 |
| Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) finds himself in ever-growing trouble. |
Release Date: May 4, 1959. Running Time: 99 minutes. Written by: François Truffaut, Marcel Moussy. Producer: François Truffaut, Georges Charlot. Director: François Truffaut.
Version Reviewed: French, with English subtitles.
THE PLOT:
12-year-old Antonie Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is a troubled boy. His teacher, whom the students have dubbed "Sourpuss" (Guy Decomble), seems to specifically target him for discipline, and his mother (Claire Maurier) is actively hostile. His stepfather (Albert Rémy) is friendly enough, but in a mostly disinterested way. Meanwhile, his best friend, René (Patrick Auffay), is a proud delinquent who somehow manages to consistently avoid punishment.
Antoine's situation steadily deteriorates, both at home and at school. After he is caught in a lie, he runs away from home with René's help - but his continued misadventures inevitably lead him to even bigger trouble.
 |
| Antoine's mother (Claire Maurier) in a moment of kindness - selfishly motivated, of course. |
CHARACTERS:
Antoine: The film's template is set by Antoine's introduction. A dirty magazine is passed throughout the classroom. All the boys enjoy flipping through it, but he is the one who is caught by Sourpuss and disciplined. The boy's punishment is to stand in a corner... but he proceeds to write his grievances on the wall, making matters much worse for himself when his teacher sees it. Jean-Pierre Léaud gives one of the great child performances, in no small part because both he and the movie avoid histrionics. Antoine barely reacts to his misfortunes, having become accustomed to them long before the movie opens.
Antoine's mother: She doesn't refer to him by name, instead calling him "the boy." She complains about his poor grades, but she also stops him from being able to complete his homework, first requiring him to run errands and then forbidding him from doing his work at the dinner table. Her marriage to her husband appears to largely be one of convenience. It's little surprise to see that she's engaged in an affair - and Antoine seeing her with her lover prompts her to suddenly behave kindly toward him, to keep him from telling her husband. The character is unsympathetic, but understandable: Actress Claire Maurier was only 29 when this was shot, and it's clear that this woman was too young to be a mother and doesn't know how to deal with a difficult child.
Antoine's stepfather: He initially seems to be a more positive figure than the mother. He's laid back, interacting with Antoine in a light and humorous manner in early scenes. However, he has a temper, and he's quick to deliver a slap when he becomes upset. When he argues with his wife, he loudly proclaims that he gave Antoine his name, not bothered that the boy can certainly hear him. By the end of the film, I thought he was actually the worse of the two parents. His smile is purely surface-level, and his temper and sense of resentment make him less predictable.
René: Patrick Auffay, as Antoine's best friend, is just as convincing as Jean-Pierre Léaud. René may be even more of a delinquent than Antoine, and he instigates their early misadventures. Unlike Antoine, he understands how things work. He forges notes to cover his absences when he plays hooky, for instance, confiding in Antoine that the bigger the sob story, the less likely adults are to scrutinize. But Antoine overshoots, and in the process he (again) makes things worse for himself.
Sourpuss: Antoine's teacher, portrayed as the boy sees him: a harsh disciplinarian with a particular dislike for Antoine. There is an interesting moment about a third of the way in, however. After Antoine misses a day of school, Sourpuss is waiting to find out what his excuse is. This is where Antoine bungles René's advice to go big, claiming that his mother died. Sourpuss's entire demeanor changes in an instant, with him laying a hand on the boy's shoulder and urging him to confide in his teachers. This one moment shows that a kernel of compassion exists... though it disappears forever once Antoine's lie is exposed.
 |
| Antoine and his friend, Rene (Patrick Auffay), engage in mischief. |
EARLY INFLUENCE - TAKAHATA:
I've found several articles indicating that Isao Takahata was influenced by the French New Wave. I cannot find any indication of specific titles, but the New Wave mentions are frequent enough that I felt that I should include a representation, and The 400 Blows is a strong fit with Takahata's own works.
