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Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Hiroko Berghauer, Claire Duhamel, Barbara Laage ... see more see more... , Danièle Gérard , Daniel Ceccaldi , Billy Kearns , Annick Asty , Marcel Berbert , Sylvana Blasi , Jacques Cottin , Christian de Tilière , Marie Dedieu , Frédérique Dolbert , Pierre Fabre , Nicole Félix , Marie Irakane , Jacques Jouanneau , Iska Khan , Yvon Lec , Ada Lonati , Pierre Maguelon , Kika Markham , Nobuko Mati , Ernest Menzer , Marcel Mercier , Joseph Merieau , Ryu Nakamura , Guy Pierrault , Marianne Piketti , Jérôme Richard , Jacques Rispal , Jacques Robiolles , Serge Rousseau , Christophe Vesque , Claude Vega , Daniel Boulanger

In the fourth installment of François Truffaut's Antoine Doniel series, this romantic comedy shows how Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) went from being a mischievous boy to an adorably charming young man o... read more read more...f 26. Domicile Conjugal begins with Antoine settling down with Christine (Claude Jade), his girlfriend from the previous film, Baisers volés. He finds himself accepted and loved by his wife and her family, so the young couple move in to an apartment building together. They live in a lively neighborhood of interesting characters, such as the old man who never leaves and the opera singer who fights with his wife. Antoine finds work as a florist painting roses, while Christine makes a living by teaching violin lessons. After he gets involved in an accidental fire at the florist's, he gets a new job with an American corporation where he steers radio-controlled boats around a pond all day. A big change occurs when Christine becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy, while Antoine grows increasingly distant. Eventually, he becomes infatuated with a Japanese girl, Kyoko (Hiroko Berghauer), resulting in some shifts in lifestyle. The fifth and final Antoine Doniel film L'Amour en fuite was released in 1979, picking up the story with Antoine after he reaches his thirties. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Flixster Users

83% liked it

4,048 ratings

Critics

93% liked it

14 critics

PG, 1 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: François Truffaut

Release Date: September 1, 1970

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DVD Release Date: April 29, 2003

Stats: 171 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (171)

  • ebs90
    March 17, 2009
    ebs90
    Francois Truffaut is the family member, maybe an uncle or a distant cousin, who always tells good stories. He may narrate the simplest episodes with a tenderness, an openness of spirit, that engages. He is the most creative director whose work I have ever seen. He infuses all of ... read morehis films with sincerity and beauty that can only really be achieved through a deep, deep admiration for the art of cinema and for the tiniest details of human life. Bed and Board may not be the world's most interesting movie on paper, but when you're watching it, it is.

    Antoine Doinel is a newlywed in Bed and Board. His wife is the wonderful Claude Jade, so cute as Christine. Their daily life is quaint, relaxed, very intimate. They are going to have a baby. Antoine happens to meet a Japanese girl whose allure he can't resist, and begins an affair with her.

    Ever the free spirit, Antoine has a hard time conforming with a fixed situation, a fixed location, a fixed girlfriend. He loves his wife, but he can't bring himself to resist external temptations. Christine is very polite, proper, bourgeoise, and we all know Antoine's upbringing was not exactly the same... so at times he feels uncomfortable in this new lifestyle, he needs a break. Bed and Board tells a sweet story about sacrificing the constant search for excitement and the ideallistic notions we have about what we want our lives to be, and the process of giving value to what we do have. Antoine doesn't have to settle down if he doesn't want to, he just has to go through all these things, ups and downs, to discover by himself that he DOES want to. Happens to everyone. Happens in life. Happened to Truffaut, and happens here. Things fall in and out of place, situations are never clear, everything is relative to everyone. Soon Antoine will discover where his loyalty lies.

    Maybe this is all unexciting on paper. And yet it is so enrapturing when watched. Bed and Board is funny and witty as much as it is romantic. Truffaut can elevate anyone's emotional intelligence with his craft. Jean Pierre Leaud never disappoints, especially not when playing Antoine Doinel, possibly his most important role ever. I can't wait to see Baisers Voles now.
  • aliceinpunderland
    December 27, 2007
    aliceinpunderland
    Started off a bit slow but aphorisms relevant to my life really won me over. Most romantic line: "You were my sister, my daughter, my mother."
  • fb1142797643
    January 12, 2010
    fb1142797643
    I also recently saw "Stolen Kisses" (the preceding entry in Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series), and "Bed & Board" does not match that film's charms.

