ElMaruecan82 In the 50's, François Truffaut worked as a critic with a rather defiant and resentful attitude toward traditional "popular" filmmaking. Yet even old-school directors like Cocteau or Clouzot said they never experienced such intensity on the big screen after they saw "The 400 Blows". Truffaut dared to challenge reciprocity and got unanimous praises from his peers and beyond, acknowledging the historical magnitude of the film, maybe the French "Citizen Kane".I guess there's just something about movies made by young directors; Truffaut was only one year older than Welles when he made his directorial debut, young enough to remember the most ungrateful part of boys' lives when they are old enough to take it seriously but too young to be taken seriously. Truffaut embraced the innate freedom of his age and never regarded childhood with nostalgic eyes, deeming it as a period of entrapment and submission to the rules of adults. Interestingly, Truffaut adopted the same rebellious approach to film-making, rejecting cinematic conventions of a plot, protagonists and villains for something that would tunnel the viewers into the truth of life rather than providing an escape from it.The French New Wave was a tsunami of creation that changed the face of cinema. Just like Jean-Luc Godard with "Breathless", a new generation of film-makers would explore cinema as a form of expression prone to improvisation, a freedom of tone, anything but codified tropes, it was Godard who said that the best way to criticize a film is to make one, that's to their credit. But unlike Godard, I doubt Truffaut made this film for the sake of challenging conventions or to make something "pivotal". And for one thing, I happen to share Jean-Pierre Melville's feeling that the New Wave had a huge influence on American Cinema, but the auteur thing was a bit overplayed in France, and the magic was lost in the 60's.So I'm not interested in 'auteur' Truffaut but 'rebel' Truffaut, his youth was exactly the same as his counterpart in the film Antoine Doinel: school troubles, delinquency, absent parents etc. Cinema wasn't just a vocation; it was a survival move, an escape from the path that was awaiting him, a rebellion within the rebellion. There's something in Doinel that reminded me of "Cool Hand Luke", a propensity for 'leaving', the classroom, the place, it's not just rebellion, but like the title suggests: "raising hell", which is the real meaning of "400 blows" but the word "blows" might render the idea that the kid is going to take many hits in his life, which is actually less misleading than the French title, sounding more like childish fun.And Antoine Doinel takes the hits and keeps moving forward, it's not "Rocky" though, Doinel has no specific goal, he lives from day to day, he doesn't think of the consequences, which is the essence of youth ennui. "The 400 Blows" happens to be an immersive character study in the life of a boy who's abandoned by his parents, his mother spending many extra-hours with her boss, and her father who's not the brutal type, has given him a name and a roof, but not what Antoine truly needed: a guidance, a meaning, anything. Antoine comes home eats, takes the trash down and goes to sleep. And the awful state of the house plays almost as an alibi for Doinel's mischievousness.But Truffaut's directing never needs to be intrusive to make us root for Antoine. We just see his background and get it. It is very fitting that, of all the "Simpsons" characters, it was Nelson Muntz who paid tribute to the movie as he was a character whose sordid background was unveiled in the later seasons and is perhaps the closest to Doinel. Doinel isn't even a bully though, and at the first scene, he's the unlucky kid who picks up the sexy calendar just when the teacher raises his eyes. The tragedy of Doinel is that before taking the path leading to delinquency and (who knows) crime, he's just a kid who doesn't care enough about his life to contemplate the idea of becoming a bad boy.The only escapism he finds is with his friend (Pierre Auffray), a fun moment at a zoetrope (a wink to "Strangers on a Train" and Truffaut's idol Hitchcock) and movie theaters, were Doinel drops the picture of Harriet Andersen from Bergman's "Monica", cinema was an escapism for Truffaut as well and the builder of his dreams. The film is a slow escalation to the point where the parents finally give up and put Doinel in a detention center less out of anger than disillusion, because he would escape anyway. Once again, Truffaut never shows the parents as the bad guys, even the kid doesn't blame them, yet we know he's hurt, deeply.Truffaut loved Doinel but was so worried he would grow up during the making, Leaud's answer was that both he and Truffaut had sickly souls, they would never grow up. Truffaut loved the answer and it sealed their collaboration, I wasn't a bit surprised that some scenes involving Leaud were improvised, this is not the improvisation for-the-sake-of-it like Godard would use to show off his revolutionary talent, it's improvisation to capture the truth of the moment, and this is perhaps the best compliment I can give the film, it is truthful, and that final shot is the perfect culmination of a story where you dare to dream of a happy ending but the word "Fin" seems like bars of a prison entrapping poor Antoine.The film is dedicated to Andre Bazin, a former critic, co-founder of Cahiers du Cinema who died in 1958. "The 400 Blows" is the pivotal encounter between a message, a feeling and a young talent, at the right time and the right place. To label it as New Wave starter is too reducing, especially since the film is deeper and more penetrative than Godard's "Breathless".

