Love on the Run
Having completed Truffaut's Doinel cycle, we've progressed from a powerful portrait of childhood cruelty in "The 400 Blows" to the affable, adequate romance of "Love on the Run." "Love" is hindered, however, by repeated flashbacks to the previous films. This does no "Love" no favors; when it jumps to scenes from "Blows," it instantly suffers in comparison and reminds us of the far better film.
When "Love" is not mired in flashbacks, it's a nice enough film. Antoine is now separated from Christine and pursuing record store employee Sabine (Dorothee). Sabine grows tired of Antoine's unpredictability and rootlessness and leaves him. Truffaut then throws us a welcome surprise by reintroducing Collete (Marie France-Pisier) of "Antoine and Collete." Now a lawyer, Collete spots Antoine running--as always--away from the courthouse after his divorce is finalized.
Collete finds a copy of Antoine's autobiographical commercial failure of a first novel and while reading it invokes several of the film's ponderous flashbacks. Collete does provide the film's most haunting scene as she recalls to Christine the tragedy that ended her first marriage. It's a jarring and effective moment in an otherwise average movie.
What are we left with at the end of "Love on the Run"? It hardly feels like we've learned much. Antoine has entered another relationship, which given his track record and restlessness, will likely fail. The series does not provide a definitive end with the film as it just sort of ends. Antoine is in love again. But for how long?
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