I hope you all have read the essay by Marilyn Fabe. If you haven't, go away from your computer right now and take 15 minutes to read the essay.
OK. Now, take a look at this quote from Truffaut in a 1966 interview:
"Before I met Rossellini, I wanted to make films of course, but it seemed impossible. A dream. He made it all seem easy. He has a powerful gift for simplification. He told me, it isn't hard to write a screenplay, you only have to look at the reality around you...The 400 Blows owes a great deal to Rossellini...[H]e showed me that things must be close to life."
Think about this quote and respond to it, using at least one scene from The 400 Blows. Feel free to include evidence from Rome Open City to back up any statements you make regarding Rossellini's filmmaking style. Write at least 2 well-developed paragraphs (be sure to write cinematically) and use at least one quote from the Marilyn Fabe essay.
DUE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 15
A quote by Truffaut in a 1966 interview was taken and Truffaut stated "Before I met Rossellini, I wanted to make films of course, but it seemed impossible. A dream. He made it all seem easy. He has a powerful gift for simplification. He told me, it isn't hard to write a screenplay, you only have to look at the reality around you...The 400 Blows owes a great deal to Rossellini...He showed me that things must be close to life.” In this quote, Truffaut explains that simplicity can be important and just as powerful in films as a very complex shot. A screenplay doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect to make a great movie, and this is very evident in this film The 400 Blows. This film is the true example of simplicity for two different reasons. The first reason is that the script is very simple. When watching the film, the plot seems to be non-existent. The film seemed to be about a kid who grew up with a mom who didn’t really love him to much, and this film showed his life as he tried to live through different issues with no set problem for him to overcome except for his own adolescence, which it doesn’t seem he does even by the end of the film. The best example of simplicity in this movie is that there aren’t any crazy difficult shots that look super complex. In the scene where Antoine Doinel and his friend Rene go to watch a little kids puppet show. The shots are very simple, a shot of the puppet shot, then a cut to the little kids in the audience, then a cut to Antoine and Rene, then a cut back to the kids for a few minutes. Very cut and dry and simple. Nothing super fancy in that scene or even the movie as a whole. The other reason this film is so simple is the plot has no rhyme or reason. This film is about the struggles of adolescence. That’s it. There is no major problem Antoine has to overcome as regular movie goers would come to expect. The movie inception has one of the most complicated plots out of any movie I’ve ever seen, with a crazy ending that is meant to blow the audiences mind. This isn’t always good if you want to get a strong emotional response from the audience, and sometimes simple can do more for you than complexity.
ReplyDeleteIn the quote, Truffaut also mentions Rossellini and how his film style was very simple. This is evident in the film Rome Open City and you can tell that Truffaut learned everything he knew about filmmaking from Rossellini, as it seems The 400 Blows and Rome Open City was made by the same person. Rome Open City was a very simple movie shot wise, as there weren’t any complicated shots in the film at all, just as in The 400 Blows. Both films are incredibly simple, and I believe this is what triggers such a strong emotional response from the audience and viewers everywhere. Truffaut also mentions that the easiest way to write a screenplay is by just looking around you. This is a lot of what he did with the 400 Blows. He looked around himself at the people of France, and saw that the biggest and most worldwide problem that everyone can relate to is adolescence. He picked the most simple problem, and he did it in a very simple way. There are a lot of extra shots of for example Antoine taking out the garbage in the beginning of the film. No other filmmaker would decide to add this shot into the film, but he did because even though it has nothing to do with the plot, the movie isn’t surrounded around the plot, but around Antoine, so he adds a lot of random shots to show emphasize Antoine’s life, not the plot itself. This film is one of the most influential film that has a major impact on filmmakers today and was the first of many films made in the film movement the French New Wave.
