UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN (1987)

Gerard Depardieu is a devout country priest who spends his time talking to his imaginary master, doubting himself and beating the crap out of himself with chains.  If a normal person did this they'd be thrown in the nuthouse, but somehow he made a career out of it.  One evening, while walking through a field, Satan comes up and starts talking shit to him.  Next thing you know Depardieu confronts a teenage girl who has two lovers...well, that is until she murdered one of them!  Stuff happens and Depardieu continues to talk to his invisible friend a lot.

As dull as that sounds, I actually liked this movie.  It's beautifully photographed and Depardieu's performance is quite demanding since the majority of his lines are just him standing there talking to no one, but he does an extremely believable job portraying a highly conflicted individual struggling constantly (with every thought and deed) with his relationship with God.

As a man of zero faith I have no belief in God, Satan, Zeus, Nanabozho, the Flying Spaghetti Monster or any other deity, so I'm probably not the best person to review this film, but despite my lack of faith I was still moved by Gerard's tortured performance and that of Sandrine Bonnaire as the troubled girl.  Recommended.

THE 400 BLOWS (1959)

Somewhat ignored by his parents, the young Antoine Doinel plays hooky from school and takes part in some small petty theft.  Eventually he's labeled as a troublemaker by his parents and teachers and taken to the cops for stealing a typewriter.  From there he's sent to a reform school.

THE 400 BLOWS is a captivating watch, filled with beautiful shots and strong performances, but it's not nearly as powerful as I had hoped.  Compared to childhoods like the kids in ONCE WERE WARRIORS, BULLY, HAPPINESS, KIDS, LOS OLVIDADOS (which was made years before THE 400 BLOWS), FISH TANK and THE WAR ZONE Antonie's childhood is pretty nice.  Hell, his childhood is probably better than 50% of the kids in the world today!  Maybe I'm just being pessimistic with that number, but I don't think so.  He wasn't even abused!  Just neglected.  That's still sad though.  What's the point of having a kid if you're only gonna treat 'em like shit?

Good film, but does it deserve all the praise it gets?  I have no idea, go ask a film professor.  I've seen it a few times over the years and I've always enjoyed it, but I never found it anything to get overly excited about.  Then again, I'm probably an idiot.

Part 2 - Love at Twenty
Part 3 - Stolen Kisses
Part 4 - Bed & Board
Part 5 - Love on the Run

 Truffaut cameo.