The 400 Blows is a 1959 movie directed by Francois Truffaut.
The 400 Blows tells the story of Antoine, a 14-year old who suddenly finds himself drifting through life. Disconnected from his family and friends, Antoine turns to lying and stealing and eventually finds himself in a juvenile detention center.
Truffaut’s first feature excels on several levels. There is immense beauty in the stark, honest environment that breeds Antoine’s angst. The look of the movie is gritty but gorgeous – even in its most confining spaces. The emotional nuances of the acting are superb – the child actors convey a rich depth of confused innocence while the adults project a vicious callousness.
Yet the lasting effect of The 400 Blows is heartbreak.
The movie’s most powerful moment is a split second reaction when Jean-Pierre Leaud’s Antoine is visited by his mother at a juvenile detention center. Antione’s mother, played by Claire Maurier, clinically reports that his father has “washed his hands of you.”
Continue reading “The 400 Blows”