The 400 Blows

Sometimes life just ain’t fair. Francois Truffaut was born in 1932. In a better world he’d be 74 today, quite likely still active, probably the “Grand old man” of French cinema. But no, he died at 52 of a brain tumor. Sigh. Well, at least he was a worker, averaging one film per year. This was his first one, and one of the most influential films of all time as one of the first of the French Nouvelle Vague, the “New Wave,” which revolutionized cinema all over the world. All these years later and having seen a film get made (and being a writer, not a director), I disagree with their famous auteur theory. The director is certainly hugely important to a movie, but not even obsessive detail men like Kubrick are the “author” of a film. Guiding visionary, perhaps, depending on the director. I do accept their controversial (at the time) notion that non-European, Hollywood directors (gasp!) like Hitchcock and Ford were great artists. I’ve seen many Truffaut films, but not enough, and this was one of the gaps that needed filling in.

In The 400 Blows, life really ain’t fair. The boy, Antoine Doinel, is always getting in trouble. Sometimes he’s simply misunderstood, sometimes it’s his own fault. He’s got no support in his lousy little home. His teacher is a martinet, he starts a gradual, then quick, slide to what could be a very bad life. The film lets you decide what’s going to be. His case is not hopeless, and if you know Truffaut’s life story you know that it can be turned around. This film is pretty autobiographical, Truffaut was like this as a young man, and was saved only by his passion for cinema. When the film freezes on Antoine’s face at the end, I’ve got my fingers crossed for him.

In 2006 it all looks little tame, considering the things we’ve seen since. So does The Blackboard Jungle and West Side Story, but that doesn’t prevent all three from being passionate, honest, and gripping.