Cinema: Painless Memoirs

As the alter ego of Director François Truffaut, the character called Antoine Doinel made his first appearance eleven years ago in The 400 Blows as a lonely, desperate adolescent. Then came Love at Twenty and Stolen Kisses, in which the youth edged toward maturity. Now Antoine—who has been portrayed throughout by the remarkable Jean-Pierre Léaud—and Christine, played by Claude Jade, are ready for conjugal love. Truffaut begins the funny, futile years of their marriage (and ends the autobiographical series) with Bed and Board.

Each installment has seemed more amusing and airy but at the same time less real and...