Anssi Vartiainen One of the defining films of its director François Truffaut as well as the French New Wave movement. The latter was a loose term joining together a group of mid-century French film makers that took upon as their goal to talk about current subjects, to experiment with the film medium and to ground it in reality through real locations and modern subject matters.And keeping that in mind, it's easy to see why this film become such a cornerstone for them. It tells about a young Parisian school boy Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), who struggles in every area of his life. His parents heap both scorn and misunderstandings upon him, his school work barely passes muster, and he spends most of his days partaking in minor crimes and misdemeanours. The film doesn't really have a traditional story arc. Doinel doesn't learn that much, his circumstances don't really change. Rather the whole film has the atmosphere of the inevitable in it as Doinel's life slowly spirals deeper and deeper into ruin, culminating in the last haunting shot of him staring directly into the camera on a deserted beach, silently crying for rescue.And yes, the film has a rather gruff feel. It seems like they simply set up the camera, shot the scene and excited the room. Which of course is the ideal of New Wave, but takes some getting used to from a viewer more familiar with mainstream film media.Still, it's a beautiful film in its own way. Personally I appreciate the ideal it represents more than I appreciate it as a stand-alone film, but I'm still glad I saw it.

851222 Greetings from Lithuania.At the first hour running time "The 400 Blows" (1959) was a very good coming of age story. Later, at the last 40 min. it suddenly became something more brilliant.I really enjoyed this movie from start till finish. Acting by Jean- Pierre Léaud who played Antoine was phenomenal in my opinion, definitely one of the very best child actor performances I've seen. Script was superb, which like i said first of all was a very good coming of age story and later it become something more - sad, heartbreaking and the one which leaves you thinking about what you have seen for many more days. And the last scene at the beach was simply unforgettable.Overall, "The 400 Blows" (or "To Raise hell") is a great movie. Terrific script and directing with an amazing lead performance and superb supporting cast, this is a movie which is hard to forget and impossible not to admire.

onursumer_94 "400 Blows"... uh... how can I start? I've begun french movies with this masterpiece. It is the best french movie in my opinion and my second favorite movie. The director, Francois Truffaut reflects Antoine Doinel's life as a real experience. He actually shows his troubled childhood in the "400 Blows" and this makes the movie the first example of French new wave movies. I felt while watching that when Antoine walked, I walked. When he ran, I ran. I experienced his life as mine. This is one of the most important feature of French new wave movies (Nouvelle Vague) , so life can be seen more real in these type of films. That's because I feel real emotions and sorrows. That's because I adore this movie, and Truffaut himself. Antoine Doinel feels distress because of his family and society around him. He can't show himself up at school or in life. He lives with lies and a bad family. Everything around him is shattered and drags him to do forbidden things like committing a theft. These troubles make him escape from his wicked life. In the final scene, we can see that he runs without a backward glance. Some people cannot understand why Truffaut finishes this movie like this and why Antoine runs. Trying to get over his life is the explanation of it and Antoine's inevitability is the final moment. The sea represents he cannot get over from his life. The expression on his face is the symbol of desperation. "400 Blows" will remain in my favorites in short. Every human being should see this.