    Like "Stolen Kisses," "Bed & Board" doesn't have much plot in the traditional sense, and instead just comes off like a quick eavesd... read morerop into what's new with Antoine. Now he's married to Christine (Claude Jude, the same gamine cutie from "Stolen Kisses"), and the couple outputs a son in a highly casual, undramatic way. However, tensions arise when Antoine has a fling with a kimono'ed Japanese woman who barely speaks English. The story doesn't go much further than this, though it dabbles with subplots for some more minor characters, such as a surly neighbor, another sexually aggressive one and a pitiful friend who continually borrows money. But intentionally, none of these fragments pay off in a satisfying way.

    Trainspotters might watch for a brief "special effect" involving a blossoming flower which seems notably outside Truffaut's usual directing style.
  • threefolddado
    March 22, 2008
    threefolddado
    Not quite as good as Stolen Kisses, or the 400 Blows, but the 4th Antoine Doinel movie still much to say about marriage and life in general.
  • littlecharmer1959
    February 8, 2008
    littlecharmer1959
    The penultimate film in Traffaut's Antoine Doinel series. This follows on from Stolen Kisses. Antione and Christine are now married and quickly have a child. Antoine starts a new job and falls for a beautiful Japanese woman.
    Both Jean-Pierre Leaud and Claude Jade put in great ... read moreperformances and the film is filled with humorous dialogue.
  • smootysveen
    April 18, 2007
    smootysveen
    "If you use art to settle accounts, it is no longer art."
    I'm a little confused at what Truffaut is saying here. Is it a critique of other directors, like Godard, who Truffaut feels have become too political? Or is it a self-critique since Truffaut is mining his life for materia... read morel just like Antoine is for his book? It's a very interesting quote.
  • xmkatx
    February 26, 2009
    xmkatx
    The Japanese woman speaking French and Japanese was pretty awesome. I -hated- Doinel's hair in this movie.
  • thrusz
    June 6, 2007
    thrusz
    Out of the Antoine Doinel movies (outside of the masterpiece "The 400 Blows"), this film strikes a tone of honestly so naturally that I want to hide from the TV just in case the characters see me spying on their lives.

View All Domicile Conjugal (Bed & Board) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

I can't help believing that François Truffaut's latest Antoine Doinel comedy, Bed and Board, will turn out to be one of the loveliest, most intelligent movies we'll see in all of 1971. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

The film is entertaining and discreetly sentimental, though perhaps a little too flattering to the fantasies of the young adult audience. Full Review

Matthew Pejkovic
July 6, 2010
Matthew Pejkovic, Matt's Movie Reviews

Bed and Board is a charming, pleasant and touching film, and the best sequel of the series. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
November 5, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's a minor Truffaut domestic romantic comedy, the least satisfactory of the series, although it's not without the usual charm and amusing moments. Full Review

Carol Cling
August 18, 2006
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

The continuing enchanting adventures of Antoine Doinel; not quite a Truffaut classic, but close.

Keith Phipps
May 16, 2003
Keith Phipps, AV Club

The sadness of the film's decaying domesticity keeps undermining it, giving it the air of a melancholy B-side to what's come before. Full Review

John A. Nesbit
February 14, 2001
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

Pretty ordinary stuff, but charming the way Truffaut captures the vignettes Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Jake Euker
March 9, 2006
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

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Facts

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    • Antoine Doinel: You are my sister, my daughter, my mother...
    • Christine: I'd have liked to be your wife, too.
    • Antoine Doinel: l enjoy parents...when they're not my own!
    • Christine: What's that?
    • Antoine Doinel: A library staircase. l've always wanted one.
    • Christine: We don't have a library!
    • Antoine Doinel: We have to begin somewhere.
    • Antoine Doinel: Alphonse will be a great writer. You know what l'm going to do? Educate him myself, at home. Alphonse will only learn important things.
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