Stolen Kisses (1968)

 Francois Truffaut's "Stolen Kisses"

Nine years after the release of his debut masterpiece, "The 400 Blows," Francois Truffaut released a follow-up in 1968's "Stolen Kisses." Centering on Antoine Doinel, now out of military academy and searching for work, "Stolen Kisses" operates with different cinematic themes to its predecessor. Ultimately, the film is much more of a meditation on the nature of relationships and the varying ways in which we selfishly pursue our own needs and desires. 

After being dishonorably discharged from the army, Antoine finds work as a private detective and rekindles his romance with Christine, whom he wrote letters to while in the army. However, his job lands him working at a shoe store, spying on the owner. There, he falls in love with the owner's wife, pushing him to cut off things with Christine. After having a one night stand with the boss' wife, Antoine is fired from his apprenticeship as a private investigator. After becoming a TV repairman, he rekindles his relationship with Christine. In the final scene of the film, a stalker approaches Christine and professes his love for her, saying his love would be "permanent" and unlike "temporary" love from "temporary people." He walks off and Antoine is shaken by the encounter.

To me, the film demonstrates how fickle the relationships are in the film, as fickle as Antoine's employment. He bounces around job to job, not quite able to fit in with any one of them. He also is constantly shifting his focus between various people and interests. His attention is always being pulled by something different, causing him to shirk the people and responsibilities he held previously. 

This notion cements itself in the final scene, in which the random stalker approaches him and Charlotte. Antoine recognizes his own behavior in the film because Antoine similarly fell in love with a woman he was 'following.' Despite not knowing Charlotte, the man promises to be a 'permanent' lover in her life, unlike the "temporary people," meaning Antoine. Antoine continues to be a 'temporary' person in everyone's life, constantly bouncing in and out of people's lives, bouncing from job to job, and unable to settle in any capacity. 

This fickleness was a interesting point-of-focus in the film. I felt as through I didn't truly understand the point of anything while I was watching and it wasn't until the final scene where I arrived at the film's 'point.' However, despite this uncertainty as to why anything was happening or the necessity of it, Truffaut, like the magnificent filmmaker he is, pulls you into the story all the same. 

I was utterly infatuated with "Stolen Kisses." I was completely on board with the continuing adventures of Antoine Doniel, with the winding roads Truffaut pulls you down, and with the thematic differences between it and its predecessor film, "The 400 Blows." You certainly don't need to have watched "The 400 Blows" to understand "Stolen Kisses," however. The only thing it adds is character understanding as to why Antoine is so fickle. However, if you remove this context, the themes would still hit all the same.