Antoine and Colette (Antoine et Colette)
Directed by Francois Truffaut
Written by Francois Truffaut
1962/France
Les Films du Carrosse
First viewing/FilmStruck
[box] “I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say.” ― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca[/box]
Truffaut sustains the charm of The Four Hundred Blows in this short follow-up.
Having survived his childhood, seventeen-year-old Antoine Donel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) has achieved his dream of living independently. He has a job at a recording company that provides him with lots of free tickets to concerts. He spots a girl who attends the same concerts and eventually strikes up a friendship. He wants more but she is taking her time deciding what she wants.
Poor Antoine can’t catch a break! Even so, this charming film about the ups and downs of first love kept me smiling all the way through. There is an interesting sequence when Antoine demonstrates how phonograph records were made by hand in the olden days. The film is about 30 minutes long. Recommended.
Antoine and Colette was one of five films in a compilation of films of five nations called Love at 20. I wish I could find the whole compilation on line somewhere.
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