My life changed when I sat through The 400 Blows by Truffaut. . Well, that and The Parallax View, but I will comment on that for another time. I was not in a good head space when I took @joeleydon 's class while in college. As someone who ingested film like air, it was curious to him why I nearly failed his class. . In all honesty, I respected him so much, but I couldn't tell him the truth. If I ever had the chance, I would just say my life, at that time, was that Antoine Doinel, a never ending menagerie of disdain and cool disappointment. I had no courage at that point of my life, just bleak existence and robotic focus. . Never missed a class, but never wrote a paper either. Watched The 400 Blows at least once every 2 to 3 days, hoping the ending would not be so bleak. . I cycled through my artistic masochism with dark French/Belgian films like Ma Vie En Rose and The Moderns. Finish that off with The Young Americans starring Harvey Keitel, and all that was needed was unfiltered cigarettes and an all black wardrobe. . Perhaps, I was being edgy...but at that point in my life, I was too depressed for that. I found comfort in knowing I wasn't the only one living such a cruel life, yet angered that I couldn't express it as the masters did. . Perhaps Professor Leydon knew that. Despite getting a solid 'C' in his class, he offered me a thick tomb from his own library...'Truffaut' and words of wisdoms printed on a single sheet of paper: . "In life there will be those who want you to succeed, those who don't and those who do but will be afraid of your pain and try to stop you. Do it (your dreams) anyway. I wish you well." . I am watching The 400 Blows now. It does not have the same impact. Perhaps time, wisdom and perseverance is the panacea to trauma. Or, perhaps I did as Joe said...I did it anyway. . #thoughts #film #themoderns #mavieenrose #the400blows #truffaut #theyoungamericans (at Seattle, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRLRxA-J3rb/?utm_medium=tumblr
