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1. Nikola Lapackova 03.19.10 / 2am

   “400 Blows” (Les quatre cents coupes) by Francois Truffaut represents one of the best French movies, and serves as great example of French New Wave’s realism at the same time. The movie offers unique narrative, direction, cast and camera. The English title translation is actually deceptive, because “faire les quatre cents coups” is French idiom, which means to “raise hell”. The story, which is told from the perspective of twelve years old boy Antoine, is based on Truffaut’s own controversial childhood full of everyday’s fight between his negligent mother and non-authoritative step-father. Antoine, performed by non-actor Jean-Pierre Leaud, continually attempts to escape his “hellish” fate throughout the narrative by making wrong decisions. He decides to run away from home, becomes “enfant terrible”, who drinks, smokes, skips school, steals, and ends up in The Institute for Juvenile Delinquency. Although one could easily despise him, it is hard to do so. Truffaut succeeds to portray Antoine’s unpleasant childhood with great sense of realism, which makes the audience to contemplate about how one’s life can be difficult. Leaud’s performance delivers high degree of believability to his character, and the camera by Henri Decae provides a great deal of psychological depth throughout the narrative. Especially the last, extremely long tracking shot, which follows Antoine running away from The Institute for Juvenile Delinquency for miles and miles until he reaches the ocean, is powerful. When Antoine finally arrives to the beach, he turns his head towards the camera, and the frame suddenly freezes. The director wants us to think deeply about his last visual words. The end does not offer any resolution, so one can only guess what will happen next in Antoine’s life, but his facial expression makes one contemplate on how impossible it is for him to escape his predestined life.
2. Marcus Mitchell 04.04.10 / 3pm

   One of the most extraordinary and original stories ever told is Francois Truffaut “400 Blows.” The film is about a little boy who is dealing with trial and tribulations of growing up in a dysfunctional home. The directing in this film was beautifully done and the progression of the story between the boy and his parents, particularly his mother’s intensifies once he realizes his mother betrayal of the family. Though, the climax of the film is even greater as the boy in the end has to live in a juvenile for boy’s camp. This was by far Truffaut best work and some say that the story of this boy is loosely based on his life.
3. Jeff Pagan 04.21.17 / 11pm

   I’m not sure that I agree that this is a simple film. It is not a special-effects blockbuster, or a sweeping epic, but I would say the film is complex in its story. We see young Antoine Doinel and watch unable to fit into his world. At home and at school he is in constant trouble and finds his only refuge in cinema. As the alter ego of Francois Truffaut we see his hurt and anger, and wish better for him. The final image of Antoine looking directly at the camera stirs emotions. He seems to turn his rebellion toward the audience and challenge us.
4. Abigail Nazareno 09.19.22 / 3pm

   Not only is 400 Blows a coming of age story about a misunderstood boy, but it is also an important part of film making history. French filmmaker Francois Truffaut employed realism in his films using real locations instead of sets and objective camera angles not manipulating what the actors are doing. He did this to show people how he must have felt as the film is semi-biographical. This gives the audience the feelings of being able to understand what the characters are feeling. One such example is the long shot at the end where Antoine looks directly into the camera as it pans out. There is no resolution. We know he escaped the detention center after a rough childhood, but we don’t know what became of him after that day at the ocean.

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