The 400 Blows is commonly regarded as a landmark of the French New Wave.The huge success of the film established Truffaut as one of the leaders of French cinema. The 400 Blows certainly fits with this theory, and it paved the way for other directors to make similarly personal movies. Directed by François Truffaut. By Richard Schickel Jan. 13, 2010. An ending can be relatively "open" as our example from The 400 Blows suggests. After being discharged from the army, Antoine Doinel centers a screwball comedy where he applies for different jobs and tries to make sense of his relationships with women. After being found out and punished for skipping classes, he runs away from home and spends a night on the streets. [7], Besides being a character study, the film is an exposé of the injustices of the treatment of juvenile offenders in France at the time. We see a Paris that is not in Technicolor with colorful fountains like 'An American in Paris'. A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime. His parents bicker constantly and he knows his mother is having an affair. He brings up his own past with the autobiographical story told through the lens of the young boy Antoine Doinel. The film, shot in DyaliScope, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. We sense that it was drawn directly out of Truffaut's heart. Showing all 5 items Jump to: Summaries (5) Summaries. Go figure. The 400 Blows. Told through the eyes of Truffaut’s cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), THE 400 BLOWS sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut’s own childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime. The 400 Blows Questions and Answers. This is not a typical Paris street kid either, this is one who reads Balzac for pleasure and conveys intense emotion. Seemingly in constant trouble at school, 14-year-old Antoine Doinel returns at the end of every day to a drab, unhappy home life. Everett. Their touching friendship is captured in René’s unsuccessful attempt to visit Antoine at reform school. The 400 Blows Movie Gif Page For some strange reason the 2 disc version I bought ( 1 bluray, 1 Dvd) was cheaper than the bluray only, at time of writing. In style, it expresses Truffaut's personal history of French film,[according to whom?] The 400 Blows describes it particularly well. Paris is a wonderland of discovery for Antoine, even though he's constantly receiving the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Take a look ahead at some of our most anticipated superhero series arriving in 2021 and beyond. Criterion Collection Edition #5 François Truffaut’s first feature is also his most personal. Get This Movie. After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence. In other words, the plot presents story events that leave us uncertain as to the nature of the final consequences (74). The 400 Blows", "The 100 greatest foreign-language films", "Venice Film Fest Unveils Poster for 71st Edition", "Venice Film Festival 2014: What we know so far", New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_400_Blows&oldid=1015944366, Films with screenplays by François Truffaut, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2018, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from December 2018, Articles that may contain original research from December 2018, All articles that may contain original research, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Patrick Auffay as René Bigey, Antoine's best friend, Robert Beauvais as director of the school, This page was last edited on 4 April 2021, at 14:06. "[9] This includes how both Antoine and Truffaut "found a substitute home in the movie theater" and both did not know their biological fathers. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. One of the defining films of the French New Wave,[3] it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. Certificate: Passed His parents have little money and he sleeps on a couch that's been pushed into the kitchen. The Question and Answer section for The 400 Blows is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. This edition is a highly recommended addition to anyone's library. [citation needed] Before seeing it, some people[who?] [11], The film is among the top ten of the British Film Institute's list of 50 films that should be seen by age 15.[12]. The seeds of The 400 Blows lay in Truffaut’s earlier short film, Les mistons/The Mischief-Makers (1957), which had drawn on memories of his own childhood. His parents have little money and he sleeps on a couch that's been pushed into the kitchen. Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman. Nothing is cut and dry in 'The 400 Blows'. He decides to skip school and begins a downward spiral of lies and theft. The film concludes with a freeze-frame of Antoine, and the camera optically zooms in on his face, looking into the camera. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? In the case of 'The 400 Blows', it is certain that Doinel is based on Truffaut, himself only 28 when he made the film. Antoine Doinel is a young boy growing up in Paris during the 1950s. Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is a 13-year-old boy who keeps getting into trouble at school. 