The film called “Les Quatre Cents Coups”, or “The 400 Blows”, directed by Truffaut, is one of the most influential films to come out of the French New Wave period in cinematic history. Truffaut directed “The 400 Blows” with all the ideas that have influenced him throughout his lifetime, including influences from film makes Rossellini from Italy. Rossellini was part of the movement in Italy known as Neo-Realist period of film history. Films that came out of this period of history had to utilize the limited resources that were provided to them. This lead toward many aspects that classify the Neo-Realist period including on location shooting and limited film stock and limitations that forced Rossellini to be creative with the resources he had. This simple style of filming that he started to use helped simplify the story and thus made it more believable and “close to life.” This kind of film making style is one of the things that influenced Truffaut in his making of “The 400 Blows.” Truffaut said once that Rossellini said to him that in order to write a good screenplay for a film that it and the film “must be close to life.” Truffaut took this and wrote a screenplay about his own life, because what is closer to life than a story based on a true life story? Marilyn Fabe said in an essay about “The 400 Blows” that Antoine Doinel, the protagonist of “The 400 Blows… has the same life history as Truffaut. He too is born out of wedlock and his parents find him a burden… Antoine plays hooky from school with his best friend, sneaking into the cinema and committing petty thefts.” Also he adopted the film style of making due with limited resources and still being able to make a powerful film, from Rossellini, and used this in order to create a narrative that seems like reality and thus touches the viewers’ emotions. This pared along with the extremely cinematic elements of the movie, this film can be said to be one of the greatest films of the French New Wave.
ReplyDeleteEvery scene of the film is able to show this simplistic style of filming paired with the cinematic elements of the scene that creates the meaning that Truffaut wanted the viewer to experience when watching his life story on the screen. One of these scenes that is extremely powerful is the final scene of the movie that seems to wrap up all the themes about adolescence tat are present in the film. In this scene, Antoine tries to escape from the prison that his parents have put him in, and he does and runs to the ocean where he stops, turns around and the movie ends there. Truffaut wanted to make a film that is simple but also had the goal of making it different from other films of the time, which is shown in this scene. The scene starts with a shot of Antoine running under a hole in the bottom of the fence that surrounds his correctional facility, and another man running after him. What is unusual about this shot from other films is that it is an extremely long take. Instead of using editing to cut back and forth between Antoine running and the guard chasing him, it is all done from one long shot that captures the whole scene solely by panning left and right following the actions of the two people. This allows us to understand everything that is happening in real time with true spatial relations. Marilyn Fabe says that this shot, because of the true spatial and temporal relations, that “we receive a heightened awareness of Antoine’s danger of being captured.” This scene is filmed on location, without a whole lot of complexity of the shot used. However Truffaut is still able to create a world that is believable and “close to life” because of how this one shot is filmed. Even from this one example we can see the influence of Rossellini on Truffaut’s work. Also the shot in this scene with Antoine running towards the right of the frame with the camera moving along side him is another example of how Truffaut makes this scene seem “close to life.”
This whole shot was filmed with the camera facing in one position, toward Antoine, and films him running along the road on his way down to the ocean. This shot, once again is very simple, not a lot of complexity but Truffaut is able to make this shot powerful by making it over a minute in length. During this whole minute, we can see that Antoine doesn’t show any sign of fatigue or of wanting to take a break from running, and we can really feel how much that he needed to get away from that prison, to finally be free of anyone who tries to put him down. This shot thus again is simple, but we feel a powerful connection with Antoine here with the length of the take of him running. One of the final impressive shots of this scene is the final one with Antoine running towards the ocean. Another simple, handheld shot of Antoine running and running. He finally stops and turns around when he reaches the ocean and realizes he has no where else left to run. He has no where else left to go to escape being trapped again by the guards chasing him. The following still screen and zoom on the still image of Antoine’s face is unexpected by most viewers that have seen the film for the first time. This way of ending the film can tell the reader a lot. Marilyn Fabe says that it draws attention to the camera and the person behind the camera, and the superposition of the word FIN on Antoine’s face is representative of the bars that were covering his face when he was in the prison. Also this shot confuses the viewer, makes them wonder, “What is he looking at? Is it the guards? What’s going to happen to him?” All these questions about what is going to happen is evidence that the viewers believe in this story and seems very close to something that could happen in real life. So this simple still image and zoom on Antoine is another example of how Truffaut creates a lot of something very simply done. So looking at this scene of the film, we are able to see the reason why Truffaut says that Rossellini had a powerful impact on him and the creation of “The 400 Blows.”
