Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses (for me) has got to be one the most beautiful film ever made. All of the films in the Antoine Doinel cycle are brilliant (even the half-baked "Love On The Run" is still quite enjoyable). But "Stolen Kisses" hits a spot, which films seem to never hit. It captures an age of awkwardness that seems to be ignored...the early twenties. Not like a typical high school or after college film (ie: "Risky Business" or "Graduate"), "Stolen Kisses" is about learning the survival skills to make it to adulthood (whether it's keeping a job, or making it in love). Antoine Doinel is in the third cycle of the series ("400 Blows" and "Love At Twenty/ Antoine And Collette" being it's predecessor), and Antoine has just been dishonourably discharged from the army for being of unstable character. Antoine haphazzardly begins to go through jobs, trying to find his nitch in life, while being obsessed with love. He begins as a nightwatchman of a hotel, to being a private detective of Blady's, which puts him as a planted spy in Monsieur Tobard's Shoe Shop, and finally settling down as an accident prone TV Repair man. Antoine is the awkward anti-hero youth of the sixties. During the 68' Paris riots (which were unbelievably carrying on during the filming), the youth of France had a sort of displaced position in the work force. Antoine (superbly played by Jean-Pierre Leaud) typlifies this kind of youth. He is full of nervous energy, politically working class, is love lorn, and uneducated. He is full of human qualities that are real and relateable. He lies, he loves, he fails, and he succeeds. He is just as much as the "everyman" of France, as Jimmy Stewart was in America. But interestingly, where he has once resembled director Francois Truffaut in the earlier works, he now was metamorphasising into Jean-Pierre Leaud's character, but resembling Truffaut more in look. Antoine Doinel was never meant to be just Truffaut, but Leaud as well. And the confusion of this identity is brilliantly displayed as Antoine confirms his identity by manically reciting his name in a mirror, displaying his search for identity to the point of near madness. The beautiful Clade Jade gives an underated performance as the hip, bourgoise student, that makes Antoine's obsessiveness seem somehow justified. The girl that is loved best by Antoine, when out of reach. The film also has a theme, about the differing strengths of love. When Antoine is in love with Christine, she doesn't love him. When Antoine loves Fabienne (the shoe shop's owner's wife), Christine is in love with Antoine. Every character is immersed in a love triangle. And asks the question, "Does love really ever exist on an equal basis?" But aside from the romantic cynicism, also lays some of the most romantic cinematic moments in history. The scene in which we follow up the stairs to find Antoine and Christine laying in bed peacefully, and the morning after, where Antoine purposes to Christne (with what looks like a fancy spoon or bottle opener, taking the place of a real ring?) is one of the most poetic moments in film history. The music score is fantastic as well as the cinematography gentle and sweet. For some, the ending is somewhat confusing and abrupt. But only shows, that the man that now stalks Christine with such passion, is now looked at by Antoine as resembling his once passionate feelings for her, that no longer burn with the same intensity. A bittersweet opening to the followup "Bed And Board". This film is a classic on all accounts!!! A must see, and my favourite film of ALL TIME!!! I rate it a 15 out of 10!!!