The 400 Blows (1959)

This film is one of the greatest I have ever seen. It depicts some events in the life of Antoine Doinel, a young French boy who gets into a lot of trouble no matter what he does. This was the first film by Francois Truffaut, and I believe that it is filmed with such an innocence that you can really feel some of the emotions that Antoine feels. I love the simple style of this film, and I think it adds to its charm. The story is can even be painful to watch as one sees all of the things that happen to Antoine. I think that the reason for the strong emotions embedded in this film is that it is semi-autobiographical. I think the cinema is what rescued Truffaut from a life like his protagonist.In short, an inspiration to all filmmakers-they DEFINITELY don't make them like this anymore!

Fmovies: This classic and unforgettable movie with amazing freshness catapulted Truffaut to international acclaim , dealing with a the trails and rebellious of 13-year-old Antoine Doinel . He is a rogue French schoolboy , starred by an adolescent Jean-Pierre Léaud , being the first of Doinel series , following : L'amour à vingt ans (original title) or El amor a los veinte años (1962) , a Short titled Antoine et Colette (1962) , Stolen kisses or Baisers volés (original title) (1968) , Bed and Board or Domicile conjugal (1970) , Love on the run or L'amour en fuite (1979) . The downtroddem , neglected and rebel teen Doinel delves into a life of petty crime . Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is often in trouble at school , especially with his French teacher 'Petite Feuille', (Guy Decomble) and doesn't get along with his parents (Claire Maurier , Albert Remi) , particularly his mum . While his friend René suggests that they play truant . Both of whom often skip school to go to a funfair attraction park or to carry out tiny theft . Antoine and Rene are suspended from school , they go gallivanting around the town. Unless something drastic changes in Antoine's life, he is destined down a path that will lead to nothing good, which is more problematic as he gets older. Instead of going to school, Antoine along with his friend René go to the cinema, play pinball, and visit a huge amusement rotor , a real funfair attraction . The following day Antoine tells his teacher that his absence was due to his mother's death; unfortunately his parents show up at school .Then he briefly runs away from home but then goes back . Things go wrong when Antoine to get money steals a typewriter from his father's office , being trapped by a janitor. It is quasi-autobiographical account of 13-year-old Antoine's bleak odyssey through family life , reform school whose precarious permanence is questioned and getaway . From the Vanguard of New Film-Makers Comes an Extraordinary Motion Picture . The Best Directed Picture Cannes International Film Festival 1959 . Angel faces hell-bent for violence.

Still one of the cinema's most sensitive , perceptive forays into infancy , it is intensely stirring but never mawkish , as Truffaut reveals an actual complicity with the rebellious teenager , being François 's first major motion picture. Shot on location in Paris in almost-documentary style and with a casually vivid eye . An increasingly compromised and attractive work in which Truffat demonstrates his narrative skills , being infinitely better than other self-indulgent films towards the end of his career . Fun for spotting the guest appearance of such Nouvelle Vague French luminaries such as Jacques Demy , Jeanne Moreau , Jean Claude Brialy , Jean Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut himself .Thought-provoking and engaging finale when a juvenile-court judge sends him to an observation centre in the countryside, from where he runs away, and doesn't stop until he reaches the sea , there takes place the frozen image of the boy face ; is it point of no return or freedom ? .Truffaut was seeking a young actor able to play Antoine Doinel, a troubled adolescent, in his first feature film "The 400 blows". Jean-Pierre was tested among a hundred other candidates and proved so amazingly spontaneous and so gifted for improvisation that not only was he hired but he would go on to play the role in four subsequent Truffaut semi-autobiographies concluding with "Love on the run" (1978), a unique experience indeed. Well starred

The memorable story of young, troubled Antoine is worth seeing for a good number of reasons, probably most of all for the thoughtful direction by François Truffaut. It stands out from most other movies about troubled youths, both in the way that it portrays the main character and in making such good use of seemingly minor events in showing how they shape Antoine's life.

As Antoine, Jean-Pierre Léaud (in the role with which he would always be identified) strikes a nice balance in making his character come to life without making any of his actions seem forced or over-dramatic. Truffaut sets things up for him perfectly, by presenting a great variety of situations in his life that allow Antoine's character to come out naturally. Many of the settings are in themselves interesting and creative, despite being located in familiar types of places.

The story is written carefully so as to allow the viewer to identify with and sympathize with Antoine, while still seeing his faults clearly. What is often the most affecting thing about it is the way that Truffaut shows how even the most commonplace kinds of events can have such an effect on a maturing person, if they are a source of disappointed expectations or misunderstood intentions. To make this kind of movie so effectively without relying on violent or shocking material is an admirable achievement, and it repays careful thought and attention while watching it.