ReplyDeleteThe influence of the world around him was blatantly evident in Trauffaut's "400 Blows." Also, this film was obviously heavily influenced by the Italian Neorealist Era, including Rosselini's extremely influential "Rome Open City." The Neorealist period was a time when the films in Italy were realistic depictions of what every day Italians were facing, and the struggles that were thrust upon them. Similarly, "400 Blows" acts similarly, as it depicts the everyday life of a French teenager. More specifically, it was vaguely autobiographical, and Fabe calls it an "acute portrait of the artist as a young man." In both "400 Blows" and "Rome Open City," we're presented with our protagonists confronting difficult situations that do not result in the happy cliched endings that we're used to, but leave them face to face with harsh realities. A strong theme running through both of these films is the idea of children being stripped of their innocence at a young age as a result of oppression from the adult world.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting characteristic of the Neorealist and Nouvelle Vague is their ability to express ideas of the film through mise-en-scene in equal proportions with narrative. As such, the layout of many of the scenes is just as important as the dialogue within them. This technique is used effectively in the opening scenes of the film. The camera pans over Paris, unrestrained, and gives the impression of freedom and oportunity, and starts the movie off on a positive and light note. The next scene starkly contrasts this, however, when we are presented with Antoine's classroom. The classroom is a gloomy dark, to Paris' hopeful bright. Also, the looming doors are tightly shut, and there are no windows in the room. When all of this comes together with the symmetric and creativity-free set up of the desks, all of which point toward the teacher, who is depicted from low angles, there is an extremely oppressive and distressing air to this environment, as well as an extremely closed frame. Also, after Antoine gets in trouble in class, the teacher sends him to the corner, where he stands behind a chalkboard and is invisible to the audience for the remainder of the scene, which is indicative of the total oppression he finds himself under in life. Overall, this whole mise-en-scene comes together to represent the oppression that Truffaut felt as a child, and gave rise to the understanding that "400 Blows" was an autobiography of sorts.
Truffaut took advice from his film role model, Rossellini, and used the influence of the world around him to write the screenplay for The 400 Blows. He was also influenced by Rossellini's film making style because he looked up to Rossellini and found him to be an extraordinary film maker during the Italian Neorealist era. Truffaut took some of Rossellini's film styles and used them during the French Neorealist film era. This New Wave period was heavily influenced by everyday life. As Marilyn Fabe wrote in her essay about Auteur Theory and the French New Wave, "While The 400 Blows is certainly about a child who raises hell-- rebelling against authority by playing hooky and stealing-- the title has a double meaning. It not only refers to the exploits of a hell-raising adolescent rebel, but also alludes to the blows dealt the child by his insensitive, neglectful parents and the stifling, bullying school and state authorities-- the kinds of blows to a young person's psyche that could well cause a child to become alienated and raise hell." Truffaut took the everyday trials and tribulations of a young boy in France and made it into a film that everyone can relate to. That is what the French New Wave was all about.
ReplyDeleteOne scene where Truffaut's filmmaking style is prevalent is the scene where Antonie is running away from the boy's home he was attending for school. It is shot with a handheld camera and the scene consists of several long shots. Almost the entire scene consists of one medium shot of Antonio running. This shot lasts for almost a minute. The audience is mesmerized by the way that Antonio runs, almost exerting no energy. The non diegetic music playing is almost peaceful. This makes the audience comfortable and allows them to feel for Antonio. He stops running at the ocean. This symbolizes freedom. The ocean is filled with so much mystery, just like the remainder of Antonie's life. These long shots reflect Truffaut's filmmaking style.
