Stolen Kisses (Baisers Volés)

1968

Stolen Kisses (Baisers Volés)

Critics Consensus

Stolen Kisses is a fine feature follow-up to The 400 Blows, transforming Antoine Doinel into a sympathetic, silly, and romantic figure that carries to the series' end.

96%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 24

89%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 6,194
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Movie Info

The episodic romantic comedy Stolen Kisses is the third installment in François Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series, which started with The 400 Blows in 1959. In 1968, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is discharged from the military and comes home to Paris, getting an apartment in Montmartre with an excellent view of the Sacré-Coeur. He meets up with his sweetheart, Christine Darbon (Claude Jade, making her film debut), and joins her and her parents for dinner (Daniel Ceccaldi and Claire Duhamel). With the help of Christine's father, he gets a job as a hotel clerk but quickly gets fired after he unwittingly aids a private detective (Harry Max). After running into the detective at a coffee shop, Antonie then falls into a job at the Blady Detective Agency, assisting with the investigation of a magician. He is then assigned to the case of neurotic Georges Tabard (Michel Lonsdale), and ends up working in the stock room of his shoe store. After Antoine has coffee with Tabard's beautiful and intelligent wife, Fabienne (Delphine Seyrig), she inevitably tries to seduce him. He later meets Christine in a park and proposes to her, taking the pair into the next film: Bed and Board. One of the lightest entries in the series, Stolen Kisses was ironically filmed during a turbulent political time in France. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Cast

Jean-Pierre Léaud
as Antoine Doinel
Daniel Ceccaldi
as Christine's father
Claude Jade
as Christine
Claire Duhamel
as Mme. Darbon
Delphine Seyrig
as Fabienne
Michel Lonsdale
as Georges Tabard
Martine Brochard
as Mme. Colin
Robert Cambourakis
as Mme. Colin's Lover
Francois Darbon
as Adjutant
Jacques Delord
as Conjurer
Martine Ferriere
as Manager of Show Shop
Marcel Mercier
as Man at Garage
Joseph Merieau
as Man at Garage
Christine Pellé
as Secretary
Jacques Rispal
as M. Cohn
Jacques Robiolles
as Water
Simono
as Conjurer's Friend
Roger Trapp
as Hotel Manager
Jean-François Adam
as Albert Tazzi
André Falcon
as M. Blady
Catherine Lutz
as Mme. Catherine
Harry Max
as M. Henri
Paul Pavel
as M. Julien
Marie-France Pisier
as Colette Tazzi
Serge Rousseau
as The Stranger
Michael Lonsdale
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Critic Reviews for Stolen Kisses (Baisers Volés)

All Critics (24) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (1)

  • One of Truffaut's best, lyrical and resonant in a way the later films in the cycle would not be.

    Aug 8, 2012 | Full Review…

    Dave Kehr

    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic

  • The slice-of-life pic also has neat slices of observation, tasteful presentation and easeful acting that avoid banality.

    Mar 26, 2009 | Full Review…

    Variety Staff

    Variety
    Top Critic

  • A persuasively charming comedy.

    Jun 24, 2006 | Full Review…
    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • A movie so full of love that to define it may make it sound like a religious experience, which, of course, it is -- but in a wonderfully unorthodox, cockeyed way.

    May 20, 2003 | Rating: 5/5

    Vincent Canby

    New York Times
    Top Critic

  • The film wears its charm on its sleeve, which is probably as good a place as any to wear it: tender, hilarious, gracefully reticent.

    Jul 9, 2018 | Full Review…

    Penelope Houston

    The Spectator

  • Paris was never so beguiling.

    Aug 8, 2012 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…
    TV Guide
View All Critic Reviews (24)

Audience Reviews for Stolen Kisses (Baisers Volés)

  • Jul 30, 2014
    If there was a director more suited for directing comedy as a part of the Nouvelle Vague ( love pronouncing that term), it was Truffaut. For the second time he directs comedy and employs Léaud in a feature length movie. Sure, we had Tati, but it is surprising, even for a Truffaut follower, how light-hearted this film progressively gets. It lacks a sense of consistency, and that's the point. It goes everywhere like a leaf in a tornado without caring about its course and yet remaining surprisingly charming. Jean-Pierre Léaud is the most underrated actor ever in my book and personal experience. Acting comes so naturally to him that one wonders the extent to which he is portraying himself, like some directors did in front of the camera in their obsessive, but undeniably stylish cameos. The whole array of anecdotes in the life of the protagonist, who once again likes to read Balzac, like some of the main characters in Truffaut's films (hadn't you noticed?), feels like improvisatory bliss for the sake of entertainment, and it even resorts to slapstick and "dumbness" humor in the vein of Mr. Hulot. Anyway, just watch this delight. A simple review for a simple film. Truffaut was, once again, finding his language, continuing Antoine Doniel's story for the fourth time. 81/100
    Edgar C Super Reviewer
  • Apr 23, 2011
    Truffaut's second best film of his career. Which just happens to be the second feature in the infamous Doinel series.
    Alex H Super Reviewer
  • Nov 01, 2009
    Francois Truffaut's third Antoine Doinel film has a happenstance feel of just dropping in to see what's new with our boy. He's freshly bounced out of the military, and is casually skipping from mediocre job to mediocre job without success. Meanwhile, he courts a past girlfriend, the stunningly photogenic Claude Jade. The light, episodic story doesn't have much of a point, and this frustrated me for awhile. But eventually, the film's romantic charm won me over. There are some surprisingly funny moments, and the gentle resolution surely influenced Woody Allen.
    Eric B Super Reviewer
  • May 15, 2009
    After following Antoine Doinel as a young boy in Les quatre cents coups and his désamours in L'amour à vingt ans, in Baisers Volés we see the life and lovers of an "akward" young man. Then it comes the great Domicile Conjugal where Antoine and Christine are married and where we see a kiss scene from Baiser Volés, and L'amour en fuite, the last film of this serie. You don't need to watch these films in order. Actually, it could be interesting to begin from the end and then back to the first one, to understand Antoine's life. <br> <br>
    Rubia Super Reviewer
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