ANTOINE AND COLETTE

(director/writer: Francois Truffaut; cinematographer: ; editor: ; music: Georges Delerue; cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud (Antoine Doinel), Marie-France Pisier (Colette), Patrick Auffay(Rene), Jean-François Adam(Albert Tazzi), François Darbon (Colette’s stepfather), Rosy Varte(Colette’s mother); Runtime: 32; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: ; Twentieth Century Fox; 1962-France-in French with English subtitles)

“It’s a delightful look at young romance and its pitfalls.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Francois Truffaut (“Love on the Run”/”Stolen Kisses”/”Bed and Board”) directs this black and white shot comical 32-minute short, a sequel to his The 400 Blows that was originally released as a chapter in Love At Twenty. The 17-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is Triffaut’s fictional alter ego, who a few years after his juvenile delinquent experience in The 400 Blows lives alone in Paris’s Le Cluse section, works for Philips’ record company pressing records and relaxes by regularly attending classical youth concerts with his delinquent friend Rene (Patrick Auffay), now a stockbroker. At a Berlioz concert for youth, Antoine spots the attractive student Colette (Marie-France Pisier) in the audience and after a few more encounters with her, finally begins a relationship. Her parents adore him but the elusive Colette only considers Antoine more a friend than a love interest, as her chilly reaction to his advances to kiss her leaves him brokenhearted.

It’s a delightful look at young romance and its pitfalls. It’s based on Truffaut’s experience with a young woman he met as a youth in a cinema.

REVIEWED ON 7/18/2013 GRADE: B+