Bed & Board: Domicile Conjugal
by François Truffaut
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Laage, Claude Jade, Danièle Girard, Hiroko Berghauer, Jean-Pierre LéaudDirector: François Truffaut
Producer: François Truffaut
Writer: François Truffaut
Producer: André Mucchielli
Producer: Hercule Mucchielli
Producer: Marcel Berbert
Writer: Bernard Revon
Writer: Claude de Givray
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-04-23
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Fox Lorber
Movie Reviews of Bed & Board: Domicile Conjugal
Movie Review: delightful
Summary: 5 Stars
Asked whether this film would be the last of the Doinel cycle, Truffaut answered (with Claude Jade standing next to him) quote, "with this film, he [Doinel] reached adulthood and there's no reason to go on." Of course, this is completely wrong. He did make another one, "Love on the Run," proving how difficult it is to predict the future course of a creative process. As for the other comment, it was probably meant tongue in cheek: Doinel does indeed "reach adulthood" agewise here but that's not the same thing at all as maturity, which is the point of the film, made with Truffaut's flawless Mozartean touch and clever cinematic style.
Having seen all five, what struck me is that, except for "400 Blows," the stories are as much about Doinel as about the women in his life, played by Marie-France Pisier, Claude Jade, and Dorothee, showing what a charmed life the fellow led and how lucky he was to have crossed paths with so many beautiful women, an autobiographical point because it's well known that Doinel=Truffaut. We come away from this film realizing that encounters with Beauty are not appreciated for what they really are, a favor from the gods. No sooner that his wife, the sweet, delightful, and adorable Christine (Jade), has a baby that Doinel decides to cheat on her with a Japanese woman! Truffaut doesn't properly resolve this matter until later, in "Love on the Run."
A word about the title. "Domicile Conjugal" is a rather literal title in French that does not mean "Bed & Board" or anywhere near that. And yet "Bed & Board" is entirely appropriate given how casually Doinel treats house and home with the lovely Christine and their baby. Bravo to whoever thought of the English title.
Summary of Bed & Board: Domicile Conjugal
The fourth film in François Truffaut's quasi-autobiographical Antoine Doinel cycle finds the idealistic child-man (played by Truffaut's alter ego and French new wave icon Jean-Pierre Léaud) married to his sweetheart Christine (Claude Jade) and still plugging away at odd jobs. When his experiments in the florist trade burn his bouquets to a smoky black ruin, he decides that it's time for another trade, and lands a job sending radio-controlled toy boats around a miniature harbor mock-up. It's about that time that he learns of his impending fatherhood, but he throws a monkey wrench into his new happiness when he becomes obsessed with a beautiful young Japanese woman (Hiroku Berghauer). Truffaut enlivens Doinel's courtyard apartment with the bustle and business of neighbors, creating a warm sense of community reminiscent of the works of Jean Renoir. He also pays homage to comic auteur Jacques Tati in meticulously constructed comic bits and a hilarious cameo by Tati's famous character, M. Hulot. However, he tempers the giddy screwball kookiness that characterized the previous film in the cycle, Stolen Kisses, with a less forgiving disposition toward Antoine's passionate irresponsibility and emotional impulsiveness. In one of Truffaut's finest moments ever, he plays out a conversation between the separated but still in love couple with a hard-earned sense of reflective maturity: "I love you," she confesses, "but I don't want to see you." It's a comedy with serious edges as Truffaut decides it's time for Antoine to grow up. --Sean AxmakerSimilar DVD Movies
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