Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.
Stolen Kisses is a quintessentially Truffaut work — light, melancholic, and deeply personal as the third installment of the Antoine Doinel cycle. Its Novelty is high because the Doinel series is utterly singular: semi-autobiographical, episodic, and brimming with Truffaut's unmistakable romantic-humanist voice. The plot is deliberately slight and picaresque, following Antoine through a series of comic misadventures and romantic entanglements, which is charming but not dramatically ambitious — solid but unexceptional. Léaud's performance as Doinel is characteristically naturalistic and endearing, well-supported by Delphine Seyrig as the alluring Fabienne, though acting across the board is warm rather than revelatory. Cinematography by Denys Clerval capably captures the Parisian streets and intimate interiors in the nouvelle vague style without being visually distinctive. The ending — the surprise arrival of a mysterious admirer and Christine's quiet declaration — is sweet and fitting but not especially striking.