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Les Mistons

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Les Mistons (The Mischief Makers) is a French short film written and directed by François Truffaut in 1957.[1][2] It was his second film after Une Visite in 1955 but it is considered his "first short film of any real consequence".[3][4] Truffaut simply called it "my first real film".[5] Moreover, it was Bernadette Lafont's film debut.[6] She was at that time Gérard Blain's wife.[5][7] The film demonstrates already some examples for Truffaut's "trademark tracking shots" and would "help define his style" as well as "set Truffaut on a path for his career".[8][9] Truffaut's narrative stresses the details of life, hereby establishing one of the traits of the French New Wave. Thus he also became a predecessor of French film directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie).[10] It has been stated that the formation of the French New Wave could be "tracked through two short films": Jean-Luc Godard's All the Boys Are Called Patrick and Truffaut's Les Mistons.[11] In 2013 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City screened this film together with Truffaut's The 400 Blows.[12][13]

Les Mistons
Directed byFrançois Truffaut
Written byFrançois Truffaut
Based onVirginales by Maurice Pons [fr]
Produced byRobert Lachenay
StarringGérard Blain
Bernadette Lafont
Michel François [fr]
Narrated byMichel François
CinematographyJean Malige
Edited byCécile Decugis
Music byMaurice Le Roux
Production
company
Les Films du Carrosse
Release date
  • 6 November 1958 (1958-11-06)
Running time
26 minutes
17 minutes (Truffaut's re-cut version)
LanguageFrench

Plot

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The story takes place in Provencal France, where a group of young boys ("mistons" roughly translates "brats") are infatuated with a beautiful young woman. Jealous of her passionate affair, they conspire to make mischief for the woman and her boyfriend.

Production

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The film was shot on location in Bernadette Lafont's hometown Nîmes in Southern France.[6][14] It sports the town's Roman arena.[10] It was shot on 35mm film without live sound.[15]

DVD release

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In 1999 the film was released on a DVD which also contained Antoine and Colette.[8][16] In 2007 Les Mistons was again released, this time as a part of a DVD collection. The extras included an introduction by film historian Serge Toubiana and an audio commentary by Truffaut's assistant, Claude de Givray.[17][18]

References

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  1. ^ Marshall, Colin (2012-02-27). "Watch Truffaut Become Truffaut in His 1957 Short Film, Les Mistons". openculture.com. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  2. ^ "Les Mistons [François Truffaut, 1957] and Truffaut's Children'". The Cynephile. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  3. ^ Dixon, Wheeler Winston. "Les Mistons (1957)". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  4. ^ Dixon, Wheeler Winston. "Les Mistons". University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  5. ^ a b Brody, Richard (2010-08-16). "Truffaut's Last Interview". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  6. ^ a b "Review: Les Mistons". newwavefilm.com. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  7. ^ "Gérard Blain". telegraph.co.uk. 2000-09-29. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  8. ^ a b Nesbit, John. "Les Mistons (1957)". oldschoolreviews.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-26. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  9. ^ Johans, Jens. "The Reflection of Life:Truffaut's Adventures of Antoine Doinel'". filmintuition.com. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  10. ^ a b "Review: Les Mistons". unifrance.org. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  11. ^ Beaver, Frank. "Talking About the Movies: Remembering the French New Wave". University of Michigan. Archived from the original on 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  12. ^ "François Truffaut at MoMA". 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  13. ^ "Film Screenings". Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  14. ^ "Les Mistons". The Film Sufi. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  15. ^ Ewing, Ben. "Les Mistons". notcoming.com. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  16. ^ Zimmer, Mark (2002-07-04). "Two Short Films by François Truffaut: Les Mistons / Antoine & Colette". digitallyobsessed.com. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  17. ^ Appassamy, Vanessa (2007-07-02). "The Adventures of Antoine Doinel (Truffaut Collection) (1959)". michaeldvd.com.au. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  18. ^ Nguyen, Ed. "The Adventures of Antoine Doinel". dvdmoviecentral.com. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
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