400 Blows (1959) - Essential Art House
by Francois Truffaut
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jean-Pierre LeaudDirector: Francois Truffaut
Brand: IMG
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-02-10
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of 400 Blows (1959) - Essential Art House
Movie Review: Incredibly good movie
Summary: 5 Stars
THE 400 BLOWS was an international sensation when first released in 1959, and with good reason. This film has the objectivity and immediacy of a documentary but with the passion and social realism of OLIVER TWIST and the charm of Jean Constantin's vibrant music for jazz flute, which it incorporates brilliantly. Not to mention that the performances are top-notch and the direction, handled with masterly assurance, succeeds equally whether in kitchen-sink close up or in Truffaut's magnificent crane shots of workaday Paris. That this all fits together so well -- and for a rookie director, Francois Truffaut -- seems no less a miracle now than it was back then.
The story focuses on young Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), a kid from a working-class Paris neighborhood, who has to contend with bickering and aloof parents, schooling where regimentation seems an end to itself, a grind of a home life and a chronic lack of money. A plot precis doesn't do justice to Antoine's story, which would chart the boy's descent from disaffected pre-adolesent schoolboy to (in society's eyes, at any rate) budding criminal. Yet Truffaut handles Antoine -- a near-copy of his young self -- with a sympathy that communicates very well to us in the audience. He ends the film on a hopeful if ambiguous note.
I can unqualifiedly recommend this seminal film, which remains so fresh even to this day. I am a little reluctant to insist on the new ART HOUSE ESSENTIAL edition for sale here, because the CRITERION COLLECTION version, also available through Amazon, costs (as of this writing) only US$2.50 more, has multiple bells-and-whistles, and includes two commentary tracks, one by a film scholar and one by Truffaut's best friend from childhood. I am not favoring one competitor over another because JANUS - CRITERION and "Art House" are all the same company. In the absence of company specs to the contrary, the ART HOUSE version seems to lack those enlightening extras. But it does not alter my five-star rating.
One small semantic note -- it would be logical to assume that "400 blows" refers to corporal punishment, which would be a literal translation from the French. Instead, it's a French idiom that means more along the lines of "raise some hell" or "sow wild oats," a far less violent and sympathetic understanding of the phrase. This is quite in line with Truffaut's treatment of the story in this astonishing and wonderful film.
Summary of 400 Blows (1959) - Essential Art House
In 1959, François Truffaut burst upon the scene, heralding the French New Wave with his emotional, autobiographical tale of a boy named Antoine Doinel, neglected by family and school, who must ultimately fend for himself on the streets of Paris. A showcase for the talents of not only Truffaut but also the young Jean-Pierre Léaud (who would become an emblem of the coming decade of daring French cinema), The 400 Blows remains a stunner, from first frame to unforgettable last.Similar DVD Movies
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