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Wall Street Journal

‘The Adventures of Antoine Doinel': François Truffaut's Alter-Ego Grows Up

Those unfamiliar with the nuances of France's New Wave may not realize its movies aren't all inscrutable. For every Jacques Rivette, there was an Eric Rohmer; for every Jean-Luc Godard, a François Truffaut. Indeed, Truffaut, who died in 1984 at age 52, may well be the Nouvelle Vague's most accessible director. His breakthrough picture, 'The 400 Blows' (1959)—essential viewing—remains universally adored, and for good reason: It charts the tribulations of young adolescence as no film did before and few, if any, have managed since. So it's no wonder that though Truffaut didn't originally intend for Antoine Doinel, the movie's broodingly sympathetic central character and his acknowledged alter-ego, to reappear, he couldn't resist revisiting the rapscallion from time to time. Thus, beyond 'Blows,' we have three features and a short in which Antoine is the protagonist—always played by the same actor who first portrayed him, the winsome Jean-Pierre Léaud, though the parallels between Antoine and Truffaut diminish as the series progresses.