The 400 Blows

A landmark French New Wave film about a misunderstood 12 year old boy, who without attention or direction, drifts into a life of delinquency and petty crime, completing a sad, self-fulfilling prophecy., François Truffaut’s first feature is an almost documentary-like account of troubled teenager Antoine Doinel’s (Jean-pierre Leaud) antics to escape the bleakness of his family life., For his feature-film debut, critic-turned-director François Truffaut drew inspiration from his own troubled childhood. The 400 Blows stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel, Truffaut’s preteen alter ego. Misunderstood at home by his parents and tormented in school by his insensitive teacher (Guy Decomble), Antoine frequently runs away from both places. The boy finally quits school after being accused of plagiarism by his teacher. He steals a typewriter from his father (Albert Remy) to finance his plans to leave home. The father angrily turns Antoine over to the police, who lock the boy up with hardened criminals. A psychiatrist at a delinquency center probes Antoine’s unhappiness, which he reveals in a fragmented series of monologues. Originally intended as a 20-minute short, The 400 Blows was expanded into a feature when Truffaut decided to elaborate on his self-analysis. For the benefit of Truffaut’s fellow film buffs, The 400 Blows is full of brief references to favorite directors, notably Truffaut’s then-idol Jean Vigo. The film won the 1959 Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, even though Truffaut had been declared persona non grata the year before for his inflammatory comments about the festival’s commercialism., Francois Truffaut’s semi-autobiographical film about a 12-year-old Parisian boy, who is neglected by his mother and step-father, plays truant and takes to petty crime. When he is sent to reform school, he escapes to the coast., An enthralling and sensitive evocation of a Parisian boy’s troubled childhood, Truffaut’s brilliant debut feature is a largely autobiographical story of a 12-year-old, neglected by his mother and stepfather, who plays truant and takes to petty crime. A landmark of French cinema and the Nouvelle Vague., Antoine is a troubled 12-year-old whose only dream is to go to sea, but only future is reform school. Misunderstood by everyone around him, he turns to petty crime.