Les mistons

One of the best moments in the great short comes when Truffaut pays homage to/rips off the Lumiere short L'arroseur Arrose, involving one of the "mistons" stepping on a gardener's hose, causing him to get squirted in the face. Truffaut is acknowledging the French film heritage he will have to respect and continue, and he seems to have done pretty nicely. The short was recently put on video with another wonderful short, Antoine & Colette, which continues the adventures of Antoine Doinel a few years after The 400 Blows, as he falls and fails in love. The tape/DVD is worth seeking out

Les mistons (1957)

*** (out of 4)

Early Truffaut short has five young boys following around a beautiful woman who they begin to have feelings for even though none of them know exactly what the feelings are. They follow the woman around with her young lover as they walk, play tennis and eventually make love. This is a pretty good short with the director, apparently, reliving his youth and his first awakening to beautiful women in their short skirts. The movie is extremely well-made and I couldn't help but get a big chuckle at of the various situations that the boys put this woman and her lover in. I couldn't help but remember certain situations in my own use where my friends and I would spy on my friend's older brother and his girlfriend. Those innocent feelings are perfectly displayed in this film as Truffaut does a great job at bringing the children's feelings up front and also their confusion as to what they are doing and feeling. For all the innocence in the film I think it's fitting that the film takes a rather drastic turn towards the end. I won't reveal what happens but it too is a part of childhood and I think it fit the film very well. The performances by the five kids are quite good but the real beauty here is Bernadette Lafont as the woman.

'Les Mistons' is a short by one of the best French directors ever, François Truffaut. It was 2 years before his critically acclaimed 'Les Quatre Cents Coups' (The 400 Blows), and the greatness was already there.

The story is about Bernadette, a girl so beautiful it is unbearable, so the narrator tells us. The grown-up narrator was one of 5 boys. Instead of showing their love the normal way, they tease the girl and her boyfriend. Yes, when little boys are in love, they do those things.

The short is funny, dramatic and true. 'Les Quatre Cents Coups' was about a boy very misunderstood. The boy could have been one of the 5 from 'Les Mistons'. A very good short.

Francois Truffaut's pre-400 Blows toss-away is an understatedly entertaining little 18- minute film that takes a group of horny little boys and makes them a collective protagonist pursuing an older woman to play pranks on her, frustrated because they know that they could never have her for so many clear reasons. They antagonize her lovers and watch her simply be beautiful.

This tongue-in-cheek little whatever shows Truffaut and short story writer Maurice Pons's characters hustling all the woods, the streets, on bridges, and even inside a rural arena, and the kids have an exceedingly realistic affection to them, as this is in fact what boys their age would do with no technology or attention span. They play-fire guns at each other and devise their practical jokes against the lovers.

The object of affection is unbelievably attractive, and naturally so, and really that is all we truly know about her, as it's all any of these kids know about her. This short has the muted lack of direct involvement that Truffaut tends to have, and despite that there isn't enough time to get to know these kids or or their crush, it's enhanced to have the inscrutable, almost objectified feature in her character.

A group of boys adore a young lady who cycles around the area in loose skirts. Being too young to love her they decide to hate her and make her break up with her boyfriend. They follow her around and usually wind up watching the couple as they play tennis.

An early short from Truffaut, this is a bittersweet tale that is less structured than experienced. The film is essentially about a group of boys who tease a young woman because they don't know any other way of expressing their lust for her. It is a little heavy on noise and action but it is still good at heart. I would have liked a little bit more in the way of character rather than the slightly pretentious (French!) dialogue that was delivered - it didn't do enough to help me inside the characters or their feelings, but I suppose I had enough to be able to work it out for myself.

The film is visually quite stylish and reasonably well directed; although some of the shots will appear quite clichéd now (girl on bike etc) but it is still effective. If anything the lack of dialogue was made worse by the noisy shouting etc that dominated the film; I would have preferred it to be a bit more controlled as I found the noise grating and made it difficult to concentrate. The cast are mainly young children but the woman in the central role manages to appear alluring and `normal' at the same time.

Overall, this film has meaning and is enjoyable and interesting, but it hurts itself in some regards. It is worth seeing if you have more than a passing interest in Truffaut but it is overlong for it's material, dragging some scenes too long and lacks a stronger narrative.