Themes: Twentysomething Life, Age Disparity Romance
Main Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Delphine Seyrig, Claude Jade, Michel Lonsdale, Daniel Ceccaldi
Release Year: 1968
Country: FR
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
The episodic romantic comedy Stolen Kisses is the third installment in François Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series, which started with The 400 Blows in 1959. In 1968, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is discharged from the military and comes home to Paris, getting an apartment in Montmartre with an excellent view of the Sacré-Coeur. He meets up with his sweetheart, Christine Darbon (Claude Jade, making her film debut), and joins her and her parents for dinner (Daniel Ceccaldi and Claire Duhamel). With the help of Christine's father, he gets a job as a hotel clerk but quickly gets fired after he unwittingly aids a private detective (Harry Max). After running into the detective at a coffee shop, Antonie then falls into a job at the Blady Detective Agency, assisting with the investigation of a magician. He is then assigned to the case of neurotic Georges Tabard (Michel Lonsdale), and ends up working in the stock room of his shoe store. After Antoine has coffee with Tabard's beautiful and intelligent wife, Fabienne (Delphine Seyrig), she inevitably tries to seduce him. He later meets Christine in a park and proposes to her, taking the pair into the next film: Bed and Board. One of the lightest entries in the series, Stolen Kisses was ironically filmed during a turbulent political time in France. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Review
The most lighthearted entry in the saga of Antoine Doniel, the low-key romantic comedy Stolen Kisses marks the feature debut of Claude Jade as the lovely music student Christine Darbon. The story follows an absurd trajectory as Antoine works an array of ridiculous jobs and responds with his endearing boyish charm when he fails at each one. Jean-Pierre Léaud is adorably harmless in his exploits, as this is his last film appearance as a technical bachelor. One of the film's best attributes is the performance of Delphine Seyrig as the fashionable and experienced seductress Fabienne Tabard. Their scenes together are touching and funny, a sweet reflection of the film's American contemporary, The Graduate. The deadpan dialogue is full of quirks and spontaneous comedy, while the cynical romance is just comfortable and friendly. The city of Paris is well photographed, and there's plenty of '60s style to soak up, including a whole store of women's shoes. Truffaut seems to be enjoying himself capturing his trademark subtleties and comic moments. Overall, Stolen Kisses is a totally enjoyable experience, strangely filmed during the 1968 Paris riots. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Claire Duhamel - Mme. Darbon; Jean-François Adam - Albert Tazzi; Martine Brochard - Mme. Colin; Robert Cambourakis - Mme. Colin's Lover; François Darbon - Adjutant; Jacques Delord - Conjurer; André Falcon - M. Blady; Martine Ferrière - Manager of Show Shop; Catherine Lutz - Mme. Catherine; Harry Max - M. Henri; Marcel Mercier - Man at Garage; Joseph Merieau - Man at Garage; Paul Pavel - M. Julien; Christine Pelle - Secretary; Jacques Rispal - M. Cohn; Jacques Robiolles - Water; Serge Rousseau - The Stranger; Simono - Conjurer's Friend; Roger Trapp - Hotel Manager; Marie-France Pisier - Colette Tazzi
Credit
Claude Pignot - Art Director, François Truffaut - Director, Agnès Guillemot - Editor, Antoine Duhamel - Composer (Music Score), Charles Trenet - Songwriter, Denys Clerval - Cinematographer, Marcel Berbert - Producer, Claude de Givray - Screenwriter, Bernard Revon - Screenwriter, François Truffaut - Screenwriter
The original French title of the film comes from a line in Charles Trenet's song "Que reste-t-il de nos amours?" which is also used as the film's signature tune. The film was nominated for Oscar for best foreign language film.
Discharged from the army as unfit, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) seeks out his sweetheart, violinist Christine Darbon (Claude Jade). He has written to her voluminously (but, she says, not always nicely) while in the military. Their relationship is tentative and unresolved. Christine is away skiing with friends when Antoine arrives, and her parents must entertain him themselves, though glad to see him. After she learns that Antoine has returned from military service, Christine goes to greet him at his new job as a hotel night clerk. It is a promising sign that perhaps this time, the romance will turn out happily for Antoine. He is, however, quickly fired from the hotel job. Counting the army, Antoine loses three jobs in the film, and is clearly destined to lose a fourth, all symbolic of his general difficulty with finding his identity and "fitting in".
Later, Christine attempts to guess Antoine's latest job, amusingly tossing out guesses like cab driver or water taster. Finally, his job as a private detective is revealed. Throughout the film, Antoine works to maintain the job, working a case that requires him to pose as a shoe store stock boy. The job separates Antoine from his relationship with Christine. Soon, he falls for his employer's attractive (and older) wife, who willingly seduces him. He quarrels with Christine, saying he has never "admired" her. Fired from the detective agency, by the film's end, Antoine has become a TV repairman. He still avoids Christine, but she wins him back by deliberately disabling her TV, then calling his company for repairs while her parents are away. The company sends Antoine, who is then forced to stay for hours trying to fix an irreparable TV. Morning finds the two of them in bed together.
The film's final scene shows the newly engaged Antoine and Christine, strolling in the park. A strange man who has trailed Christine for days approaches the couple and declares his love for Christine. He describes his love as "definitive" and unlike the "temporary" love of "temporary people". When he walks away, Christine explains that the man must be mad. Antoine, recognising similarities in much of his own previous behaviour, admits, "He must be".
Stolen Kisses was well-reviewed by critics all over the world. In an enthusiastic article from the New York Times (March 4, 1969) Vincent Canby comments:[1]
With what can only be described as cinematic grace, Truffaut's point of view slips in and out of Antoine so that something that on the surface looks like a conventional movie eventually becomes as fully and carefully populated as a Balzac novel. There is not a silly or superfluous incident, character, or camera angle in the movie. Truffaut is the star of the film, always in control, whether the movie is ranging into the area of slapstick, lyrical romance or touching lightly on DeGaulle's France (a student demonstration on the TV screen). His love of old movies is reflected in plot devices (overheard conversations), incidental action (two children walking out of a drug store wearing Laurel and Hardy masks), and in the score, which takes Charles Trenet's 1943 song, known here as "I Wish You Love," and turns it into a joyous motif.
