List Price: $29.95You Pay Only: $24.99 You Save: $4.96 (17%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515017527
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 09, 2006
Running Time: 99 minutes
Sales Rank: 10909
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: November 16, 1959
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Francois Truffaut's first and most personal feature film, told from the perspective of the director's lifelong cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel. Sensitively recreating the trials of Truffaut's own childhood, The 400 Blows unsentimentally portrays aloof parents, oppressive teachers, petty crime, and a friendship that would last a lifetime. Available after a long absence as a single-disc release.
Amazon.com essential video:
Francois Truffaut's first feature was this 1959 portrait of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a boy who turns to petty crime in the face of neglect at home and hard times at a reform school. Somewhat autobiographical for its director, the film helped usher in the heady spirit of the French New Wave, and introduced the Doinel character, who became a fixture in Truffaut's movies over the years. Poignant, exhilarating, and fun (there's a parade of cameo appearances from some of the essential icons and directors from the movement), this film is an important classic. --Tom Keogh
Amazon.com:
The knowing yet innocent face of Jean-Pierre Leaud, the 14-year-old star of The 400 Blows, is the heartbreaking core of Francois Truffaut's most intimate film. As Antoine Doinel, Leaud begins his career as director Truffaut's alter-ego, a young boy neglected by his mother and stepfather who, to cover his absence at school, tells a lie that leads him to run away from home and end up in reform school. There's nothing remarkable or surprising about the plot; the power of this film comes from how completely it draws you into Antoine's life. Antoine is a vivid, natural presence, one of the most compelling collaborations between a writer/director and an actor. The movie seems to capture him as he lives. Antoine endures his parent's indifference, humiliations at school, deprivation and juvenile delinquency--yet the movie never feels pitying or condescending, as if it were trying to rub your nose in Antoine's suffering. On the contrary: His resilience is what grabs you, his refusal to be broken down as he struggles towards a more adult understanding of the world. Truffaut and Leaud made many excellent films together (Day for Night, Two English Girls), including further chapters in Antoine's life (Bed and Board, Stolen Kisses), but none were quite as simple, rich, and devastatingly potent as The 400 Blows. (The title, incidentally, refers not to abuse or anything sexual, but is a French idiom for a wild and unruly youth or 'raising hell.') --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Unforgettable
The 400 Blows is a film that, many say, predated Elia Kazan's East of Eden. The 400 Blows came out in 1959; French director Francois Truffaut directed the film, which follows the difficult existence--both at home and at school--of a very young boy, Antoine (Jean Pierre Leaud).
The film's opening scene is in a classroom. The teacher sits at the head of the classroom; his sharp voice rings out over the students. A pin-up photo makes its rounds on the student's desks. The teacher is preoccupied, his head is down, and he is reading from his notes. But at the precise instant Antoine passes the pin-up, the teacher looks up and catches Antoine red-handed. The teacher orders Antoine to stand in the corner while his classmates run out for a recess in the schoolyard. Right off the bat, it's established that Antoine will suffer consequences for everything that he does. While serving his sentence in the corner of the classroom, Antoine attempts a poem on the chalkboard. The teacher sees the poem and orders Antoine to clean it off of the chalkboard. Antoine gets some rags to wipe off the chalkboard. The teacher yells at Antoine for making even more of a mess.
At home, Antoine's parents treat him as a tenant. His mother, Madame Doinel (Claire Maurier), is
Antoine's young and beautiful mother; Monsieur Doinel (Albert Remy) is Antoine's naïve stepfather. Money is short, and late at night, Antoine's parents yell at each other. They argue about money. They are behind on the bills. ... Read More
Rating:  - It Endlessly Rewards Close Attention
"The Four Hundred Blows," (1959) a drama with comic touches, was the first full-length feature film from famed French director/movie critic Francois Truffaut, and is generally considered the first "Nouvelle Vogue" film - that is, new wave. Truffaut had previously been active as a movie critic on "Cahiers du Cinema," a well-known French magazine devoted largely to American films, when, almost on a bet, he decided to try his hand at film-making. The result, "400 Blows," at 99 minutes, made when he was just 28, is, of course, world-famous. It is generally considered a pioneering film, and a triumph of movie-making. It's still fresh, interesting, closely-observed, and intense, after all these years.
Truffaut both wrote and directed his script. It's set in dreary wintertime Paris, in the part of the city where Truffaut grew up, the working class "banlieus" of Montmartre, far from its iconic tourist attractions. Much of the film is set in an extremely cramped apartment, six flights up, typical working class housing of the time, where the young Antoine Doinel is nightly sent down with the garbage.
We see Antoine, meant to be 12 years old, and instinctively played by the 15-year old Jean-Pierre Leaud, at home, with his somewhat neglectful, distracted parents. His kindly stepfather, Julian Doinel (Albert Remy), married his beautiful mother Gilberte (Claire Maurier), giving his name to her illegitimately-born son, who initially lived with his grandmother. His mother doesn't seem ... Read More
Rating:  - Beautiful cinematography
Antonine Doinel, is a 13 year old boy who gets in trouble at school, gets yelled at by his Mom and Dad and eventually runs away from home to a life of petty crime with his friend. He eventually gets caught and is sent to reform school by his parents.
This cinematography in this movie is first rate - even in black and white - boosting my rating from a 2 to a 3. Beautiful scenes of Paris, the countryside, the ocean, the school yards and the facial expressions of the main characters.
However, I found the storyline unbelievable. Antonine did not strike me as having such a difficult upbringing to lead to his skipping school, committing petty theft and running away from home. He had food to eat. His parents loved him. He had shelter. His parents seemed quite well intentioned even with the latch key aspects of his upbringing. His parents also seemed far too well intentioned to dump him in reform school over some minor crimes. Finally, the pace of this movie is excruciatingly slow. This movie wasn't for me.
Rating: - Intriguing.
The 400 Blows is a beautiful black and white french film. The cinematography is breathtaking and the acting is glorious. I watched this gem for my College film class a few years back and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The ending is a bit disappointing but this film has always stayed with me, I highly recommend checking this classic out!
Rating: - A cinematic masterpiece
Truffaut's insights into childhood are legendary; but this film is also a visual journey through the human soul. From the masterful interiors to the splendid crane-like shots of Paris in mid century, this film is truly nothing less than a loving camera taking us to the deepest reaches of our need for personal expression.
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