Truffaut, infatuated with his both his creation and his leading actor, made four subsequent Antoine Doniel films: Antoine and Collette (1962), Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (1970), and Love on the Run (1979). The latter films cannot match the simple perfection of The 400 Blows, yet each is wonderful in its own right.
Doniel's chilly introduction to first love in the short film Antoine and Collette is both funny and awful as the object of his affection leaves Doniel with her doting parents as she heads out on dates.
Perhaps Truffaut can be forgiven for Love on The Run, where the director ends his love affair with Antoine Doniel with a series of sentimental flashbacks from the first four films interwoven with a new and final love story, as a 38-year-old Doniel finally accepts adulthood. The flashbacks overpower the film--but when they quote such excellent films as the first four Doinels, who is to complain?
A fifth DVD with documentaries, a booklet, and copious extra features round out this set of movies that deserve to be seen again and again.
Special Features
- Audio commentary on The 400 Blows by film scholar Brian Stonehill
- Audio commentary on The 400 Blows by Truffaut's lifelong friend Robert Lachenay
- Les Mistons (1957), Truffaut's 18-minute short
- Audio commentary for Les Mistons by then assistant director and future writing collaborator Claude de Givray
- Introduction to Les Mistons by Truffaut historian Serge Toubiana
- Rare audition footage of cast members from The 400 Blows
- Newsreel footage of Jean-Pierre Leaud at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959
- Portrait de Truffaut (1961), a 25-minute documentary about Truffaut
- Introduction to Stolen Kisses by film historian Serge Toubiana
- Archival newsreel footage of the "Langlois Affair"
- Newsreel footage of Truffaut's impassioned rally to shut down the 1968 Cannes Film Festival in support of striking students and workers
- Promotional spot featuring Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut appealing for public support of Henri Langlois
- Rare footage of Truffaut and co-writer Bernard Revon discussing their notes
- Interview footage of Truffaut speaking about Antoine Doinel and the decision to continue the Doinel series with Stolen Kisses
- Interview footage of Truffaut discussing the entire Doinel cycle
- Excerpt from a 1979 TV show featuring Truffaut
- Theatrical trailers for The 400 Blows, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run
- Booklet featuring Truffaut's writings, notes, script treatments, interviews with Truffaut, and more
- Widescreen anamorphic format