The film “The 400 Blows” directed by Francois Truffaut and produced in 1959, is probably one of the most if not the most influential movie to ever come out of what we refer to as the French New Wave era. In an interview in 1966, Truffaut admits that he wanted to make films since he was a child, but he felt it was impossible. After listening to Roberto Rossellini talk about how to make films, he felt a lot better about his chances of becoming a director. Roberto Rossellini was part of a major era in film history called Neo-realism in Europe. Because of World War II, the film industry in Europe diminished and materials were scarce. This forced many film makers to rely only on resources that were available. They took advantage of on-scene location and any film stock they could get their hands on. These limited resources inspired directors such as Rossellini to create films showing the daily lives of their people; the “real life” people had to face after the war. Truffaut later adopted this style of filming because it was easy enough to do with the resources given. The 400 Blows is an example of this, reflecting the life of a disturbed teenage boy who does not receive the attention he deserves and is bullied and disrespected. The movie deals with the tribulations he goes through. Some, such as Marilyn Fabe, say that Truffaut poured the emotions he had about his childhood into the movie to let people know about himself.
ReplyDeleteOne scene that truly expresses an adaptation of Rossellini’s style of realism through Truffaut’s 400 Blows is the first two scenes of the movie. The first scene of the movie is a series of continuously moving shots of Paris. All of the shots are open and joyful. High angles are very frequent, especially in the multiple shots showing the Eiffel Tower. All of this is to show the infinite happiness that one can experience in Paris, or so we think. The very next scene juxtaposes the first scene tremendously when we see Antoine is unable to enjoy this freedom and happiness. He is stuck in a classroom where he is harassed and bullied. The classroom has a very hopeless feel to it, as there is barely any lighting to show such hope or happiness. There are no windows, the door is shut, and the desks are all symmetrically aligned to face the teacher; all of these create a feeling of suffocation and thus a closed frame. We are then forced to face the oppression that Truffaut is getting at and comparing to that of his childhood. As Antoine is told to sit behind the chalkboard for the rest of the scene for having the photograph, the audience gets a chance to feel what Antoine feels: the hopelessness and abandonment he has felt and will feel throughout the movie. The realism behind this scene can be traced to any child, though. What child enjoys being in school? The no windows, tightly closed doors, and an evil teacher who doesn’t respect Antoine only add to the desire for freedom.
Excellent response, Courtney!!!
DeleteI think that the influence of filmmakers on one and other is one unique aspect of film. It seems that it is one of the last fields that an artist’s mentor can still be so directly involved in shaping that artist and it is evident in the apprentice artist’s work. The idea of looking at filmmaking simplistically and more naturally that came from Rossellini is the driving force behind the French New Wave, the movement in part led by the films of the protégé Truffaut. The desire to make a more real movie is evident in Rossellini’s film Rome Open City, as it is a part of the Italian neo-realism movement, and Truffaut seems to go a step further in his film, pushing the limits a little more, and experimenting with film techniques like shot length and style of shot in order to reach a new level of “close to life”. The shots are all so natural. We are experiencing 1950’s Paris as a young man as close to reality as possible. The fact that the sense of wonderment that comes across is so strong is due to the youth of the director, Truffaut was only in his 20s, and how raw and close the subject matter was to the director. It was generally autobiographical. Truffaut was also influenced by the idea from Alexandre Astruc that “cinema was potentially a means of expression as subtle and complex as written language.” I think this intrigued filmmakers of the French New Wave and gave them the motivation that each and every choice they made was unique and important, as important as an author’s style and went to define them in some way.
