Watch Antoine and Colette For Free

Must See Movie...

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Poor Antoine doesn't have much luck in life. After running away from home and ending 'The 400 Blows' in an observation centre for troubled youths, he is now working in a record factory, and completely failing with the girl he likes. Rather than fall into melodrama, Antoine appears now as just a regular teenager, with a passion for music, a little shy, and inexperienced with women, and we see the social mask one wears over their true emotions. From the concert, to the movies, to the hotel opposite Colette's home, we experience the swell of hope at the sight of her, to the crushing rejection as she looks for polite excuses to turn him away. It could not be captured on film more accurately - the dreaded friend zone.The black and white cinematography is handled in the same assured manner as its predecessor.

Poor Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud)... he stalks Collette (Marie-France Pisier) like any teenager follows a girl around. They keep bumping into each other, and he realizes she must live nearby. AND... they both appreciate music. She DOES string him along, and Antoine does everything he can to impress her and observe her every move. We watch as Antoine goes through the usual teen angst, trying to win over the woman he loves and hoping for the best. Truffaut had been in the business almost ten years when he made this, and one wonders if this was from his own life experiences; it WAS also written by him. Truffaut was nominated three times for Director and Writing... and sadly died young at 52. Did you notice Truffaut as "the French scientist" in Close Encounters ? One of the last roles he played as an actor. Antoine et Collette is pretty good. It's a bit dated, when they explain how records are made (records?? what are those ?) Showing on Turner Classics now and then. Pretty good. some sadness, like all good Truffaut films!

This follow-up to "The 400 Blows" continues Doinel's story and necessarily modifies the closing moments of Truffaut's debut. When we last saw Doinel he was alone and trapped by his situation. He stares blankly at the screen and we are given the impression that this boy is lost, maybe eternally. Turns out he's actually okay if not very happy. The very act of continuing the story undermines the full stop and despair of "Blows." Depending on your reaction to the conclusion of "Blows," this might be a blessing and a relief. It's best, as when approaching most sequels, to let the first part stand on its own and try to approach additional installments as individual films."Antoine and Colette" is approximately thirty minutes long and was initially released as part of the anthology film "Love at 20." (Criterion has packaged "The 400 Blows" and "Antoine and Colette" together as part of their Adventures of Antoine of Doniel boxed set.) The film finds Doinel at 17 years old living in a tiny apartment and working in an assembly line at the Philips record company. The film includes a clumsily inserted flashback from the first installment and demonstrates that Doinel has continued his friendship with his more privileged classmate Rene.While attending a concert with Rene, Antoine becomes fixated on Colette and begins a labored attempt at wooing her. She is kind to Doinel, but, as a narrator informs us, considers Antoine a friend. Antoine, however, is blinded by persistent romantic longing that the series will continue to reference. He fuels his romantic outlook with a steady diet of literature and music. While he obsesses over his nascent romance, Colette goes about dating young men with no intention of ever entangling herself with Doinel. As one prone to similar romantic obtuseness as a young man, I found this chapter of the Doinel story both humorous and a little uncomfortable.This film also introduces a trend that will recur in "Stolen Kisses." The orphaned Antoine, even into adulthood, becomes the surrogate child of his love interest's parents. The parents, seeing Antoine's need, feed the young man, offer him company, meals and kindness. It's touching, but awkward, as the parents show him more affection than do the young women Antoine is pursuing.This sequel to "The 400 Blows" is worth viewing more for the work of Jean Pierre-Leaud than for Truffaut's direction. (There is, however, a crackling sequence in "Antoine and Colette" when Antoine keeps trying to slyly ogle Colette and her legs while she pretends not to notice.) Leaud's work in "Blows" is raw and and austere, but in this installment and "Stolen Kisses," Leaud shifts towards a more endearing and hapless comic figure. He is a skilled, unassuming comic, believable and deliciously awkward. He provides enough reason to keep viewers returning to subsequent chapters. With "Antoine and Colette" and "Stolen Kisses," the tone shifts from realism toward farce grounded in humanity.

Truffaut's short film, made to pacify the curiosity eager fans of The 400 Blows as to the continuation of the lives of its disadvantaged characters, carries the same dry lack of emotion and still distances itself from us despite all its observation of and sympathy for the growing pains of Antoine Doinel. Though it is perhaps good that there is a distance kept because of its logical understanding of Antoine's experiences which leave him confused and painfully humbled.Jean-Pierre Leaud, who played Antoine in The 400 Blows, experiences the seemingly apocalyptic feeling of rejection, as Collette, the fixed object of his desire, has no interest in him regardless of all his efforts to entice her with frequent stopovers, invitations to concerts, and other woos. He even follows his self-assured friend's approach of writing letters, but with what appears to be no avail. Just as with The 400 Blows, we are left to ponder this perplexing phase in this character's life, causing us to reflect on our own painful memories of growing pains and the humility and self-doubt that accompanies it.