10 stars at least. What the film subtly explores is the disenfranchisement of youth. Isabel Quigly The Spectator. Theatrical trailer. The problem is that no one is there to notice or care. Truffaut made four other films with Léaud depicting Antoine at later stages of his life: Antoine and Colette (which was Truffaut's contribution to the 1962 anthology Love at Twenty), Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run. Was this review helpful to you? Truffaut's cinematography in 'The 400 Blows' is exquisite. He does manage to escape however. A nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together. scene from Les Quatre Cents Coups. Francois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows' is one of the most well-known films of this movement, and has been embraced and hailed as one of the greatest films of all time.After viewing Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows', I have been ruminating over the deeper meaning behind his story of Antoine Doinel, a 14 year old boy in Paris who is having trouble in school and trouble at home. Director: François Truffaut. The 400 Blows (1959) Plot. The 400 Blows remains Truffaut’s seminal film, yet he continued to reinvigorate cinema throughout the sixties, with such thrilling works as Shoot the Piano Player and Jules and Jim. I’m sure Truffaut didn’t plan to make sequels when he made The 400 Blows. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. He's sent to a juvenile detention facility where he doesn't do much better. 148 of 173 people found this review helpful. Written by Truffaut and Marcel Moussy, the film is about Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who struggles with his parents and teachers due to his rebellious behavior. Written by [citation needed], The semi-autobiographical film reflects events of Truffaut's and his friends' lives. The later films have their own merits, and "Stolen Kisses" is one of Truffaut's best, but "The 400 Blows," with all its simplicity and feeling, is in a class by itself. Rarely is there a film that leaves that kind of impact on me, but Truffaut managed to leave me speechless and deep in thought with 'The Four Hundred Blows'.--Shel. An old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention. Filmmakers Akira Kurosawa, Luis Buñuel, Satyajit Ray, Jean Cocteau, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Tsai Ming Liang, Woody Allen, Richard Lester, P C Sreeram, Norman Jewison and Nicolas Cage have cited The 400 Blows as one of their favorite movies. While playing football with the other boys one day, Antoine escapes under a fence and runs away to the ocean, which he has always wanted to see. Truffaut wrote a devilish clever script full of euphemisms and wit. It was the first film in François Truffaut’s acclaimed Antoine Doinel series, which followed a character widely considered to be the director’s alter ego. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 32nd Academy Awards. "The 400 Blows" fades in on a traveling shot down a Parisian street. A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Misunderstood by his parents for playing truant from school and stealing, and tormented in school for discipline problems by his teacher (such as writing on the classroom wall, and later falsely explaining his absence as having been due to his mother's death), Antoine frequently runs away from both places. The 400 Blows received numerous awards and nominations, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, the OCIC Award, and a Palme d'Or nomination in 1959, and was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1960. The film holds a 100% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 57 reviews, with a weighted average of 9.34/10. There is no joy in Doinel's life – anytime he tries to express himself creatively or acts up in a playful way he is shot down and metaphorically forced back into line. A timeless coming-of-age film from François Truffaut, The 400 Blows captures the ups and downs of adolescence with an honest voice, humor, and a great deal of sympathy. This is Paris from a Parisian's perspective – and the difference is breathtaking and intense. She sees him as a friend, but her parents love him. The 400 Blows : Director: Francois Truffaut: Year / Length: 1959 || 90 mins: SYNOPSIS. The 400 Blows (French: Les Quatre Cents Coups) is a 1959 French New Wave drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut. On the positive side, The 400 Blows held out the potential for later and greater works. He falls in love with a woman he meets at a concert. Told through the eyes of Truffaut's cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud),The 400 blows sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut's own childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime. Filmed on location in Paris and Honfleur, it is the first in a series of five films in which Léaud plays the semi-autobiographical character. Cinepanorama: a tv show with Truffaut discussing The 400 Blows. In a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe. [9], The following are locations used in the filming:[citation needed], The film opened the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and was widely acclaimed, winning numerous awards, including the Best Director Award at Cannes,[10] the Critics Award of the 1959 New York Film Critics' Circle and the Best European Film Award at 1960's Bodil Awards. The 400 blows Les quatre cents coups (Streaming Video) : François Truffaut's first feature is also his most personal. Antoine Doinel is 17, lives in a hotel and works in a factory making records; he loves music. Doinel responds by doing the only thing he feels he can do, and that is by acting up; eventually earning an expulsion from school and being sent to a juvenile prison camp by his parents. