Antoine Doinel is a fictional character created by French film directorFrançois Truffaut. Doinel is to a great extent an alter ego for Truffaut, sharing many of the same childhood experiences, looking somewhat alike and even being mistaken for one another on the street. Although Truffaut did not initially plan for Doinel to be a recurring character, he eventually returned to the character in one short-subject and three full-length films after introducing him in his debut feature, The 400 Blows. In all, Truffaut followed the fictional life of Antoine Doinel for over 20 years, shows him in romance with Christine in Stolen Kisses, then the marriage of Antoine and Christine and the divorce of the couple Antoine and Christine in Love on the Run.
Recurring characters
Doinel was played in all five movies by Jean-Pierre Léaud. Doinel's lover and later wife, Christine Darbon, was acted by Claude Jade in three films Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board and Love on the Run. The director's love to Claude Jade shines through his alter-ego Doinel. His unrequited love interest Colette Tazzi appears in the short film, in a brief uncredited cameo in Stolen Kisses and in the last film. Patrick Auffay appears as Antoine's friend René in the first two films. François Darbon appears as Colette's father in the second and as a military adjudant in the third film. Daniel Ceccaldi and Claire Duhamel as Christine's parents in Stolen Kisses and Domicile conjugal. A lover of Antoine's mother, M. Lucien, has been played by Jean Douchet in the first and by Julien Bertheau in the last movie. A writer friend of Antoine, played by Jacques Robiolles appears in Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board. The son of Antoine and Christine, Alphonse, is played in Bed and Board by four girls and in Love on the Run by Julien Dubois. In the 2005 radio playAlphonse's Journal in which only Christine and Alphonse reappearing, Alphonse is spoken by Stanislas Merhar. Numerous other characters re-appear through flashbacks utilizing footage from earlier films in Love on the Run.
The Adventures of Antoine Doinel
The set of five films has been named "The Adventures of Antoine Doinel." The set is made up of the following:
''The 400 Blows''
Truffaut's debut was the film The 400 Blows. The 1959 film introduces us to the 14-year-old Doinel, a troubled Parisian boy who skips school, eventually turning to street life and petty crime in response to neglect at home by his parents. Towards the end of the film, he is sent to a reform school, from which he escapes for places unknown.
''Antoine and Colette''
The next appearance of Doinel was in the film shortAntoine and Colette, which was part of the 1962 omnibus film L'amour à vingt ans. Doinel is now age 17 and becomes obsessed with Colette, a music student, but she only wants to be friends.
''Stolen Kisses''
In the third installment, Stolen Kisses, a more mature Doinel attempts to return to civilian life after a dishonourable discharge from the military. His romantic forays are rocky with Christine, and then his boss's wife.
''Bed and Board''
In 1970, Doinel and Christine have married in Bed and Board, but Doinel suddenly becomes obsessed with a young Japanese woman.
''Love on the Run''
Doinel's adventures come to a close in 1979's Love on the Run, where his romantic attentions pass from his ex-wife Christine to disc-seller Sabine Barnerias. In Antoine and Colette and Love on the Run, flashbacks to Doinel's earlier life consist of footage from the previous films.
Christine Darbon
Christine Darbon, portrayed by actress Claude Jade, first appears in the life of Antoine in Stolen Kisses. Subsequently she appeared in two more films, Bed and Board and Love on the Run, where, after divorcing Doinel, she again becomes Christine Darbon. Truffaut uses the occasion to examine three states, three ages, of the woman: loved from a distance, married and misled, divorced but still on good terms. Christine is characterized by her good behaviour, the promptness of her glance, a sense of sacrifice which is by no means "tragic". In the film Love on the Run, Antoine and Christine were the first couple in the country to divorce under a new law allowing dissolution of a marriage by mutual consent. In a case of life imitating art, Christine can be seen as part of Truffaut's autobiography. While Antoine is seeking to seduce Christine in Stolen Kisses, in real life Truffaut fell in love with the actress who portrayed Christine, Claude Jade, becoming engaged to her. The two however did not wed. The character of Christine Darbon left an important and indelible mark on Truffaut's work: She is a character who never really reveals her emotions, whose sad smile is her only weapon to fight Antoine's cruelty, and whose soft glance barely manages to hide an inner wound.
Criterion Collection
The entire "Adventures of Antoine Doinel" has been made available as part of The Criterion Collection.
