From Truffaut to Jenkins; The Auteur Revisited

As I mentioned, it was not my intention to focus on so many comparative pieces, but I suppose this is where my interests lie. Many comparative studies follow a format of ‘this versus that’; this post, however, is more of a ‘this and that’—an exploration in taking from the past and pushing it further.

When I watched Barry Jenkins 2016 Oscar-winning film Moonlight, I never once thought of François Truffaut or his 1959 film The 400 Blows. That was until Moonlight’s final scene, when the protagonist of the film, Chiron or ‘Little’ as he’s nicknamed, stares out at the ocean and turns his head to face the camera and looks to us, the viewer, to involve us. This is the same thing Antoine does in The 400 Blows; looks at the ocean, then to us. It was this similarity that got me thinking about the two films. Truffaut decided to freeze on Antoine’s eyes, an effective and innovate technique. Jenkins, too, came up with his own unique techniques for powerful storytelling.

I think it would be safe to say every film student and every film enthusiast has heard of François Truffaut, either through watching his films or through his contributions to Les Cahiers du Cinema’ and his discussion on Auteur Theory. I don’t think I could speak about The 400 Blows or even Moonlight for that matter without first discussing Truffaut and the Auteur.

When I first learned about the Auteur, I thought of it in narrow terms. With film being such a collaborative medium, it's hard to focus on a theory that pivots around one individual, the director. Initially, I believed it was only about directors who make their presence through aesthetics, for example, directors such as Wes Anderson or David Lynch. Even if you weren’t told, you would know you were watching one of their films. While I wasn’t necessarily wrong, there is so much more to it than I originally thought.

The 400 Blows is rated as one of the best films of all time. If you read up on it, you will see it is praised for its realism, honesty and insight. Truffaut is praised for how he produces such qualities in the film. What I missed about the Auteur, which I can now see in both The 400 Blows and Moonlight, is this wonderful emphasis on the individual. A key part of Auteur theory is keeping the film to one story and one perspective. In a previous post, I have spoken about how I also believe this brings great honest and reality to a film. Another key element is that the protagonist should have to encounter difficulties and isolation. This will lead them to explore their most-inner self, learn who they are and find the answers that will allow them to help themselves.

This movement came from post-war France. Like many countries, there was a want to rebuild a society, one without the old, tired establishments of the past. Often with Auteur Theory, there is a personal connection not only with the director but also social and political context. Once I started looking into these two films, I thought about the impact a community and a society has on raising a child. The 400 Blows critiques old institutions by showing Antoine’s unfair treatment in school and a difficult life with his parents. In comparison, Moonlight shows its protagonist struggle in a homophobic and gender-biased society with a complex home life. There are many elements to Auteur Theory.

So how did Truffaut achieve an honest, insightful and realistic film? It was achieved by a combination of decisions made by Truffaut. These decisions are present in the mise en scene and the film's structure. Truffaut’s choice of location and actors makes the film realistic. His decision to tell the story from a child’s perspective without nostalgia makes the film honest and insightful. His use of long shots emphasises particular moments in the film and gives a viewer time and space to explore the film and its protagonist. All of these, combined with a story about one person's struggles and journey of self-discovery, makes for a wonderful film with incredible insight that will influence for decades to come.

I believe Jenkins's decisions share the ideals of the Auteur Theory and take it even further. The decision to tell the film's story in three chapters with three separate actors playing the same character with different nicknames offers incredible insight into the protagonist's soul. We see the perspective of a child, an adolescent and an adult. Like Truffaut, Jenkins doesn’t look back with the hindsight of nostalgia of an adult.

We can watch Chiron grow as he faces new challenges throughout his life. We see the growth of his inner self and how the lessons he has learned from his struggles and from the adults who care for him teach him and help him in the future. This goes further than Truffaut. He believed the answers are within ourselves. Here, we get to see if they are. If the struggles we go through provide us with the solutions, we need to help ourselves.

Jenkins’s presence is felt in the mise en scene. His choice to disjoint audio and visual provide us with moments of reflection and teach us the inner thoughts of Chiron. His use of classical music or the wind expresses what’s inside the individual. It’s up to the director to express this to a viewer and their decision on how to do this is what makes an auteur. The story is present in all aspects of the film, including the mise en scene. The mise en scene is Chiron’s perspective; the sounds, the lights all change with him.

While Truffaut involves us in the film during its final scene, Jenkins immerse us from the start. The placement of the camera often puts us in between characters. Rather than taking a step back and watching the action from a distance, we find ourselves right in the middle of it.

The ending of both films returns to the idea that the answers are inside all of us. In The 400 Blows, Antoine says “I've never seen the ocean”. After all of his struggles, he decides to take his freedom into his own hands. He escapes and completes his wish to see the ocean, but his freedom is also a dead end. Out of options, he looks to us. In the case of Moonlight, we see a grown Chiron nicknamed Black still figuring out who he is, but not giving up and searching for the things he wants in life. In the end, his youngest self, at the beach, a place that represents freedom to him, again looks to us, involving us and causing us to reflect and question, causing us to search for the answers.

These two films have taught me that there is so much more to Auteur Theory. Moonlight goes further in exploring the French theorist's ideas; if we struggle, we will learn about ourselves and grow, then we will be able to find the answers in ourselves. In Moonlight, we can see what the different struggles that come with the various stages of life do to our spiritual selves and how they transform us, help us and sometimes hinder us.