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. Guy Maddin and Anne-Katrin Titze remember Bertrand Tavernier by Anne-Katrin Titze - 2021-03-26 11:54:51, Cate Blanchett Will Play Donald Trump’s Sister in James Gray’s Armageddon Time, Donnerwetter! The 400 Blows’ formlessness prevents it from reaching the greatness it may have attained with a better screenplay and a more experienced eye both behind the camera and in the editing room. In school, he is marginalized as a trouble-maker, yet it is obvious that it is more a matter of him causing trouble by expressing himself creatively rather than following along with mundane assignments. His parents are at their wits' end, and after he's stopped by the police, they decide the best thing would be to let Antoine face the consequences. German Movie Title Translations, Best Movie to Have Been the IMDb Top 250 #250. In 1959, François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows won him the award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival.The 400 Blows remains a prime example of the stylistic innovations of the French New Wave. The 400 Blows by François Truffaut ...Matthew Santarsiero Film 101 3/8/12 The 400 Blows by François Truffaut The movie 400 Blows, a film that was created over 50 years ago is as modern and extraordinary as any film presently released today. A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime. In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. Their breakout films, The 400 Blows and Breathless, are incredibly different yet have come to represent the New Wave. A psychologist at the center probes reasons for Antoine's unhappiness, which the youth reveals in a fragmented series of monologues. The 400 Blows is widely considered one of the best French films in the history of cinema; in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics' poll of the greatest films ever made, it was ranked 39th. [6] On the first prints in the United States, subtitler and dubber Noelle Gillmor gave the film the title Wild Oats, but the distributor did not like that and reverted it to The 400 Blows. Discover something for everyone this month with some choice picks for the best movies and TV to stream in April. The 400 Blows (French: Les Quatre Cents Coups) is a 1959 French New Wave drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut. [14][15] Kurosawa called it "one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen". The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions. Francois Truffaut was an expert cinephile, after all: sneaking into theaters via washroom windows, gravitating closer and closer toward the screen so that for a few hours his world was only moving images shedding diffused light on hundreds of faces turned up to the screen. Use the HTML below. Truffaut’s approach is ideology because the themes and concerns revolve around a delinquent child, his family and his school. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Wanted by the authorities, he reunites with a hip American journalism student and attempts to persuade her to run away with him to Italy. The stepfather turns Antoine over to the police and Antoine spends the night in jail, sharing a cell with sex workers and thieves. It basically says — again more truthfully — that this is the end of this chapter. It sets itself up for a sequel, but they weren’t planning that. He's sent to a juvenile detention facility where he doesn't do much better. Title: [16], The film was ranked #29 in Empire magazine's list of "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010. Largely autobiographical, it recounts the story of an adolescent boy “raising hell” (which explains the idiomatic French title Les Quatre Cents Coups) (Fabe 125). That’s more than many first films, New Wave or not, have ever done. [7] Truffaut dedicated the film to the man who became his spiritual father, André Bazin, who died just as the film was about to be shot. The film, shot in DyaliScope, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. A loner on the brink of rebellion, Antoine is buoyed along the way by a touching friendship, a love of cinema, and the hope of escape. The 400 Blows It was followed by four more films recounting the life of Antoine Doinel over the next 20 years, all starring Jean-Pierre Leaud, collectively referred to as "The Adventures of Antoine Doinel". The 400 Blows doesn't idealize growing up in 1958 Paris, but the pursuit of freedom for the 13-year-old Antoine is at once difficult and wonderful. (1959). A committed film director struggles to complete his movie while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew. Truffaut also included a number of friends (fellow directors) in bit or background parts, including: himself and Philippe De Broca in the funfair scene; Jacques Demy as a policeman; Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Paul Belmondo as overheard voices (Belmondo's in the print works scene). Year Released: 1959. Biography. In Europe however, there was a movement in film-making that embraced this realism and searched for the deeper meaning in the 'here and now'. Told through the eyes of Truffaut’s cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), The 400 Blows sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut’s own childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime. Written by Truffaut and Marcel Moussy, the film is about Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who struggles with his parents and teachers due to his reb… Seemingly in constant trouble at school, 14-year-old Antoine Doinel returns at the end of every day to a drab, unhappy home life. From this he began to develop ideas for a screenplay which would use a number of interlocking stories on the subject of childhood (Baecque and Toubiana 2000: 126–7). The 400 Blows, French Les Quatre Cents Coups, French film drama, released in 1959, that defined the New Wave cinema movement created by young French directors in the late 1950s and ’60s. The 400 Blows, Paris, France. [according to whom?] The Eiffel Tower can be seen in the distance over a few