The 400 Blows
| The 400 Blows | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | François Truffaut |
| Produced by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Music by | Jean Constantin |
| Cinematography | Henri Decaë |
| Editing by | Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte |
| Studio | Les Films du Carrosse |
| Distributed by | Cocinor |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
The 400 Blows (French: Les quatre cents coups) is a 1959 French drama film directed by François Truffaut and starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. Written by Truffaut and Marcel Moussy, the film is about Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who is thought by his parents and teachers to be a troublemaker.[2] Filmed on location in Paris and Honfleur,[3] The 400 Blows received numerous awards and nominations, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, the OCIC Award, and a Palme d'Or nomination in 1959. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing in 1960.[4] The 400 Blows had a total of 3,642,981 admissions in France, making it Truffaut's most successful film in his home country.[5]
Plot
Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is a young boy growing up in Paris during the early 1950s. Misunderstood at home by his parents and tormented in school by his insensitive teacher (Guy Decomble), Antoine frequently runs away from both places. The boy finally quits school after being caught plagiarizing Balzac by his teacher. He steals a typewriter from his stepfather's (Albert Remy) work place to finance his plans to leave home, but is apprehended while attempting to return it.
The stepfather angrily turns Antoine over to the police and Antoine spends the night in jail, sharing a cell with prostitutes and thieves. During an interview with the judge, Antoine’s mother confesses that Antoine’s father is not his biological father. Antoine is placed in an observation center for troubled youths near the shore (as per his mother's wishes). A psychiatrist at the center probes Antoine's unhappiness, which he reveals in a fragmented series of monologues.
One day, while playing football with the other boys, Antoine escapes under a fence and runs away to the ocean, a place he has wanted to visit his entire life. He reaches the shoreline of the sea and runs into it. The film concludes with a freeze-frame of Antoine, and then the camera optically zooms in on his face, looking into the camera.
Cast
- Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel
- Albert Rémy as Julien Doinel, Antoine's stepfather
- Claire Maurier as Gilberte Doinel, Antoine's mother
- Guy Decomble as Sourpuss, School teacher
- Patrick Auffay as René Bigey, Antoine's best friend
- Georges Flamant as Monsieur Bigey, René's father
- Pierre Repp as English teacher
- Daniel Couturier as Betrand Mauricet
- Luc Andrieux as Le professeur de gym
- Robert Beauvais as Director of the school
- Yvonne Claudie as Mme Bigey
- Marius Laurey as L'inspecteur Cabanel
- Claude Mansard as Examining Magistrate
- Jacques Monod as Commissioner
- Pierre Repp as The English Teacher
- Henri Virlojeux as Night watchman
- Jeanne Moreau as Woman looking for her dog
- Jean-Claude Brialy as man trying to pick up Woman looking for her dog
- François Nocher as Child
- Richard Kanayan as Child
- Renaud Fontanarosa as Child
- Michel Girard as Child
- Henry Moati as Child
- Bernard Abbou as Child
- Jean-François Bergouignan as Child
- Jacques Demy as policeman who says: “The wagon is here”.
- François Truffaut as man at the funfair
- Philippe De Broca as man at the funfair
- Jean-Luc Godard voice
- Jean-Paul Belmondo voice at the print works
- Michel Lesignor as Child[6]
Production
Title
The English title is a straight translation of the French but misses its meaning, as the French title refers to the expression "faire les quatre cents coups", which means "to raise hell". On the first American prints, subtitler and dubber Noelle Gilmore gave the film the title Wild Oats, but the distributor did not like that title and reverted it to The 400 Blows, which led some to think the film covered the topic of corporal punishment.[7]
Themes
A semi-autobiographical film, reflecting events of Truffaut's and his friend's lives, its style amounts to Truffaut's personal history of French film—most notably a scene borrowed wholesale from Jean Vigo's Zéro de conduite. It is dedicated to the man who became his spiritual father, André Bazin, who died just as the film was about to be shot.
Besides being a character study, the film is an exposé of the injustices of the treatment of juvenile offenders in France at the time.
Filming locations
- Avenue Frochot, Paris 9, Paris, France
- Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, Paris 7, Paris, France
- Honfleur, Calvados, France
- Montmartre, Paris 18, Paris, France
- Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, Paris 16, Paris, France
- Pigalle, Paris 9, Paris, France
- Rue Fontaine, Paris, France
- Sacré Cœur, Paris 18, Paris, France[3]
Reception
The film was widely acclaimed, winning numerous awards, including the Best Director Award at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival,[8] the Critics Award of the 1959 New York Film Critics' Circle and the Best European Film Award at 1960's Bodil Awards. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 32nd Academy Awards. The film currently holds a very rare 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 51 reviews.[9]
The film is among the top ten of the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.
Legacy
Truffaut made four other films with Léaud depicting Antoine at later stages of his life. He meets his first love, Colette, in Antoine and Colette, which was Truffaut's contribution to the 1962 anthology Love at Twenty. He falls in love with Christine Darbon (Claude Jade) in Stolen Kisses. He marries Christine in Bed and Board, but the couple have separated in Love on the Run.
Filmmakers Akira Kurosawa, Luis Buñuel, Satyajit Ray, Jean Cocteau, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Richard Lester and Norman Jewison have cited The 400 Blows as one of their favorite movies.[10][11] Kurosawa called it "one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen".[12]
The film was ranked #29 in Empire magazine's list of "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.[13]
References
- ↑ "The 400 Blows Cast/ Credits". Criterion. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ↑ "The 400 Blows". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Locations for The 400 Blows". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ↑ "Awards for The 400 Blows". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ↑ "Les Quatre cents coups". J.P.'s Box-Office. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ↑ "Full cast and crew for The 400 Blows". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ↑ Criterion Collection DVD of Grand Illusion, see the section on press notes.
- ↑ "Festival de Cannes: The 400 Blows". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
- ↑ "The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ↑ "BFI | Sight & Sound | Top Ten Poll 2002".
- ↑ "Akira Kurosawa's Top 100 Movies!".
- ↑ "The 400 Blows".
- ↑ "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema | 29. The 400 Blows". Empire.
Further reading
- Baecque, Antoine de; Toubiana, Serge (1999). Truffaut: A Biography. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0375400896.
- Bergan, Ronald, ed. (2008). François Truffaut: Interviews. Oxford: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1934110133.
- Holmes, Diana; Ingram, Robert, eds. (1998). François Truffaut (French Film Directors). Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719045530.
- Insdorf, Annette (1995). François Truffaut. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521478083.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The 400 Blows. |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The 400 Blows |
- The 400 Blows at the Internet Movie Database
- 400 Blows on NewWaveFilm.com
- The 400 Blows at allmovie
- The 400 Blows at Rotten Tomatoes
- Criterion Collection essay by Annette Insdorf
- Review by Roger Ebert
- Senses of Cinema essay
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