The 400 Blows-1959

Director Francois Truffaut

Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud

Scott’s Review #88

Reviewed July 2, 2014

Grade: A

The 400 Blows is a French New Wave masterpiece from 1959 that is heartbreaking yet beautiful in its storytelling.

It tells the story of Antoine, a kindhearted yet hardened teen forced to live a tough life on the streets of Paris.

It is autobiographical as director Francois Truffaut suffered a childhood similar to the boy.

Misunderstood and mistreated by his parents and schoolteachers, Antoine must survive and thrive as a teenage runaway who cannot get a break in life.

Shot in Paris and featuring gorgeous shots of the city, the black-and-white filming adds to the bleakness and coldness of this young boy’s life. Truffaut was the first to use the familiar still-frame close-up of angst. The scenes of Antoine running from the city along the beach are some of the most beautiful in film history.

Truffaut influenced a generation of directors with his very personal brand of storytelling.

The 400 Blows (1959) is not always a pleasant film but an important and influential work of art cinema.

Young actor Jean-Pierre Leaud gives an excellent performance.

Oscar Nominations: Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen