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Title:
Director: Writer: Producer: DP: Editor: Studio: Year: TRT: Language: Subtitles: Genre: Ratio: |
The 400 Blows François Truffaut François Truffaut François Truffaut Henri Decaë Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte, Les Films du Carrosse Sedif Productions 1959 156 min. French English Art House 2.35:1 |
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Cast | ||||||||||||||||
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| Jean-Pierre Léaud Claire Maurier Albert Rémy, Patrick Auffay Guy Decomble Georges Flamant |
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| A boy growing up in Paris in the forties turns to delinquency and petty theft as his family only shows moderate interest. His rebellion leads him into reform school where he must face who he is, and what his life is actually like. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Features | |||||||||||||||||||
| English audio commentary by film scholar Brian Stonehill and François Truffaut's lifelong friend Robert Lachenay. French audio commentary by co-screenwriter Marcel Moussy |
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| Comments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Considered to be the beginning of the French New Wave, The 400 Blows is as influential and accesible as any film today, although it's fathoms deeper and significantly more enriching. Although it is considered to be the begining of the French New Wave, its aesthetics and construction and even content are more closely alligned with the Italian Neorealist movement of the late 1940s. (Not surprising since Truffaut was a critic for the influential Cahiers du Cinema before he was a film-maker, and his mentor, André Bazín, was the most vocal and literate supporter of Italian Neorealism. One of the greatest qualities of The 400 Blows is that it is so accesible, whereas much of the New Wave is not. It is because of this accessibility that it has helped educate so many people on the higher purpose of film and its qualities as art. It is a great starting point for anyone interested in learning about film and film history, but who isn't quite ready to take on some more challenging films that are emotionally and critically distant and are, without a significant grounding in film, thoroughly unenjoyable. With the background that The 400 Blows helps to begin to establish, a greater understanding and significantly more enjoyable films await. That is the reward, the punishment is that once you develope a taste for quality, it's hard to enjoy even a small percentage of films that are released each year, whether they are from Hollywood or the supposed independent and art film movements. One last note, the title refers to a French saying which in effect says that a boy must receive 400 blows (beatings, metaphorical and otherwise) before becoming a man. The French Title is Les Quatre cents coups. |
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