The 400 Blows (1959)
There are some films that become truly iconic and grow a sizable presence and weight to where you don't even have to see them in order to respect them. The 400 Blows is one of those films, following a young boy named Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) who is in a very rough spot. He was born into a poor unloving family which has affected all aspects of his life, he lacks the support needed to succeed in life and feels unfairly targeted and looked down upon he gets in more and more trouble. This was a movie that I have heard so much about and universally seems to be praised as a great tragedy filled with hard-hitting emotion. I had heard so much about the film that as I sat down to finally watch it I was a bit nervous it would be able to live up to the hype. Luckily this film really does deserve the hype it gets, despite the story being smaller than most really dramatic and emotional films that we normally see it hits incredibly hard and is so well made.
Like I said the thing I was most anticipating about the film was the emotional impact it would bring. Sure the story isn't anything overly special or deep as far as specific plot points, after all this is a look at this kids life at a very early perspective with no big fictional driving plot event that makes it overly cinematic or special. But it is raw and grounded because of this and shows just how much even a simple bad foundation of a child environment can start a child on a bad path which is a message that really hit me personally. Peeling back the curtain a bit on my life I had a very rough childhood and growing up I saw first hand how that affected me as I grew up. Simple things like a lack of support and love can really mess someone up and this film does a great job at exposing and exploring this idea. It wouldn't have worked in the same way if there were huge dramatic plot points that made this kid's life seem overly extraordinary, it thrives being the smaller more tragic and realistic plot that it is now.
Another reason why this movie works so well is the acting in it, as always when a film decides to focus on children actors I grow weary. Especially with a role like Antoine, there are so many deep and complex emotions that Jean-Pierre Léaud has to show which is especially difficult considering he doesn't have the perspective that the audience would have. The emotions in this film work when you have the context of what this means in the grand scheme of his life, that is not something you have as a kid and it seems nearly impossible that there wouldn't be a disconnect with what his performance should have been compared to what it was. Yet there is none of this, Jean-Pierre Léaud is just incredible in this role and you can not only see but also feel the pain in his performance at key times. Whether that is due to his deep understanding of his character or direction from director François Truffaut, this performance should be viewed as a huge success and really did feel like something special.
Another reason why this movie works so well is the acting in it, as always when a film decides to focus on children actors I grow weary. Especially with a role like Antoine, there are so many deep and complex emotions that Jean-Pierre Léaud has to show which is especially difficult considering he doesn't have the perspective that the audience would have. The emotions in this film work when you have the context of what this means in the grand scheme of his life, that is not something you have as a kid and it seems nearly impossible that there wouldn't be a disconnect with what his performance should have been compared to what it was. Yet there is none of this, Jean-Pierre Léaud is just incredible in this role and you can not only see but also feel the pain in his performance at key times. Whether that is due to his deep understanding of his character or direction from director François Truffaut, this performance should be viewed as a huge success and really did feel like something special.
Another standout portion of the film for me would be the cinematography by Henri Decaë. There are so many really incredible shots here that have become iconic. Similar to the plot itself it's not even that the shots are overly unique or spectacular out of context of the film itself. But once you see them in the movie they are just so damn effective. The only issue I could find with the film is that there are some portions where it feels like it starts to wander a bit too much. As I mentioned a lot of this movie is just casually watching this kids life and the struggles he goes through and in this without a solid direction as far as the plot goes for most of the film it can feel like there are some scenes that could have been trimmed and cut.
Overall though The 400 Blows is a really incredible film, this is such a strong emotional film that breaks a lot of traditional drama cliches and decides to look at a really grounded and smaller story. It doesn't want to catch you with some clever and over the top plot filled with any twists or turns, it wants to catch you on a deeper level. If you dealt with any form of childhood trauma or emotional issues this is going to connect with you. It took something deep down for me and materialized it on screen in a way I have never quite seen done before. Buy into the hype that The 400 Blows gets, this is something really special and I hope everyone at some point gives it a go.
Overall though The 400 Blows is a really incredible film, this is such a strong emotional film that breaks a lot of traditional drama cliches and decides to look at a really grounded and smaller story. It doesn't want to catch you with some clever and over the top plot filled with any twists or turns, it wants to catch you on a deeper level. If you dealt with any form of childhood trauma or emotional issues this is going to connect with you. It took something deep down for me and materialized it on screen in a way I have never quite seen done before. Buy into the hype that The 400 Blows gets, this is something really special and I hope everyone at some point gives it a go.