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Baisers Volés (1968, Fr.)
(aka Stolen Kisses)
In Francois Truffaut's sweet romantic screwball comedy
- the third in the Antoine Doinel series of five films (that began
with The 400 Blows (1959, Fr.) and ended with Love On The
Run (1979, Fr.)) about Truffaut's own alter-ego:
- early in the film, in the year 1968, enlisted army
soldier Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) was in a military
prison, brought before a judge (François Darbon), and made
odd facial expressions as he was chastised and ruled unfit for
service due to multiple AWOL incidents ("You're like a dog
that goes anywhere but where it's called"), and dishonorably
discharged
- the boyish Antoine's courtship in Paris, who was in
an on-again/off-again relationship with his prim and proper sweetheart
Christine Darbon (Claude Jade), a violin student
- Antoine's string of jobs (often leading to failure
due to his incompetency): as a night clerk at a hotel, as an investigative
private-eye detective for the Blady Detective Agency (going undercover
and posing as a shoe store stock boy at the establishment of dense-minded,
neurotic proprietor Georges Tabard (Michel Lonsdale), and as a TV
repairman
- the sequence of Antoine falling in love at first sight
with Tabard's significantly-older, cultured and cool wife, Fabienne
(Delphine Seyrig) whom he regarded as magical; when he was asked
to describe her on the phone for his detective job, he gave a "declaration
of love" rather than a factual accounting - "She's an extraordinary
woman. A bit mysterious and very sweet! Her nose is slightly turned
up, but straight and full of character...Her skin is radiant as if
illuminated from within - She is not a woman, she's an apparition"
The Awkward Coffee-Spilling Scene with Fabienne
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- the "Oui, monsieur" (Yes, sir) scene when
Antoine was invited to the Tabards to have coffee; left alone with
Fabienne, the flustered and anxious Antoine (who had an intense
crush on Fabienne) foolishly answered "Yes, sir" when
asked "Do you like music, Antoine?"; totally embarrassed
and shamed by his answer, he spilled his coffee and hurriedly fled
out the door and down the stairs
- the happy ending: the next morning, Fabienne barged
into Antoine's bedroom and assured him she wasn't a 'magical' apparition:
"Besides, I'm not an apparition. I'm a woman, which is the opposite.
For example, this morning before I came, I put some makeup on, I powdered
my nose, I made up my eyes. And as I came across Paris, I noticed that
all the women had done the same thing. For their pleasure, or that
of others. You say that I'm exceptional. It's true. I am exceptional.
Every woman is exceptional in turn. You over there, you're exceptional,
too. Your fingerprints are unique. You are unique. We're both unique
and irreplaceable...You don't need to talk, but I wish you'd look at
me. You wrote me yesterday, and the answer is - me"; she sat on
the side of his bed, leaned forward and seductively propositioned him: "I
propose a contract which is fair to both of us. Since we both like
what is exceptional, I'll come close to you now. We'll spend a few
hours together, and then, whatever happens, we'll never meet again.
Do you agree?" (as in the similar American film The
Graduate (1967) in the same year); he nodded encouragingly
and smiled, as she locked the door before they had sex together (off-screen)
"Morning After" Breakfast With Christine
A Marriage Proposal Through Written Notes
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- the enchanting 'morning after' breakfast table sequence
of Antoine's marriage proposal to Christine after sleeping with
her the previous night; after she tutored him on how to butter
toast, he wrote on a pad of paper, passed it to her, and she read
it, then responded in kind on a second piece of paper; they continued
to communicate wordlessly; afterwards, he put a heart-shaped bottle
opener on Christine's finger
- the ending scene of newly-engaged Antoine and Christine
strolling in the park and sitting on a bench, when Christine noticed
a strange, trench-coated male stalker (Serge Rousseau) watching them;
he came over and spoke to Christine - ultimately, he declared his "definitive" rather
than "temporary"
love for her: "I know I'm no stranger to you. I've been watching
you. I've been watching you in secret for some time, but these last
few days, I've made no effort to hide. And I know now that the moment
has come. Before I saw you, I never loved anyone. I hate temporary
things. I know life well, that everyone betrays everyone else. But
it will be different with you and me. We'll never be apart, not even
for a single hour. I don't work and I have no obligations in life.
You will be my sole preoccupation. I understand this is all too sudden
for you to say yes right away and that you need time to sever the temporary
ties that bind you to temporary people. I am definitive. I am very
happy"; after he strolled away, Christine asserted: "That
man is crazy!"; as they slowly stood and watched the crazed man
walk away, Antoine took her arm and agreed with Christine's assessment
that the obsessed man must be mad: "Yes, I'm sure he is" -
as the film ended
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Antoine Before Military Judge - Dishonorable Discharge
Antoine Falling in Love with Shoe Store Proprietor's Wife
Fabienne Tabard
With The Seductive Fabienne Before Having Sex With
Her
A Mad Stalker in the Park Professing His "Definitive" Love
for Antoine's Fiancee Christine
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