The 400 Blows

Paige 
Mrs. Burgess
Enr. English 10
10/16/07
The 400 Blows

The 400 Blows does anything but! The film was certainly an interesting and unique one. Although it’s not normally my kind of movie, I did enjoy it quite a bit! I loved the stereotypical characters such as the gaudy mom, the strict schoolteacher, and the mischievous best friend. I also enjoyed the plot. In some parts I wanted to laugh at the hilarious positions that Antoine gets himself into, and in others I wanted to cry. Because of this I do think that the film is effective. Overall, I think that The 400 Blows is a film worth seeing.
The 400 Blows has a simple plot that unfolds very smoothly. The protagonist, Antoine Doinel, is a troubled adolescent growing up in the city of Paris. His problems start at home with his young, tawdry, mother, who has been divorced, but is now remarried. Her and husband fight constantly and treat Antoine as if he were burden. Antoine’s problems are also transferred into his school life where he receives poor grades and often plays hooky with his best friend René. One day he and René devise a plan to pawn off one of his stepfather’s typewriters that they stole. Unfortunately, their plan fails and Antoine gets caught while trying to return it. His parents chose to send him away to a labor camp. In the end, he escapes through a hole in the fence. The film leaves Antoine finally reaching the ocean. The film is mostly from Antoine’s point of view, letting the viewer see into his life. However, even though this film is intended to be a memoir, it does not thoroughly illustrate any of Antoine’s emotions or feelings. The setting helped to further describe Truffaut’s characters. The Doinel’s small, cramped, apartment helped to show the family’s social status, as well as get a feel for the time period in which they were living in. Literary aspects like plot, point of view, characters, and setting, make the film both solid and creative.
Dramatic aspects also played an important role in the film. Take the actors for instance. Actors can make or break a film, and in this case they surely succeeded. Claire Maurier, who played the mother, did an excellent job being vain and ignorant. Guy Decomble also preformed well as the schoolteacher. He did a good job being strict and looking the part. However, I imagined Julian Doinel a little different. I pictured him to be manlier and butch rather than the almost dorky dad he played. Other dramatic aspects that the film incorporated were the lighting, which helped to set the mood and tone, and the set design, which helped to further describe the life of the Doinel’s.
Many cinematic aspects appeared in The 400 Blows. The camera movement was really cool because I never knew there were so many different angles! The film incorporated a lot variety of shots but was mostly made up of close-ups and voice-overs. An example of this would be when the camera is on Antoine’s face, but we hear his parents arguing in the background. The editing of these shots was usually choppy and consisted of many blackouts. The music was also important to the film. Music in the major key would play when the scene was happy, and would switch to minor when sad. Camera movement, editing, and sound are just a few examples of the cinematic aspects found throughout the film.
Richard Wright’s Black Boy and The 400 Blows share a few similarities and differences. One similarity that they have is that both boys, Richard and Antoine, are looked down upon in their societies. Richard is an African-American boy growing up in a world where blacks are thought to be inferior to whites. Likewise, Antoine is also looked down upon. He is rejected for stealing, not listening to his parents, and not attending school. However, the boys differ in how they fix their problems. Richard fixes his by earning enough money to escape the South and move up North where he can be treated as more of an equal. Antoine, on the other hand, simply runs away from his problems by running away from his home. Richard and Antoine are very much alike, despite a few character aspects.
I would defiantly recommend The 400 Blows. It’s a great one to analyze and point out all the different aspects of film. I also found it very interesting and fun to watch! The 400 Blows is defiantly a work of art.