Much like Marco in 3,000 Leagues in Search of Mother or Seita in Grave of the Fireflies, Antoine doesn't seem like someone who "should" be the main character of a movie: He's an ordinary boy, with both good and bad qualities, caught on the wrong side of a society that isn't so much hostile as apathetic. As with those titles, there is a story, but the narrative arises from the day-to-day existences of the characters.
 |
| Antoine's stepfather (Albert Rémy) catches him in a lie. |
THOUGHTS:
The 400 Blows is one of the seminal films of The French New Wave, a movement that rejected polished, big studio moviemaking in favor of a naturalistic, even documentary-style "slice of life" approach. It was heavily influenced by Italian neo-realism; and even if I didn't already know that, it isn't at all difficult to draw a direct line between Bicycle Thieves and this film.
I'll be honest: as a whole, the movies of the French New Wave test my patience. Particularly as it went along, the New Wave had a tendency to disappear up itself. If you make works that deliberately keep viewers at a distance, audience confusion and/or boredom is not proof that they're "uncultured," but rather a natural response to the movie. That's not even mentioning New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard's exclusionary lists of which filmmakers were deserving of being truly considered part of the New Wave... because gatekeeping existed long, long before Internet trolls made it popular.
Director François Truffaut was hardly above his own moments of intellectual snobbery, but I'll give him credit for not letting that get in the way of making genuinely good movies. The 400 Blows is considered to be one of his greatest films, its low-key approach heightening the effectiveness as we glimpse a key period in the life of a young boy.
The story was semi-autobiographical. Like Antoine, Truffaut skipped school, stole, and spent time in a juvenile detention center. He credited his love of film with saving him, and he created a noteworthy career as a movie critic before becoming a director himself. This is likely why this story feels so true: Truffaut lived events very like the ones he's presenting.
Jean-Pierre Léaud's performance is remarkable. For the most part, he barely reacts to his (often self-inflicted) misfortunes. However, there are two moments that stand out. Early in the movie, he and René play hooky. He goes on a centrifuge ride, grinning as he battles the gravity to turn himself upside-down as the chamber spins. It's one of the few times in the movie that allows him to be fully and enthusiastically a child.
The other moment comes near the end, when he talks to a psychologist. He fills in his backstory for both her and us, relating how unwanted he was. The details are heartbreaking, yet Léaud speaks casually, with no emotion, Antoine having internalized this reality a very long time ago.
 |
| Antoine on a centrifuge ride, one of the few times he gets to just enjoy being a child. |
THE ADVENTURES OF ANTOINE DONIEL:
The 400 Blows was almost certainly intended as a standalone movie. It tells its story, and it ends on a perfectly-judged final shot, leaving it to the viewer to decide what will become of its troubled subject.
But Truffaut's identification with the character was strong, and Jean-Pierre Léaud was exceptional. At first, Truffaut simply followed it up with a short film, Antoine and Colette, which formed part of the 1962 anthology movie, Love at Twenty. In 1968, Stolen Kisses followed; and then, in the 1970s, Bed and Board and Love on the Run. Had Truffat not died young, I suspect he would have helmed at least one more, as I doubt he'd have resisted following his favorite character into middle age.
I'm only about three films into the set, but the ones I've seen so far are extremely different from The 400 Blows. They focus heavily on Antoine's romances, and the third film (Stolen Kisses) is practically an outright comedy. While they are lighter fare, though, they remain good movies, and I would be surprised if the final two do not also turn out to be worth watching.
The entire series is available as a box set from Criterion, which you can buy directly from their website for about $80.00. Or $100, if you feel some compulsion to watch film grain in 4K. Me, I'd advise saving the extra $20 and treating yourself to a nice lunch. But given the films, neither price point is unreasonable.
 |
| Antoine bids a silent farewell to a rare sympathetic visitor. |
OVERALL:
I can't rate The 400 Blows as highly as I did Bicycle Thieves. Its reputation is entirely justified. This is a work of substance, with superb performances and a justly famous ending. That said, the first half is extremely slow-paced, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to doing some seat-shifting.
It becomes steadily more engrossing as it goes, and the last 40 minutes is spellbinding. But I suspect a lot of viewers might become impatient and give up during the early going. As such, I'm deducting a couple of points from my score, leaving this at a still very strong...
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Next: This review series shifts to Toei Animation, to their first full-color feature film release, a movie that had an impact on a young Hayao Miyazaki...
Previous Review: The Snow Queen
Review Index
To receive new review updates, follow me:
On BlueSky:
On Threads:
No comments:
Post a Comment