Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Stolen Kisses Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 6, 2014

Nominated for Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Francois Truffaut's "Stolen Kisses" a.k.a. "Baisers volés" (1968) arrive son Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original French trailer for the film; introduction by Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française; filmed archival message to French moviegoers from Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard; and an audio commentary with scenarist Claude de Givray and actress Claude Jade. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Antoine Doinel, Antoine Doinel, Antoine Doinel... "

Shortly after he is declared unfit to serve in the army and discharged with a warning that he would never ever get a decent job, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud, The 400 Blows, Love on the Run) visits a small Parisian brothel and buys himself an hour of pleasure. Much to his disappointment, however, the girl he chooses to make love with tells him that she does not kiss her clients.

Antoine then visits the home of his girlfriend, Christine Darbon (the beautiful Claude Jade, Bed & Board, Evil Pleasure), whose parents help him get a job as a night clerk at a shady Montmartre hotel. A few days later, however, he loses it after a private detective (Harry-Max, Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble) tricks him and he compromises a guest of the hotel. Moved by his sincerity, the detective recommends Antoine to the Blady Detective Agency, whose owner agrees to try him out as a private eye. After a few small assignments Antoine gets a big one -- he becomes an undercover shoe salesman in the small but elegant store of Monsieur Tabard (Michael Lonsdale, The Day of the Jackal), who is convinced that his employees hate him and is dying to find out why. While gathering the information Monsieur Tabard needs, Antoine develops a crush on the sexually frustrated Madame Tabard (Delphine Seyrig, Last Year in Marienbad, Daughters of Darkness). But when she eventually attempts to seduce him, he panics and quits his job. While making ends meet as a TV repairman, Antoine concludes that it is time for him and Christine to start a family together.

Completed only a few months before the student riots in Paris (May, 1968), Stolen Kisses is the third installment in Francois Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel series. The other films in the series are The 400 Blows, Bed & Board, Love on the Run, and the short Antoine and Colette (included in the omnibus Love at Twenty a.k.a. L'amour à vingt ans).

Stolen Kisses is essentially a romantic comedy about a young man trying to fit in a world that has changed too quickly and made him a vulnerable outsider. Despite his eccentric behavior he quickly wins the viewer’s sympathy because he never blames the people around him for his failures.

Though Truffaut had a difficult time shooting Stolen Kisses -- during its production, together with Jean-Luc Godard he was fully committed to defending the honor of Henri Langlois, the founder and director of Cinematheque francaise, who was dismissed by the then-current French Minister of Culture Andre Malraux -- that lightness and sense of the idyllic Paris, the great city of love, that were present in The 400 Blows are very easy to detect in it. The film is equally fluid and genuinely unpredictable. (Its unpredictability comes from the fantastic improvisations Truffaut left in the final version of the film).

The cast is excellent. Jade, who made her acting debut in Stolen Kisses, is especially good as Antoine’s girlfriend. Seyrig also leaves a memorable impression as the bored Madame Tabard. Leaud looks appropriately brittle and innocent throughout the entire film.

Antoine Duhamel‘s melancholic soundtrack fits perfectly the mood of the film. Charles Trenet’s classic song Que reste-t-il de nos amours -- which inspired the title of the film -- can also be heard multiple times.

Stolen Kisses Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, François Truffaut's Stolen Kisses arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Artificial Eye.

It is obvious that the high-definition transfer has been struck from a good master, but the technical presentation is rather underwhelming. In most close-ups and sequences with plenty of light there are visible compression artifacts. Some of these artifacts clearly affect fine detail and grain does not appear well resolved (see screencaptures #1 and 17). On smaller screens the artifacts could be fairly easy to ignore, but the larger your screen is, the more distracting they will be. Color reproduction is very good. There is an excellent range of healthy browns, blues, greens, reds, yellows, and blacks. Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern. Overall image stability is excellent. Also, there are no large cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, or dirt to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Stolen Kisses Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

Dynamic intensity is limited, but clarity and depth are excellent. In fact, Antoine Duhamel's score opens up the film far better than expected (the R1 DVD release creates the impression that the score has primarily a supportive role). There are also random sounds and noises that are far easier to identify now. The dialog is crisp, stable, and easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

Stolen Kisses Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Presentation with Serge Toubiana - Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française, introduces Stolen Kisses. In French, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).

• Trailer - original French trailer for Stolen Kisses. In French, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).

• Clip for Henri Langlois - an archival message to French moviegoers from Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. In French, with optional English subtitles. (1 min).

• Commentary with Claude de Givray and Claude Jade - scenarist Claude de Givray and the late actress Claude Jade discuss the socio-political climate in France at the time when Stolen Kisses was shot (the film was completed only a few months before the famous student protests in Paris/May 1968), Francois Truffaut's directing methods, some of the similarities between Stolen Kisses and the rest of the films in the Antoine Doinel series, the film's production history, etc. Stolen Kisses was Claude Jade's very first film and she recalls in great detail how she was approached by the French director to play Christine. This audio commentary initially appeared on MK2's DVD release of the film in France. In French, with optional English subtitles.

Stolen Kisses Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Next to Artificial Eye's Blu-ray releases of Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows, The Soft Skin, Jules & Jim, and Shoot the Pianist, Stolen Kisses looks a bit underwhelming. It uses a high-definition transfer which was clearly struck from a good master, but the encoding is not as convincing as it should have been. If you view your films on a big screen or project them, I recommend that you find a way to rent this release first and see if you like the technical presentation. RENT IT.