Les mistons (1957) *** (out of 4) Early Truffaut short has five young boys following around a beautiful woman who they begin to have feelings for even though none of them know exactly what the feelings are. They follow the woman around with her young lover as they walk, play tennis and eventually make love. This is a pretty good short with the director, apparently, reliving his youth and his first awakening to beautiful women in their short skirts. The movie is extremely well-made and I couldn't help but get a big chuckle at of the various situations that the boys put this woman and her lover in. I couldn't help but remember certain situations in my own use where my friends and I would spy on my friend's older brother and his girlfriend. Those innocent feelings are perfectly displayed in this film as Truffaut does a great job at bringing the children's feelings up front and also their confusion as to what they are doing and feeling. For all the innocence in the film I think it's fitting that the film takes a rather drastic turn towards the end. I won't reveal what happens but it too is a part of childhood and I think it fit the film very well. The performances by the five kids are quite good but the real beauty here is Bernadette Lafont as the woman.

Francois Truffaut's pre-400 Blows toss-away is an understatedly entertaining little 18- minute film that takes a group of horny little boys and makes them a collective protagonist pursuing an older woman to play pranks on her, frustrated because they know that they could never have her for so many clear reasons. They antagonize her lovers and watch her simply be beautiful.This tongue-in-cheek little whatever shows Truffaut and short story writer Maurice Pons's characters hustling all the woods, the streets, on bridges, and even inside a rural arena, and the kids have an exceedingly realistic affection to them, as this is in fact what boys their age would do with no technology or attention span. They play-fire guns at each other and devise their practical jokes against the lovers.The object of affection is unbelievably attractive, and naturally so, and really that is all we truly know about her, as it's all any of these kids know about her. This short has the muted lack of direct involvement that Truffaut tends to have, and despite that there isn't enough time to get to know these kids or or their crush, it's enhanced to have the inscrutable, almost objectified feature in her character.

Les Mistons displays Francois Truffaut's special gifts as a filmmaker in a nice shot of 18 minutes in Les Mistons, as he works with children, and a love story with the young. While the story is simple- five kids who've barely had their voices crack follow a young woman, Bernadette, who becomes their envy when she's dating Gerard- the execution is quite intelligent and involving. Before the 400 Blows and Breathless knocked around the streets of Paris for locations, Les Mistons shows their characters all over the place, in the woods, in the streets, on bridges, and even inside a rustic looking stadium of shorts (I loved these scenes, with their high angles and timing). And the children have a very, very realistic feeling to them, as this is indeed what kids their age do, if they have no technology or attention span. There's even a small kind of Cocteau quality to some of their scenes, like when they are play-firing guns at each other, or hatching their 'vicious' games against the love-birds.It also helps a good deal that the actress playing Bernadette is incredibly pretty, practically without trying, though it's not to say that Truffaut doesn't get some quixotic shots of her playing tennis or riding her bike. But it is without some doubt that the story will end with some tragedy, or at least some revelation of this double-sided way about youth, both for the invigorated like the kids or for the seemingly life-long blissful partners of Bernadette and Gerard. It contains the light quality of all of Truffaut's films, and while there isn't enough time to really get to know these kids or Bernadette (though for the latter it's better to have the mysterious, almost no-dialog quality about her), it works wonderfully- one of my favorite short films.

Truffaut's early short moved me as much as almost anything he filmed. It's hard to believe that so much insight and humanity was crammed into such an early short piece. It's very easy to see the path from this piece to The 400 Blows. Not to be missed.