From "Four Hundred Strikes" to "Love Run" at the end of the "Antoine series", we see the complete journey of the talented actor from childhood to middle age, which is different from the "transformation" we imagined. Jean Pierre Lie Odder didn't seem to have changed, he was still the boy-like solitary, dull, perverse and slightly neurotic Antoine.
A French proverb says that a naughty and naughty child needs four hundred beatings to get rid of the disaster, cowardly with the demons, and become a healthy and obedient child. God knows what the evil of childhood means to a person's life. Bad family environment, cruel society, prejudiced educators, these constitute the background color of Antoine's life: lack of love, not being taken seriously, and repressed. The work "Four Hundred Strikes" may be so famous that it was only seen last year. It is actually a small-cut film about children's psychology. Under the black-and-white lens, France in the 1950s, the rigid education system, and the cold interpersonal relationship, if you switch to a Chinese director, you may have to use sentimental music to remember your bitter thoughts and sweet things, which makes people cry, but in Under Truffaut's arrangement, these misfortunes are so objective and full of irony, and some of the episodes even make us who are abusive audiences smile knowingly. Yes, a person, no matter what he has experienced, is four hundred blows designed by the heavens for the way he is now.
However, what made this little film about children's psychology a classic was the ending of the juvenile delinquent Antoine rushing to the sea. Under the pale and non-emotional sky, only the rolling waves are passionate. Regardless of the chase of the prison guards behind, the 13-year-old Antoine is eager to escape. This is not a successful escape. Here, the director slowly portrays the boy. Faced with the sight of running wildly towards the sea, he sometimes ran and sometimes slowed down, with his pockets in his hands, and walking with his head down. It was kind of cool. At this moment, Antoine looked like an adult, because he had begun to question his ridiculous fate. This scene actually triggered a "new wave" in film history. In any dark, endless childhood, it is like walking in an endless dark night. In such a night, people will not cast shadows, like water.
My favorite part is "Marriage Life". In a stable and ordinary marriage, all the little troubles and surprises are as happy and sad as the purple dianthus flowers. Actress Claudius Judd looks very playful. Her appearance always makes people believe that marriage is beautiful. At this time, Antoine, who is in a stable life, is like a teenager in the rebellious period. He treats Japanese women. Childlike curiosity arose, but after the dream came true, he missed his wife like a close friend. Perhaps the darkness of the entire childhood delayed his growth phase, or most married men are so naive and romantic. This movie is relaxed, just showing us a peaceful and interesting episode in Antoine’s life. Full of French humor and sentiment. The happy laughs and endless quarrels of young couples are lovely, which makes people believe that life will continuously present gifts to us inadvertently.
The two previous films and the last one after this film all involved the emotional entanglement between Antoine and a woman named "Camlet". The dreamlike Camelot who was born into a middle-class home did not regard Antoine as a potential candidate for her husband. I think it's like this from the beginning to the end. However, perhaps because this mature and amorous woman's manipulation of emotions aroused certain factors within Antoine who were accustomed to being controlled, his obsession with Camelot reached a morbid degree. He has no clever means of pursuit, and of course, he has not been able to become her husband or lover. Among them, "Stealing a Kiss" is a fascinating work. The time has come to the peaceful year of 1968, in the lovely afternoon, falling in love with a beautiful enchanting lady. Only the French can make such works, love, life, and art. There is no doubt that this is a country born for movies. Early in the morning, Antoine hid in the quilt like a child, waiting for the lady who came to say to him: Only your fingerprints are unique.
In the last "Love Running", the director gave us a good ending. In this movie, Antoine's life is recalled and summoned like a screening. He had his own job, realized the Balzac-style dream, met Camelette who had been obsessed for many years and confessed his thoughts, became friends with his ex-wife, talked with his mother's lover, and reunited with his childhood. In twenty years, five exquisite films, the director generously spent his life waiting for repeated pursuit, as if trying to comfort everyone's unspeakable youth. At the end of "Love Running", there appeared another woman who was as expectant as life itself. I don’t know if she is Antoine’s last love, or how many feelings he has to experience before we can see from his eyes. The ecstasy of seeing love. How much ocean does a white dove have to soar in order to rest on the beach? The answer is blowing in the wind.
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