The 400 Blows

film by Truffaut [1959]

Also known as: “Les Quatre Cents Coups”

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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French:: Les Quatre Cents Coups

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The 400 Blows, French film drama, released in 1959, that defined the New Wave cinema movement created by young French directors in the late 1950s and ’60s. 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.

The somewhat autobiographical tale follows 12-year-old Doinel (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud) as he tries to thrive despite his distant mother and father. Compounding his problems are the schools and courts that seem to do more harm than good for troubled youths. As Doinel drifts into petty crime, the adults around him take sterner measures, only to aggravate the worst impulses of a child who is not inherently bad.

Léaud’s performance was widely praised, and he later reprised the role of Doinel in four more films. Truffaut used innovative camera angles and editing techniques to paint his portrait of lost youth, victimized by misguided parental priorities and an unjust system for dealing with juvenile offenders. The film provides no simple solutions, and its final shot, a freeze frame on the isolated Doinel, is beloved for its unsettling ambiguity.