The 400 Blows: François Truffaut

At the end of October 2011, I was hospitalized for ten days. During this time, I didn't have access to any (good) movies and my only source of entertainment was a large book on French film history. One of the films that they kept mentioning was François Truffaut's The 400 Blows. I had seen it about three years earlier when I first started getting interested in serious cinema. I felt like I had to as a budding cinephile. After all, The 400 Blows was basically when international cinema hit puberty. But I was only somewhat impressed with it. I didn't really have any tolerance for the pacing and content of French films since I was still conditioned to prefer Hollywood films. A few scenes I liked...particularly the one where the teacher takes the students for a jog and they break off from his line in 2's and 3's until he is practically running by himself. But afterwards, I felt like I hadn't really gained anything from it. Now, having seen literally thousands of films and having developed a taste and tolerance for foreign fare (seriously...I can watch Ozu and Dreyer films in one sitting), I see The 400 Blows in a totally new light. I simply adore it. The film centers around the exploits of Antoine Doinel, a young boy in Paris who would come to be the central character in four of Truffaut's other films. He is a troublemaker, true, but he repeatedly encounters misfortunes that are mistaken by grown-ups as insubordination and bad behavior. He is eventually sent to an "observation camp" for "troubled youth" where he learns that his family has abandoned him. It is a sad story and one that we can all relate to. Truffaut always had an eye for realism, yet the film never seems boring. It has a life and energy to it that is strange and almost exotic. I still can't quite put the finger on why this film compels me as much as it does. But now I can appreciate it for the classic that it truly is instead of just thinking of it as another notch on my list of movies to see.

First Time Viewing Score: 7/10
Second Time Viewing Score: 10/10