The Blows (400 ) Movie Review

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is one troubled 12-year-old kid. His mother (Claire Maurier) wanted to have an abortion when she learned she was expecting him and Antoine knows it. She is unfaithful to his father (Albert Remy) and both are indifferent to Antoine. He skips school, steals, and lies about the cause of his behavior by saying that his mother is dead. He is sent to an institution but escapes, and the shot of Antoine on the beach is one of the most indelible images of childhood ever. Jean-Pierre Leaud seems so real as Antoine, it's hard to believe he's acting. But he is, and Truffaut took infinite care to see that his young discovery hit just the right notes in his first movie. Partly based on Truffaut's own life, The 400 Blows gave us a view of childhood that we'd never before seen in such realistic detail. A groundbreaking picture in every way, it was and still is an enormously influential film on more than two generation of filmmakers. AKA: Les Quartre Cents Coups.

1959 97m/B FR Francois Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Leaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Remy, Guy Decomble, Georges Flament, Patrick Auffay, Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jacques Demy, Robert Beauvais; D: Francois Truffaut; W: Francois Truffaut, Marcel Moussey; C: Henri Decae; M: Jean Constantin. Cannes Film Festival ‘59: Best Director (Truffaut); New York Film Critics Awards ‘59: Best Foreign Film; Nominations: Academy Awards ‘59: Best Story & Screenplay. VHS, LV, Letterbox, DVD