Before today I had never seen a film by François Truffaut; this would be my first – and it just so happens that this is Truffaut’s first feature film. How fitting.
As with many of the films I’ve been catching up with lately my interest in this film comes primarily from an image I’ve seen over and over again: Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) longingly peering through a fence – the shadows cutting across his face like scars. A very striking image.
Being associated with the French New Wave, I have to admit that I had my reservations about this film. Back in film school it seemed as though the French New Wave was being shoved down our throats and was being taught as the only “true” cinema (of course the “dogma” movement was on the rise back then – so we got our dose of that too). With the exception of a few films by Jean-Luc Goddard, I wasn’t impressed. I was far more interested in what the Italians were doing in the 60’s than the French.
Anyway, with that being said, I was pleasantly surprised with The 400 Blows. I’ve been watching a whole slew of films about childhood lately (Stand By Me; A Christmas Story) and would rate this among the best I’ve seen thus far.