rooftops and the viewer's attention is naturally drawn to it throughout the opening sequence. François Truffaut’s first feature is also his most personal. He and his son set out to find it. Antoine is placed in an observation center for troubled youths near the seashore (as his mother wished). thought the film covered the topic of corporal punishment. garykmcd, Every day life, however 'real' and gritty it may be, is rarely portrayed on film and was certainly a rarity in the 1950's. His parents bicker constantly and he knows his mother is having an affair. With Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble. 59 likes. At home, Doinel has to deal with an adulterous mother who only pays attention to him when it suits her needs, and a father who is barely present. The film had 4.1 million admissions in France, making it Truffaut's most successful film in his home country.[4]. His parents are at their wits' end, and after he's stopped by the police, they decide the best thing would be to let Antoine face the consequences. The prevailing approach to The 400 Blows is an ideology in which the underlying principle is Hollywood hegemony. He does manage to escape however. [17] In 2018, the film was voted the eighth greatest foreign-language film of all time in BBC's poll of 209 critics in 43 countries. Another aspect of the French New Wave was that the films were not merely a product of a Hollywood factory; these were intensely personal films to the writers and directors. The 400 Blows traces 14-year-old Antoine Doinel’s odyssey through a life of aloof parents, oppressive teachers and petty crime. He steals a Royal typewriter from his stepfather's workplace to finance his plans to leave home, but, having been unable to sell it, is apprehended while trying to return it. [18], The festival poster for the 71st Venice International Film Festival paid tribute to the film as it featured the character of Antoine Doinel portrayed by Jean-Pierre Léaud. with references to other works—most notably a scene borrowed wholesale from Jean Vigo's Zéro de conduite. He reaches the shoreline of the sea and runs into it. If one were to take the film at face value, there would be a 'so what' feeling. The English title is a literal translation of the French that fails to capture its meaning, as the French title refers to the idiom "faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to raise hell". He decides to skip school and begins a downward spiral of lies and theft. It was Truffaut's first feature, and one of the founding films of the French New Wave. Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is a trouble-prone 12-year-old Paris schoolboy, often left unsupervised while both his mother and his stepfather work at separate jobs. [8], According to Annette Insdorf writing for the Criterion Collection, the film is "rooted in Truffaut’s childhood. These are not Louis XVI style houses, they are tiny flats where people have to sleep in closets and walk up and down six flights of stairs. [5] It ranked 13th in the directors' poll on the same list. In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen. The 400 Blows (1959) is Francois Truffaut's brutally honest and emotionally in tuned take on a coming of age drama with his French New Wave style. This movie gives a searing critique against the home, educational and penal institutions. The 400 Blows is the first major film directed by Francois Truffaut, formerly a film critic known for his brutally-honest reviews. View production, box office, & company info. The camera moves down the street and towards the Eiffel Tower until it is blocked from view by a building. The 400 Blows is ongoing. Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy. THE 400 BLOWS is considered a classic in portraying a pained and turbulent male adolescence. The movie that defined the French New Wave for the world. He finally quits school after his teacher catches him plagiarizing Balzac. In The 400 Blows, Antoine and René reenact the delinquency and cinemania of the young Truffaut and Robert Lachenay (who was an assistant on The 400 Blows). At this time, each was an enthusiastic fan of the other. The film, based loosely on Truffaut's childhood, follows the story of Antoine Doinel, a young man in his early teens. This is about the most basic and miniscule portion of the meaning behind the French New Wave of the 1950's – films that explored the filmmaker's surroundings, and eventually became an inspiration for filmmakers around the world. [19][20], Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, best French films in the history of cinema, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office information for Francois Truffaut films, "faire les quatre cents coups - Wiktionary", "BFI | Sight & Sound | Top Ten Poll 2002", "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema | 29. [The 400 Blows'] most prevalent connection to the then burgeoning French New Wave is its message of freedom Full Review. The city views are those of a native Parisian – the kind of tour one would get if they asked the average Parisian for non-tourist attractions.There is still a lot that I have to learn and think about 'The 400 Blows' and French New Wave in general, but with the minute amount of understanding I have of it, I found it to be an intense film, one that left me emotional and craving enlightenment. During an interview with the judge, Antoine's mother confesses that her husband is not Antoine's biological father. His parents do their best to keep him in line but lack understanding. A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague. A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.

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