“The 400 Blows” is a 1959 “French New Wave” film directed by Francois Truffaut. It was an interesting look into the life of a young boy named Antoine who faces a troubled life both at home, and in school. The film was considered groundbreaking at the time, and ushered new film making methods at the time. In comparison to other movies that I’ve studied in my “Intro to Film Studies” class, this movie intended to take those traditional methods of film and toss them out the window. This is evident not only in the plot, but also in the film making process.
The narrative explored a plot that didn’t have any extravagant settings or a heroic conclusion. Instead it showed the life of a troubled young boy living the mundane life that many people live. Antoine constantly misbehaves and finds himself getting in trouble left and right. He skips out on school, runs away from home on multiple occasions, and only gets along with his friend Rene, who joins Antoine on most of his “adventures”. He is not necessarily abused and he has what many consider on the surface, to be a normal family life. His behavior is not a product of any physical abuse, aside from the usual corporal punishment that was normal in 1959. I found myself thinking “why the hell is this kid doing all of this?” I found Antoine to be somewhat unsympathetic whenever he misbehaved, but I did feel bad for him when his parents would show him almost no affection, and when they did, it seemed to get him to do something that benefitted them. It isn’t until this pattern of his parents pretending to like him and then lashing out again that we learn why Antoine keeps acting up. He is totally lost in this world and has nobody to turn to except his friend Rene (who is equally as rebellious). It is eventually revealed that Antoine’s father is not his real father, that his mother had him out of wedlock, and that he was supposed to be aborted and would’ve been, had his grandmother not stepped in. There are all trials and tribulations that films prior would dare explore.
In terms of the way it was shot, Truffaut subverts all expectations of you believe a movie should look. His camera work is “wobbly” so to speak, because it seems that Truffaut intends that the viewer feel as if he/she is in the room with Antoine. Films we’ve studied from earlier periods seem to have their cameras in a stationary position. If they were to follow a character around, the camera seemed to be on some sort of track that ensured it was stationary. Truffaut’s decision to film on location lets him move the camera around as he wishes. This expectation that the scene could literally go anywhere builds a sense of freedom, even though we as viewers have no control over the story. Truffaut essentially breaks the chains that are felt in films prior, and it’s done brilliantly.
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