The 400 blows is a film based on the struggles of a young boy, Antoine Doinel. He is a young French boy who has a streak of being a trouble maker, even when attempting to make the correct decisions. The story revolves around Antoine's relationship with his mother and father, which is very stressed to say the least, and with his close friend Rene. Rene and Antoine manage to make mischief of all manner, running away from home not to mention Antoine's arrest for petty theft and vagrancy. The story makes for a very excellent film, including mischeif, runaways, correctional facilities, and jail. I highly recommend this film to anyone, American or French, who loves a well directed movie.
The movie starts off with Antoine at school passing around a naked picture of a girl. When he is caught he is punished by his teacher and curses him when he leaves class. When he gets home, the film shows how tense his life at home with his mother is. Although he is jokey and respectful to her, she still seems so mad. Antoine ends up skipping school with his best friend Rene due to forgetting an assignment that was due, and on his way home he sees him mother kissing another man.He overheard his mother explaining to her dad about why she was coming home so late, having to do with her boss at work. The next day at school when he is asked why he was absent he is choked up, and his father was surprised to hear this. Of course, his mom who had seem him watch her kiss another man did not have much to say. Later when his teachers ask where he was he claims his mother died to get out of trouble and having to explain his absence. He decides not to return home and goes to the Place Pigalle for somewhere to sleep.
As the story moves on, his mother comes looking for him at school the next day and takes him home from school and spends the day with him. That night she tells him of her rebellious times when she was young and encourages him to talk about his problems in school. At school he is told to write an essay and titles his "my grandfathers death" When he gets home he goes to his room and lights a candle in remembrance of Balzac, like in his school essay. His father gets furious that he lite the candle but his cautious mother defends him and the family enjoys each other and gets strawberry ice cream which was a first for them. This was a change for Antoine because his family was actually acting like a family for once. When the essays are given back, Antoine's teacher was furious with what he wrote and he was suspended til after Christmas. Once again he was afraid to go home to his parents so he went to Rene's and was not found because his parents were at the country club. The friends think of ways to make enough money to start their own business, after much more trouble through the film, he eventually gets sent to a place for bad children and troubled youth. His best friend Rene comes and visits but nothing is the same. One day Antoine escapes and gets to live buy the ocean, which is where he was always wanted to be anyways.
Francois Truffaut was the director of 400 Blows. The French film was produced in 1959. It was announced the Best Director Award at the 1959 Cannes Film Award. A huge accomplishment for the film was the Best Original Screenplay at the 32d Academy Awards. Also it was awarded the Best European Film award at the Bodil Awards.
It has a 100 rating on Rotten Tomatoes and on the BFI list of 50 movies you should see by the age of 14.
The 400 blows had a talented cast that kept the film upbeat and enjoyable to watch . Some of the main cast members in Truffauts most successful film.
Jean-Pierre Léaud was starred as Antoine DoinelClaire
Maurier as Gilberte Doinel (Antoine's mother) .
Albert Rémy as Julien Doinel, (Antoine's father).
Guy Decomble as School teacher (Sourpuss).
Patrick Auffay as René Bigey.
Georges Flamant as Monsieur Bigey.
Did you enjoy the film?
I thought it was a pretty good movie, although I didn’t always follow the significance of the plot, and at times i felt like there wasn't much of an aim to what plot there was. But other then the plot the movie was pretty good, and even though it was in French i felt like even without the subtitles i got the gist of what they were saying, possibly because it was a movie starring children.
Was the film aesthetically beautiful? if yes how and if not why not?
There were some remarkably breathtaking scenes in the movie, at the beginning when they drive towards the Eiffel tower it made me wish I could visit Paris just to see it it was so breathtaking. Also there were many other very pretty images of the city or landmarks and shots of the landscape in the country. Oddly enough none of the actors were all that physically attractive, which i guess is just a convention of American movies to only star attractive actors.
How does the film compare to an American film of a similar genre? How is it different?
The film is shot in black and white and not a very current movie, far before my time and not like any I have seen, although i have seen a few clips from older American films, I can’t compare it to any movie I’ve seen, but genre-wise I found out there is a genre based on the self discovery of the hero or star of the movie, called “Coming-of-age drama” which is based on a characters struggle and strife to become the man or woman they wish to be.
What are 3 major themes the film addresses? How are those themes played out?
Three main themes of the movie are Crime, Punishment, and growing up. These themes play out in several different ways throughout the film. Crime begins when after his first attempt at running away the boy decides to steal a bottle of milk from a crate on the street, while hanging around Rene this crime escalates to stealing from parents, stealing clocks, cigars and wine, and finally culminating in the theft of the typewriter. The most dramatic escalation of this criminal streak is the escape from the juvenile detention center. The next theme, punishment, is extremely prominent throughout the film, beginning with his defacing of the classroom walls, he is slapped by his father, slapped in class after being caught skipping school, and slapped in the detention center for eating early. This punishment extends to being sent to the detention center, being held in jail, and being treated like a criminal. The final theme of growing up never really materializes but it is always on the edge of consciousness, he and Rene both make a point of talking about how they want to grow up and move out on their own, how they could escape to the sea and make their own way through the world if only given the chance. However this is mostly just idle talk of children, but is still a significant aspect of the characters.
How does the film show french culture?
French culture is demonstrated in the film in numerous ways. One is the freedom children are given to almost do as they please, roaming the city as much as they wish, even in grade school. Also it appears at least in this movie that the children are brighter and more ambitious then their American counterparts. The only other true French culture demonstrated is in their schoolwork and dinner, as well as the fact that these children are already drinking and smoking cigars at such a young age, but to each their own i suppose. There also seems to be fair emphasis on the cinema, for news reels as well as films, and that recreation is more common in France.
Director of 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut.
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