The 400 Blows fmovies. François Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" is routinely listed as one of the greatest films in all of foreign cinema. At the time of its release it was hailed as an important film and subsequently proved to be immensely influential in the context of the French New Wave.

The semi-autobiographical story concerns a Parisian adolescent (Jean-Pierre Léaud) who attempts to escape problems at home and at school by delving into a life of petty crime. Unfortunately, he never receives more than a temporary respite from his predicament and frequently ends up deeper in trouble. The script is fairly loose and strives for realism above all else.

Enforcing Truffaut's aim of realism is the group of actors that he assembled. Léaud indisputably carries the film, at once delivering an authentic performance while also showing a maturity beyond his years. While not quite as impressive, the supporting cast is nevertheless uniformly solid, perhaps none moreso than Guy Decomble as Antoine's antagonist at school.

Truffaut's direction is exceedingly well-handled, not to mention impressive for a debut feature. The film also sports attractive cinematography and a lively score by Jean Constantin.

Indeed, the film can scarcely be faulted for any flaw in its construction or execution. Instead, my tempered enthusiasm is the result of feeling a certain amount of detachment from the main character. Naturally, this sort of objection is largely personal so your mileage may vary.

As the seminal work of the French New Wave, the 1959 directorial debut of 27-year old Francois Truffaut has such a vaunted reputation that the final film is bound to disappoint. However, the pristine print that comes with the new Criterion Collection DVD really makes me realize what a brave and emotionally resonant film he made ostensibly about his own troubled adolescence. It's worth seeing twice - once for the film itself and a second time to listen to the newly recorded commentary by Truffaut's childhood friend Robert Lachenay (the true-life inspiration for Rene in the film). Speaking in French but subtitled in English, he provides insights into the story and context of the film that no film scholar or even production associate could possibly provide. As a point of comparison, listen to the by-the-numbers commentary by film scholar Brian Stonehill (recorded back in 1992), which is thoughtful and well researched but devoid of the human factor.

The film's title comes from a French colloquialism that translates into "raising hell", an appropriate reference since the story focuses on a thirteen-year old hellion named Antoine, living in a poor section of Paris and neglected by parents downright arrogant in their dysfunctional nature. Antoine consequently lives a street urchin's life as he lies to people in authority - his parents, his teachers, and the police - since he admits rather sadly that the truth doesn't make any difference. Truffaut tracks Antoine's life through a series of dispiriting episodes that ultimately lead him to be sent away to a reformatory after he gets caught returning a stolen typewriter and his mother and stepfather tire of their responsibility over him. To Truffaut's immense credit, the film feels stark and naturalistic without resorting to dramatic manipulation, and he finds the ideal Antoine in Jean-Pierre Leaud, who brings out the confusion, angst and wandering attention of his character in realistic terms. He is especially impressive in an apparently improvised scene where he is interviewed by the school authorities about why his life has come to this. It is heartbreaking to see how bleak his life becomes, yet Leaud imbues the incorrigible, often intolerable side of Antoine with fervor.

There are several interesting extras included with the 2006 DVD package starting with two separate interviews with Truffaut, the first a year after the film's release discussing he film's impact and the second five years later when we see the filmmaker in a more reflective mood about his cinematic influences. Leaud is featured in 16mm screen test footage where his naturally ebullient personality emerges and then after the 1959 Cannes Film Festival where puberty has apparently kicked in and then in 1965 as a comparatively reserved twenty-year old. The screen test of Richard Kanayan (who has a minor role as a schoolmate) is amusing for his Satchmo-inspired rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In" and his eerie resemblance to Fantasy Island's Tattoo, Herve Villechaize. Be forewarned that the film is relentlessly downbeat, but Truffaut's emotional investment and consummate abilities as a filmmaker, even at this stage of his career, make this essential viewing.

The Four Hundred Blows is the semi-autobiographical story of Antoine Doinel, a boy trapped in a life of contemtptuous authority who turns to outward rebellion. Truffaut shows his mastery of the cinema in this, his freshman attempt.

The film is perfectly cast with Dionel relaying neutral facial expressions for the majority of the film. The boy, although not necessarily evoking sympathy from the audience, definitely evokes empathy. He is a pathetic character forced into his position by his teacher and his almost uncaring mother.

Throughout the film, Truffaut hints at the possibility of a happy life for the protagonist, but just as soon as the ideal is given to us, it is taken away. The mood shifts in the film are fabulously orchestrated through contrasting scenes, music, and even acting. From the opening sequence through the final, enigmatic still shot, the movie is a masterpiece of both French and world cinema. It is a must see.