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Storyline
Intensely touching story of a misunderstood young adolescent who left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime. |
Backdrops
The Director
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut (6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five films. Along with Jean-Luc Godard, Truffaut was one of the most influential figures of the French New Wave, inspiring directors such as Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, & Wes Anderson.
Description above from the Wikipedia article François Truffaut, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
User Reviews
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The 400 Blows (aka Les Quatre Cents Coups)
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Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!It's my understanding that Truffaut was inspired by "A Touch of Evil" to make his first movie, and his first was this incredible story based loosely on Truffaut's on childhood. I also understand that "faire les quatre cents coups" is French slang for "to raise hell" or "to make trouble," and I suspect the title of the film in English would be more nearly "The Troublemaker."
"The 400 Blows" was directed by François Truffaut, and it stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine. Antoine lives in a one-bedroom apartment in 1959 Paris with his mother and step-father. Neither appears to care much for or about Antoine, and he's a trouble-maker at school. He skips school for awhile, and ends up in a jail for a petty theft. After wondering what they were going to do with him during the summer recess, his mother and step-father have an inspiration -- let the police keep him in custody.
The movie is full of subtle and not-so-subtle clues about Antoine: his step-father gave his mother money to by sheets for his cot, but they were not purchased; Antoine's pajamas are torn; he reacts angrily to his peers and his teacher, shouting threats and calling them names. Léaud is marvelous as the miscreant, showing the hurt Antoine feels on a face that hides his emotions.
"The 400 Blows" is the best character study I've seen, and it has the best ending of any movie I've ever seen. It's a heartbreaking film without being maudlin.
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reviewed by philip (Filmaster.com) on the 9th of October 2011
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Truffaut says some rather dark things about adolescence with a disconcertingly jovial tone accentuated by a haunting score. Léaud's Doinel is an child who postures himself as an adult and yearns, without understanding, to be free of the shackles of his youth. The characters are complex, and their selfish and petty actions are true to life. The third act is a pitiless descent into madness, where a single person is made responsible for the mistakes of a community, and the result is profound.