr Hulot; Christian de Tilière - String puller; Marie Dedieu - Marie; Frédérique Dolbert - Child; Pierre Fabre - The sneerer; Nicole Felix - Employee in US Company; Marie Irakane - Housekeeper; Jacques Jouanneau - Landlord; Iska Khan - Koyko's Father; Yvon Lec - Contract employee; Ada Lonati - "Hotel" owner; Pierre Maguelon - Bistro Customer; Kika Markham - Anne Brown; Nobuko Mati - Kyoko's Friend; Ernest Menzer - Little man; Marcel Mercier - 1st man in yard; Joseph Merieau - Person in Courtyard; Ryu Nakamura - Japanese Secretary; Guy Pierrault - SOS Employee; Marianne Piketti - Violin Pupil; Jérôme Richard - Employee in US Company; Jacques Rispal - Pensioner; Jacques Robiolles - Cadger; Serge Rousseau - Unknown person; Christophe Vesque - Boy; Claude Véga - Strangler; Daniel Boulanger - Tenor
Credit
Jean Mandaroux - Art Director, François Truffaut - Director, Agnès Guillemot - Editor, Antoine Duhamel - Composer (Music Score), Néstor Almendros - Cinematographer, Marcel Berbert - Producer, François Truffaut - Producer, René Levert - Sound/Sound Designer, Claude de Givray - Screenwriter, Bernard Revon - Screenwriter, François Truffaut - Screenwriter
Lodging and meals, as in Housekeepers usually earn a standard salary in addition to bed and board. This phrase was first recorded in the York Manual(c. 1403), which stipulated certain connubial duties: "Her I take ... to be my wedded wife, to hold to have at bed and at board." Later bed was used merely to denote a place to sleep.
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Claude Jade as Christine
Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) married the winsome and intelligent Christine (Claude Jade) from Stolen Kisses. Christine gives violin lessons to children in their living room, and Antoine dyes and sells flowers directly beneath their window. Antoine and Christine are like presexual kids playing at marriage. Whenever we see them in bed together, they're reading. When he reaches over to touch her breasts it's only to point out that they don't match. (He then wants to name them like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza or Laurel and Hardy). Later Christine becomes pregnant. Mindful that Antoine is having an affair with a Japanese beauty, Christine decks herself out as a faux Madame Butterfly to greet him one evening in their apartment. Christine leaves him. Later, she and Antoine are reconciled when they realize that they miss each other's company. Although Antoine ultimately returns to Christine, the ending of the movie is notably unromantic. The joke is that they've become a typical married couple. The future of the relationship is more telling in an earlier scene between Antoine and Christine just after they've broken up. He's been to visit their son, Alphonse, and he walks her through the now dark and empty courtyard to a cab. She lashes out at him for the first time: "All you know is what you want. A kiss when you want it! Solitude when you want it! I'm not 'yours on command.' Not anymore." He laments how unhappy he'll be until he can finish his novel. He then declares: "You are my sister, my daughter, my mother." Christine replies simply, "I'd hoped to be your wife."
References
The scene that splits between Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) telling a friend about his relationship with his wife and Christine (Claude Jade) doing the same with another friend. Woody Allen had copied this concept from Truffaut for his Annie Hall.