ReplyDeleteMy scene begins at 20 minutes in and is the day that Antoine skips school with his friend and the two go to the movies. This scene is more of a celebration of the city of Paris, the actual action or dialogue isn’t that important. The non-diegetic music is upbeat and sets a mood of contentment yet curiousity and is often louder than the dialogue- making the focus on the idea of two friends enjoying themselves rather than whatever the two friends are actually talking about. It makes the movie more timeless; everyone can relate to having a friend and exploring with them, but perhaps not everyone can relate to what two boys in the 1950s are interested in. Also the camera in many cases doesn’t focus on Doinel and his friend, it focuses on the buildings and the cars moving past them. That makes it more from their perspective as they aren’t focused on themselves. They’re in wonderment of the hustle and bustle and everything at their fingertips. And in this way, through simplicity, Truffaut is about to achieve his objective of making a movie that is “close to life” at least in some sense.
The French New Wave and Francois Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows” are both inspired by the Italian neorealist movement, especially Rossellini's style of filmmaking for that matter. Marilyn Fabe stated that “[Truffaut] praised directors...for making visually innovative films in their own distinct styles and for creating their films from their own stories. These directors were the true auteurs.” Truffaut was deeply moved by Rossellini to make films that were more closely associated with reality and the harsh struggles that come with it. "The 400 Blows" was an explicit and definite example of this, loosely being based on Truffaut's life. Ellie also said that, "Truffaut’s film focuses on the trying times of coming of age children, and the often negative affects society can have on them..."
ReplyDeleteThe film exemplifies a theme of the absence of parents in the lives of their children. This is evident in Antoine's apparent mistreatment by his mother and father at home, and even has an impact on him in school. The other kids also deal with the same set of problems, and are pushed by the people around them to support themselves. The opening scene of Antoine at school exemplifies this. Lots of low angle shots are used to portray the adolescent who tower over Antoine and his powerlessness, showing that they are the dominant ones. It is apparent in this scene that the theme of child neglect hovers over the plot of the movie, as children are constantly being taken advantage of by their predecessors. Another major scene that contradicts the power struggle between the young and old, but also supports the child disconnect motif, is the scene where Antoine escapes from the military school that his parents enrolled him into. The moment he arrives there, a huge shot is used to convey the giant world that Antoine has to face by himself, without the love and support of his parents.
The French New Wave, and Truffaut's films in general, were said to be greatly inspired by the work of the Italian Neo-realism movement, which often used elements of everyday life to convey meaning and tell a story. Specifically, several aspects from the the film Rome Open City (directed by Roberto Rossellini)are used in The 400 Blows. These spurs of reality are what allows us as an audience to connect with the characters and relate to them. In Rome Open City, what was being depicted on the screen with the Nazis implementing terror over the people had really happened to the people of Rome. It wasn't easy for the target audience to be able to feel emotion because for some of them, it could have held aspects of their own life. The same is true for The 400 Blows where the main character, Antoine, was inspired by the life of Truffaut and can often be paralleled to the lives of many other viewers because of the almost clearly universal theme of childhood suppressment. There are a few scenes in the movie that clearly depict the theme of "reality" (so to speak). First are the wide angle, aerial views of Paris. First, by the use of wide angle, we are given a broader spectrum as to what's going on, while also getting the feeling that childhood is light, joyful, and open (often in these shots, we hear the strongly similar, high pitched, instrumental theme playing). Like Rome Open City, the focal city of the film (in that case Rome, in this case Paris) are often shown in complete reality. For example, in Rome Open City, real shots of Rome and Roman people are shown sporadically throughout the sequences, intertwined with acting (that wasn't too far from reality itself). The same holds true for The 400 Blows where shots of the real city and the real people are used throughout the film (for example, when Antoine and Rene skip school, they are running amongst real Parisians). It is this kind of choice by Truffaut that adds an element of reality to the film that we wouldn't be able to get through anything else. For both Rome Open City and The 400 Blows, the target audiences (basically residents of the cities themselves and to an extent, the country as a whole) would recognize instantaneously if something seemed "off" or "unnatural." Therefore, it was almost the primary goal of the directors to make their viewers seem "at home" and try to make the film (and therefore the city) as realistic as possible.
