the audience applauded

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

In my youth I have done things that I considered as wrong or unjust because of my upbringing, but films like The 400 Blows, Murmur of the Heart and Call Me By Your Name clarify that the transition to boyhood to manhood and the endless need for exploration is ordinary. Not that living ordinary is a bad thing, it just means that everyone in life has this sense of sonder that may correlate with one another, it is real, it is beautiful, and boys (especially in their teens) do weird things when they're alone.Antoine Doinel is bright and curious but his environment is against him; teachers (Institution) who criticize him without consideration, parents (Family) who are distant like a generational gap, and authorities (Law) that has no care whatsoever to the youth for order. Having a friend like Rene is a blessing because you know they'll be friends for life and they share the same ideals. It is also fun to watch them roam the surroundings for adventure.Antoine isn't necessarily a sympathetic character, he's wild, stubborn, he used an excuse that his mother died for missing a day at school, stealing his grandmother's money just because. Léaud is amazing in this because you sympathize with him. The gazes to nowhere, mannerisms and the improvisations at his age at the time is genius. Raw talent and the realness of his portrayal should be a principle for authenticity in real life or actors who are willing to grasp it.The techniques that Francois Truffaut has done here is a pleasure to experience. The comical scenes with the kid getting ink all over his notebook and the dispersion of the students one by one. These takes are well earned and hilarious. The seamless and clean long takes of Antoine running is an awe and the freeze frames (the mugshot and end frame) is incredibly striking, you get the idea that those frames were directed at the audience.This movie is about freedom, in every sense of it. Antoine never seeing the sea in his life, finally reaching it, and it is a dead end - what's next for him?

a young boy growing up in Paris during the 1950s. Misunderstood at home by his parents for wagging school and stealing things and tormented in school for discipline problems by his teacher (Guy Decomble) (Antoine falsely explains his being away from school was due to his mother's death), 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 trying to return it.Antoine Doinel in the final scene The stepfather 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 her husband is not Antoine's biological father. Antoine is placed in an observation center for troubled youths near the seashore (as per his mother's wishes). A psychologist at the center probes reasons for Antoine's unhappiness, which the youth reveals in a fragmented series of monologues.

"400 Blows"... uh... how can I start? I've begun french movies with this masterpiece. It is the best french movie in my opinion and my second favorite movie. The director, Francois Truffaut reflects Antoine Doinel's life as a real experience. He actually shows his troubled childhood in the "400 Blows" and this makes the movie the first example of French new wave movies. I felt while watching that when Antoine walked, I walked. When he ran, I ran. I experienced his life as mine. This is one of the most important feature of French new wave movies (Nouvelle Vague) , so life can be seen more real in these type of films. That's because I feel real emotions and sorrows. That's because I adore this movie, and Truffaut himself. Antoine Doinel feels distress because of his family and society around him. He can't show himself up at school or in life. He lives with lies and a bad family. Everything around him is shattered and drags him to do forbidden things like committing a theft. These troubles make him escape from his wicked life. In the final scene, we can see that he runs without a backward glance. Some people cannot understand why Truffaut finishes this movie like this and why Antoine runs. Trying to get over his life is the explanation of it and Antoine's inevitability is the final moment. The sea represents he cannot get over from his life. The expression on his face is the symbol of desperation. "400 Blows" will remain in my favorites in short. Every human being should see this.

Good movie, but hardly brilliant or a classic.A boy, Antoine Doinel, is often in trouble at school and doesn't get along with his parents, especially his mother. He briefly runs away from home but then returns (or is returned...). After a while he ups the ante and turns to petty crime...Interesting drama. It also has its lighter side. There are many moments of comedy - the scene with the gym teacher taking the class for a walk was priceless! However, hardly the classic this is made out to be. Directed by Francois Truffaut, this is regarded as being the vanguard of the French New Wave movement. But it really isn't THAT good. It is hardly profound - the plot is a few weeks/months in the life of a early/mid-teens boy. There is no big realisation at the end, or plot closure.Even as a character-based film it is not fantastic. Yes, you feel some empathy for and engagement towards the boy but he is more villain than hero. (The adults are hardly saints either, I might add).Worth watching though, as it is a reasonable story, and to see what all the fuss is about...