The 400 Blows

( Les quatre cents coups)

François Truffaut
France, 1959

Imported Print

featuring

Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Guy Decomble,

The 400 Blows earned François Truffaut an enduring place in film history. Its semiautobiographical story of a lad who is unwanted by his parents, bored by school, and attracted to petty crime is told with an energetic blend of anarchy and rigor, the kind of unsentimental lyricism that was to become Truffaut’s trademark. Jean-Pierre Léaud, in his first appearance as Truffaut’s alter ego Antoine Doinel, reflects the strange sobriety of watchful youth.

Judy Bloch
FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • François Truffaut
  • Marcel Moussy
Cinematographer
  • Henri Decaë
Language
  • French
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • B&W
  • 'Scope 35mm
  • 99 mins
Source
  • TIFF Cinematheque
Permission
  • Janus Films/Criterion Collection