ReplyDeleteHowever, reality does not always come with just the shots of the city. It can be seen in many more areas of the film, specifically two scenes. The first I will talk about is when Antoine is being interviewed by the psychologist at the juvenile prison. As an actor, Truffaut directed Leaud to come up with his own answers to the questions (given general context, of course) and use his own language. This brought upon a sense of emotional reality to the scene. Had the scene been scripted, it may not have had as substantial of a value as if it came right from Leaud himself. After shooting was complete, Truffaut noted that Leaud burst into tears when watching the final cut because "behind the autobiographical chronicle of mine, he recognized the story of his own life," essentially the goal of the film.
. Lastly, the almost minute and a half scene of Antoine's escape offers a sense of reality that most directors don't dare use. The goal of Antoine throughout the entire film was freedom, to escape those who didn't care about him or love him. The sea represented that freedom to him. So whether or not we, in our childhood, longed for that type of freedom or not, if we haven't already felt for Antoine in the rest of the movie, Truffaut makes sure we have time to reflect now. After escaping the work camp, he runs down the side of a road to what we can assume is freedom. While he is running, there really isn't much else for the viewer to do but watch and contemplate. There is only dietetic noise - the sound of his footsteps along the beaten path and the occasional chirping of a bird. This keeps us fully entwined in reality. There is no music coming out of the woodwork; we are right there next to him for a minute and a half as he makes his escape and as the camera follows him the whole way there. It is this use of real time that allows us to understand Antoine in a way we may not have been able to before, to be invested in his freedom, and to recognize his eternal longing (as we are forced to sit and wait for what seems to be eternity). It is the fact that the ending takes place on the screen in real time that gives almost a new meaning to the end of the film, an additionally makes it one of the best film endings of all time.
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ReplyDeleteThe 1959 film, The 400 Blows, which was directed and written by the great François Truffaut, undoubtedly contains a strong story that we are able to emotionally connect to. The simplicity and straightforwardness of the overall style doesn’t cause a lack of strength in plot, which is probably one of the reasons why it remains so interesting. In an interview, Truffaut said that “the screenplay of The 400 Blows is something rather intimate to me. So in a certain sense, I didn’t really need that much craft in order to lead it to it’s conclusion.” With the whole realness of the film, including the struggles of Antoine being misunderstood by society, it is easy to tell that this is a part of the French New Wave, because movies within this movement usually dealt with the social issues within their setting. This is very similar to the Italian Realism movement that Roberto Rossellini was prominent in, which portrayed the poor and working class as close as possible. Both Rome, Open City and The 400 Blows do a perfect job of shooting on location, and showing the world as it is.
ReplyDeleteDuring the scene when Antoine is being driven in the police carriage to spend the night in jail, the shots collectively create the simple feeling of freedom and joy, though he is held captive behind bars. It cuts between shots of the bright city lights, and Antoine, so that we can see the emotions on his face. There is a fourteen second shot where he is sitting on the left side of the frame, holding onto the bars and looking out at the city. The next shot is of the carriage moving from the left to the right side of the frame, then it quickly cuts to Antoine with a tear coming down his face (right side of frame/MCU). There are longer shots when Antoine is the focus, and shorter shots when he isn’t. Though he has made some bad decisions, we begin to sympathize for him. Kinda like in Double Indemnity with Walter Neff. For some reason, the way it’s composed along with the music, makes everything feel as though it’ll be okay. We can create new meanings, and contemplate the events that have already happened in the film, just as Antoine would. From the essay by Marilyn Fabe, she wrote that “the exterior shots of Paris connote a sense of almost lyrical freedom (partly the result of Jean Constantin’s gently energetic score.” A perfect description of a scene like this. Even in the last scene with the seventy-eight second shot of Antoine running to the beach. Some may think it’s unnecessary, but it’s not. The length of the shot allows us to experience the transition into mental freedom. It drags out so that it doesn’t seem like it happened too fast, because if it were to happen in real life it would feel as long.