Next Up on My List: 'Love on the Run'

I've avoided it for a long time--but not because I don't think I'll like it.

Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series of films (which include masterpieces such as The 400 Blows and Stolen Kisses) are always wonderful when I bring myself to watch them.

It's just that I have to bring myself to watch them.

As a writer and director, Truffaut had an insight that enabled him to produce work that--though often whimsical--struck a realistic aspect, emulating life as we know it. That includes all its vicissitudes, triumphs and failures. Great as his art is, I often have trouble approaching it initially, owing to its close subject matter. Once I'm involved, however, I'm into it.

I suspect that 1979's Love on the Run, which I still haven't seen, will be the same. My significant other and I received the DVD via Netflix and expect to watch it soon. I'm awaiting the viewing with trepidation. I already know it's good. Just how good--and true to life--worries me. It's likely that I'll be empathizing with and getting annoyed by Doinel in this film, as in the previous ones, and that's what I'm concerned about. Caring about the characters in a film takes work...and it may not always be rewarding.

I'll just have to grit my teeth and jump right in. How I wish, sometimes, that I could watch bad movies uncritically!