L'amour en fuite

This is Antoine Doinel's goodbye to all of us who followed his life and experiences through 20 years, from "The 400 Blows", "Antoine &t Colette", "Stolen Kisses" to "Bed & Board" and finally here in "Love on the Run"; from his problems at school to his life as a working man, married man, later divorced, reader, writer, lover, soldier, florist, private detective and more; in short a full life. Truffaut's alter ego (always played by the amazing Jean-Pierre Léaud) takes us through many moments of his life in the previous films while trying to correct few things in the present with his latest girl, Sabine (Dorothée).

Here, all the women of Doinel's life appears together and now he has a chance to figure out why his relationships simply doesn't work. Recently divorced of Christine (Claude Jade), and involved with no good terms with Sabine, Doinel meets again Colette (Marie-France Pisier), his first love and they share some secrets, remember some moments when they two met for the first time, and both characters discover more things about each other, about life and about love.

At the trivia section is mentioned that Truffaut thought about making a huge mistake while filming this sequel, and I think he shouldn't be ashamed of it. It isn't much of a film since half of it it's flashbacks taken from all of Doinel's films plus a few moments of "Le Nuit Americaine" included as an interesting subplot of Doinel's romantic affairs (even though he plays a different character in that film). Compared to the other movies of the series this is less comical, a little bit too serious and it's more focused on how the kid that seems to never grow finally realizes what love really is than his amusing and funny life experiences as a working man.

But seeing all the flashbacks, those memorable moments covering 20 years of a person is breathtaking, refreshing, unique in all motion picture history. We can look back and see how much Antoine/Léaud changed through these years and some of us practically saw him growing up and I bet Truffaut must have loved this experience, seeing someone he could relate with and share some of his own experiences and see them portrayed on screen. One of the most touching moments of "Love on the Run" is the reunion between Doinel and the lover of his mother, whom he haven't seen in years, and the way they talk about the past, we see scenes from "The 400 Blows" when Doinel was a kid and saw him with his mother, and he hated the guy for it, then few years later they are happy to see each other, a bond between Doinel's troubled life and his life while a grown up man.

Most of the reviews on this classic are very superficial here. "Love on the Run" is a memorable, delightful and magic experience through great moments of one of the most interesting, inspiring and charming characters of all time, and this is his goodbye to us, always striving, always fighting, always believing in something and always managing to get what he wants even though we as audience might think he'll be lost forever. Doinel echoes a part of us that never should die: our youth. 10/10

Love on the Run (1979), the closing chapter in François Truffaut's celebrated series of films focusing on the character of Antoine Doinel; a near-iconic figure in French cinema brought vividly to life by the always great Jean-Pierre Léaud. Here, the actors injects the part with his usual nervous charm and cocky likability, though it is clear that character of Antoine is , still as uncertain about life, love and fidelity as ever before. On a Structural level, the film is built around Antoine's divorce from his wife Christine - with the reappearance of Claude Jade from Stolen Kisses (1968) and Bed and Board (1970) - inter-cut with flashbacks to early escapades from Antoine's presented in the style of a clip show.

This particular stylistic device does set up a sense of familiarity for new viewers, however; with such a slight plot, the flashbacks end up becoming the most interesting part of the movie, with what little new footage there is so repetitive that it feels like you're watching the same scene over and over again. In fact, the film is so hastily put together that it looks like Truffaut is desperate to get the series finished and out of the way, so that he can finally move on with the more progressive work that he was attempting with films like The Green Room (1979) and The Last Metro (1980).

Still, the film can sometimes be charming and the actors are all on fine form, but the whole thing seems lacking somewhat; with the use of repeated imagery and scenes cut and pasted from the previous films making this feel too much like a retread rather than a radical re-interpretation. For me, the film just seems empty, deflated and somehow lacking the allure, beauty and sophistication that was always synonymous with Truffaut's work or at least the films of his that I am familiar with. For me, Love on the Run was something of a slight, disappointing and unimaginative film that failed to inspire me in the way I had initially hoped.

True, there are a bit too much flash back in the film (with some lengthy ones,too), but after the previous four Antoine Doinel films, this last installment brings so much sentiment and feeling that is quite unique and unmatched in any other films. Whether Antoine's life will change or not, nobody can tell. The important thing is, he has to face the reality this time. He's no longer young, plus he's a divorced father and struggling writer (what a combination!). Yet as all the people around him changed, Antoine still has the child-like energy and belief in love. That's what makes him so attractive as a protagonist in FIVE films. Truffaut really gave us film lovers a great gift. Too bad that he died in 1984, or we might have a 6th or 7th film on Antoine Doinel!

This is the final film about the character, Antoine Doinel. He first appeared in The 400 Blows and you see him in 5 Truffaut films over the years. You see him grow from an emotionally neglected little punk in the first film and by the fifth, he is a Woody Allen-like little guy who has had a long series of troubled relationships that he ultimately sabotaged due to his discomfort with emotional commitment. He has a great time falling in love but soon strays or otherwise causes the relationships to sour.

The plot and emotional growth of the character is excellent. So why only a 7 for this film? Well, much of the film is simply cut and pasted from the previous Antoine Doinel films. This gave it a certain cheap look. Plus, what I really found inexplicable was that Truffaut used clips from Jean-Pierre Léaud films that were NOT about Doinel but pretended the clips were about him. In addition, clips from some Doinel films were shown but the entire scene is re-dubbed or explained in a way in which the scene did NOT appear in the original film. A good example is a clip from Stolen Kisses. The narrator says he (Doinel) was unlucky in love and followed attractive women because he'd become infatuated with them. However, this scene was actually of Doinel following a lady because he was a private detective in this film--this was NOT someone he was infatuated with. Those who remember this movie well will be shocked at how easy it is to spot this obvious change. Finally, for some odd reason, one of the clips from Stolen Kisses is shown in black and white, while all the others from the movie are in color. It just didn't make sense why this occurred.

These inconsistencies are not great film-making. Decent film-making, maybe. For a better Truffaut film, try watching The Bride Wore Black (my personal favorite) or Wild Child or The Story of Adele H.

The problem with sequels is that they usually don't have the same impact as the original (can anybody tell me that ANY of the "Indiana Jones" movies after "Raiders" was worth a darn?). Truffaut took a big chance with the Antoine Doniel character and made 5 movies with Leaud playing him in all of them....instead of losing my interest, I found each installment compelling and wonderful in their own little ways...."Love On The Run", the final installment of the series, shows us a much older Antoine who's still confused as to what exactly love is....unlike "The 400 Blows", the impact can't be likened to a punch to the jaw, but is more subtle and infectious. Truffaut's ode to love, to Jean-Pierre Leaud, and to Antoine Doniel, does this cinematic sleight of hand with flashbacks to the other 4 movies, with re-introducing a lot of the characters (his ex-wife, Collette, and even the man he caught kissing his mom in the first movie), and paints a more complete picture of a man who finally stops running (no pun intended) from his wretched childhood, and who finally learns that love requires trust and sacrifice....a magnificent last chapter to one of cinema's most beloved characters. You might not realize it while watching it, but you'll still be seeing scenes from the movie running in your head for days afterwards.....