Doinel

Doinel is a fictional character created by French director François Truffaut and the central figure of the Antoine Doinel cycle, a sequence of five films tracing his life from adolescence to middle age in Paris. The character, portrayed by actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, became one of the most enduring icons of the French New Wave and is often regarded as a semi-autobiographical reflection of Truffaut's own youth.

The cycle begins with The 400 Blows (1959), followed by Antoine and Colette (1962), Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (Domicile conjugal, 1970), and Love on the Run (L'Amour en fuite, 1979). Across the films, Doinel moves from a wayward boy to a young adult navigating romance, work, marriage, and family life. Christine Darbon, played by Claude Jade, becomes a central partner in the later installments, appearing as his love interest and wife.

Stylistically, the Doinel films are celebrated for naturalistic performances, location shooting in Paris, and a blend of autobiographical elements with fiction. The cycle is closely associated with the French New Wave's emphasis on spontaneity, memory, and personal cinema, and Léaud's recurring portrayal is widely regarded as a defining performance of the era.

Legacy and impact? The Doinel cycle remains influential in international cinema, illustrating character-driven storytelling and serialized narrative in a filmography that spans two decades. It helped establish Truffaut and Léaud as key figures in world cinema and continues to be studied for its depiction of adolescence, desire, and the passage of time.