Les Mistons

Les Mistons / The Brats / The Mischief Makers is a short film that François Truffaut directed in 1957.

In this short film there are five boys who spend their summer following around a girl named Bernadette. The narration however, is 3rd person, and you never know which one of the boys is talking. Because of this the viewer feels disconnected from Bernadette’s relationship emotionally, and in truth the audience should, we have no idea who is she other than the fact that she is a pretty girl that rides a bike and plays tennis with her boyfriend, her character is not developed very much. But her characterization is not the point really, because to the boys her character does not matter, only her looks do, so that is what the audience perceives through their eyes. It is also interesting that Bernadette seems to be the only female that is actively present in the film, which confirms the boys obsession with her – see is the only female they see in their world.

5:53-:57 Cinematographically this is an interesting group of seconds. One of the boys falls during their little game, and then the negatives “rewind” or are played back again in reverse order to make the boy stand back up. This is the first time I have seen the negatives be manipulated like that, and it just happens once in the film, but it is important for foreshadowing. Because the kid falls and “dies” in the game, but they rewind in order to continue the story. That is pretty much a reflection of what happens in the overall film – Bernadette’s boyfriend dies, and the whole short film is a rewind to that summer before the boys concept of innocence and knowledge of death was distorted like the negatives were.

This film however is also about friendship and conformity amongst children of that age. All of the boys are always together and play the same games, they all love the same girl, they all try to climb Bernadette’s wall, they all share cigarette puffs, they all write things about the couple with chalk on all the walls everywhere, none of the boys ever decides to do anything on his own. In this context, that is why it does not matter than the audience cannot tell which specific boy is narrating, because in most ways it does not matter, because they are presented as five parts of the same identity rather than as individual people.

Film May Be Found Here:

O’Dreamland

O’Dreamland is a short film documentary from 1953 England directed by Lindsay Anderson.

The narration of this short film, while it does not directly say this question still asks it; Do we “torture” ourselves and other for fun? The answer to this, from the perspective of the film would be yes.

The film opens up with a crowd of people entering an amusement park, and then talks of all the attractions of torture, come watch the electric chair and such, declaring “your children will love it”. The film then goes on to show regular carnival / amusement park equipment such as roller-coasters and various rides that spin really fast in the air. The film also shows people swallowing fire as well as various animals stuffed into cages that are way too small relative to their size. Likewise there are also slots and games of chance that the people may partake in.

Amusement parks are really very strange places, they are these artificial environments that have no connection to the world outside them, they are complete fantasy. And in these constructed worlds of complete fantasy, people come to torture their bodies and see other people torture theirs. Out of all the things people wish to do in an artificial fantasy world, it is to harm themselves, that says a lot about humans psychology, and it does not even have the evolutionary excuse that sporting events do (that people play sports to “show off” their athletic physical development, and desirable physical traits). People subject themselves to g-forces on rides that, outside of being involved with NASA, they would never be exposed to otherwise putting themselves under physical stress, some people even get sick over it. The human body is taken and thrown around like a toy and people call it fun.

Additionally with the slots and chance games, your mind is being tormented. The mind gets all excited that it might win something, and then drops to disappointment when nothing is won. It is the same thing as the roller-coasters that the body rides on.

Likewise, people watch others swallow fire or make animals do tricks after being stuck in tiny boxes. In a way, it is satisfactory to the an entrancing show that it captivates the viewers full attention.

audience because they project themselves onto the people or animals doing these things and it clicks somewhere in the mind. It is a release of adrenaline, a thrill of the chase similar to hunting. But then in this environment, the people are no better off than the animals. The people are stuck in long lines, in crowds, and there is garbage everywhere on the ground. The people are “trapped” in the amusement as the animals are stuck in boxes. That is the function of entertainment, to distract people from everyday life, and the reality they find themselves in and present such