Summary
Antoine Doinel is 26 and happily married to Christine. Whilst his wife gives violin
lessons, Antoine works for a florist, dyeing flowers. However, he soon loses interest
in this job and decides to go for an interview with an American construction company.
To his surprise, he is offered a job, operating radio-controlled boats in a scale-model
of a harbour. Here, he meets Kyoko, an attractive Japanese young woman, who belongs
to the entourage of an important customer. In spite of the fact that his wife has
just given birth, Antoine starts to have an affair with Kyoko. When she learns the
truth, Christine is furious. It looks as if her marriage with Antoine might well
be over...
Review
Domicile conjugal is the fourth, and arguably the most humorous, installment in
François Truffaut's semi-autobiographical Antoine Doinel cycle of films.
It follows directly on from the previous film in the series, Baisers volés,
with Jean-Pierre Léaud once more reprising the role of Truffaut's hapless but loveable
altar ego, Antoine Doinel. The vulnerable yet mischievous adolescent from Les
Quatre cents coups is still visible in a twenty-something Doinel who is obviously
having difficulty adjusting to adult life. Brilliantly observed in places, hilariously
funny in others, Domicile conjugal is every bit as poignant as it is entertaining,
and it certainly is entertaining.
As in most of his films, Truffaut draws on his own experiences (including a failed marriage
and numerous ill-fated romances) to make this a very personal and believable portrait
of a marriage made in Heaven gradually transforming into a living Hell. The
film’s main strength lies in the way in which it manages to capture the rich colour of
the life of a newly wedded couple, complete with moments of tenderness, intense happiness
at the birth of a child, and, ultimately, the trauma when the relationship starts to falter.
From the first scene, the film endears itself to its audience with its striking honesty,
innocence and lack of pretence.
There are some moments of blindingly superb comedy, which range from the understated (such
as Antoine’s hopeless attempts to speak English during a job interview) to the blatantly
contrived (such as the exploding bouquet which reveals Antoine’s infidelity to his wife).
Indeed perhaps the most striking feature of Domicile conjugal is its constant stream
of comic situations and its tireless sense of fun, even whilst telling a somewhat poignant
story of marital breakdown.
Truffaut's long-standing obsession with cinema is noticeable here (as in many of his films)
through several references to his personal idols. The bustling courtyard in which
the Doinels have their apartment bears a marked similarity to that in Jean Renoir's 1936
classic Le Crime
de Monsieur Lange. There is also a brief homage to Jacques Tati, as a Monsieur
Hulot look-a-like makes an unexpected appearance at a railway station. Also
watch out a fleeting glimpse of Philippe Léotard in his film debut, some years
before he became famous for "hard man" roles in films such as La
Balance (1982).
© James Travers 2002
See also:
The life of François Truffaut
Les 400 coups
Tirez sur le pianiste
Jules et Jim
Farenheit 451
Baisers volés
Le Dernier métro
Buy films by François Truffaut
More about the French New Wave
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