love on the run (1979)

The final movement in Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel cycle, Love on the Run is perhaps the most poignant and apt final part to a film series imaginable.

The film opens with a strange montage over the credits, accompanied by the famous title theme by Alain Souchon. i haven’t mentioned how great the soundtracks to the Doinel films have been, but throughout the series, each one has managed to be distinctive yet thematically apt and recognisable.

The use of flashbacks is immediately apparent. I found it strangely coincidental how the first of flashbacks is concerned with the cellar scenes, after mentioning them in my review of bed and board a few weeks ago. The addition of these flashbacks in particular adds immensely to the emotional kick of the divorce scenes, and I felt myself in a similar position to how I did when viewing the later scenes of bed and board. With that in mind, the replaying of the cab sequence reinforces just how powerful a scene it actually is, and I would like to further my original thoughts on just how prevocational that particular moment comes across. Love on the Run is a tribute to the character of Doinel, and actively celebrates the series unashamedly. Some would probably deem such an endeavor to be incredibly self-indulgent, but I would deem it appropriate in this case. Not only is it a celebration but its also examines the concurrent themes and devices. For example, the family politics that make up Antoine’s past and instruct his relationships is confronted head on by Antoine, whom openly admits that he “falls for the family, and not just the girl”. Its interesting to see the suspicions that I had confirmed by Truffaut, and adds to the satisfying nature of the final part of the cycle.

In order to achieve the “closed” nature of the film, Truffaut compares several of the events within the rest of the series with those in Love on the Run. For example, the use of the phone call as a dramatic device is used to comment on the way in which Antoine’s attitude towards relationships has developed. If one was to compare the phone call that brings to a close the narrative of Bed and Board with that of the one at the start of Love on the Run (whereby Antoine calls Sabine, his new girlfriend) they would see just how much his priorities have shifted, which in terms of Antoine’s past ties into ideas outlined way back in The 400 Blows (the way in which he treats his own child etc). On that note its interesting how Antoine has incorporated the events of his youth (which we, the viewer, have already seen in The 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette) into the novel that he has written, therefore giving Truffaut an interesting and relevant way in which to use the flashbacks. With that in mind, I like the way in which he has slightly adapted the events to fit the novel, no doubt for dramatic drive, and the way in which he has changed the name of he character based on himself to Alphonse, the name of his son. These points, added to the comment in the train carriage about how the novel is only slightly autobiographical, may be in response to Truffaut's claims for how autobiographical the films are with regards to his own life. It’s a solid use of post-modernism, refreshing in its approach.

Love on the Run ties up a lot of loose ends. We finally get to see Antoine from another point of view, which I would imagine to be the ultimate point of this film; we get to see the events concerned with the story but from the point of view of those involved, not just Antoine, which is a first for the entire cycle. It helps with the closure of the series, and seems to work a charm. One of the more unexpected issues confronted, is the appearance of Antoine’s mothers lover, a man only seen very briefly in The 400 Blows. I say unexpected simply because it is an issue that hasn’t been adequately discussed throughout the later films, but it was a welcome surprise when the man makes an appearance. The subsequent visit to Antoine’s mothers grave ties up their relationship nicely and makes an appropriate bookend to the series.

There is a great moment wherein Colette and Christine meet, which works well at book ending the relationship aspect to his life. Alongside his mother it is these two characters that have shaped his life more than any other, and the way in which their meeting ties in with that of Antoine and his mothers fate works in a very satisfying manner, while at the same time leading onto the final state of his relationship with Sabine, being that his relationship with Sabine is basically a combination of all of the previous ones. In addition to this, despite the apparent happy ending we know Antoine only too well to suspect that this relationship will probably end up the same way as the previous two.

The closing credits, incorporating the scene from The 400 blows of Antoine on the fairground ride morphing with the shot of the kiss seems like the perfect way to end the Antoine Doinel cycle. One of the key ideas that Love on the Run presents is of love being projected in its purest form; as hope incarnate, which coincidently enough is part of the credos of this website, and, in my eyes, one of the key and wholly universal cinematic themes.