Cinema
The 400 Blows
Les Quatre Cents Coups
François Truffaut · 1959
Synopsis
Antoine Doinel lives in Paris between an indifferent mother and a stepfather. At school, his teacher punishes him constantly. He plays truant with a friend, catches his mother with another man and, to justify an absence, claims that his mother is dead. The lies pile up, until the day he steals a typewriter from his stepfather's office, without managing to sell it.
Context
Truffaut draws here on episodes from his own childhood. The film is dedicated to André Bazin, who had launched his career and died just as shooting began. It was shot on real locations, mainly in Paris, and the production was financed by his wife's family. Jean-Pierre Léaud, chosen after screen tests, plays Antoine; the scene of the interview with the psychologist was replaced during shooting by an improvisation by the boy. The film opened the Cannes festival on 4 May 1959.
Who it is for
Ninety-nine minutes; a simple story told at a child's level, which the Collège au cinéma scheme offers to pupils.
Prizes and reception
Best Director prize at Cannes in 1959 for this first feature film, which became one of the founding films of the New Wave.
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