The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups) (1959)
Average Rating: 9.3/10
Reviews Counted: 51
Fresh: 51 | Rotten: 0
A seminal French New Wave film that offers an honest, sympathetic, and wholly heartbreaking observation of adolescence without trite nostalgia.
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 0
A seminal French New Wave film that offers an honest, sympathetic, and wholly heartbreaking observation of adolescence without trite nostalgia.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.3/5
User Ratings: 35,988
My Rating
Movie Info
For his feature-film debut, critic-turned-director François Truffaut drew inspiration from his own troubled childhood. The 400 Blows stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel, Truffaut's preteen alter ego. Misunderstood at home by his parents and tormented in school by his insensitive teacher (Guy Decomble), Antoine frequently runs away from both places. The boy finally quits school after being accused of plagiarism by his teacher. He steals a typewriter from his father (Albert Remy) to finance
Nov 16, 1959 Wide
Mar 24, 1998
Zenith International Films
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Jean-Pierre Léaud
Antoine Doinel -
Robert Beauvais
School Director -
Claire Maurier
Mme. Doinel -
Albert Remy
M. Doinel -
Guy Decomble
The French Teacher -
Patrick Auffay
Rene Bigey -
Luc Andrieux
Gym Teacher -
Jean-Claude Brialy
Man in street -
Christian Brocard
Man with Typewriter -
Yvonne Claudie
Mme Bigey -
Daniel Couturier
Boy -
Georges Flament
M. Bigey -
-
Richard Kanayan
Abbou -
Marius Laurey
Police Clerk -
Claude Mansard
Examining Magistrate -
Jacques Monod
Commissioner -
Pierre Repp
The English Teacher -
Henri Virlojeux
Night Watchman -
Jacques Demy
Policeman -
Jean Douchet
The lover -
Jeanne Moreau
Woman with Dog -
François Truffaut
Man in Funfair -
Serge Moati
Boy
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (0) | DVD (20)
One of the first glistening droplets of the French New Wave.
Top CriticSeems forever young.
Forget my curmudgeonly attitude and see it -- again, or for the first time -- for yourself.
A remarkable confluence of talents are at work here.
Distinguished by its intensity of feeling and freewheeling use of the wide-screen frame, the film ranks among Truffaut's best.
An engaging, moving film.
Truffaut's ode to his childhood is an engrossing watch that is alluring in its simplicity and brilliant in its direction. It flows nicely at its own pace, never allowing melodrama to ruin its realistic and voyeuristic atmosphere.
Truffaut brought a fresh and piercingly honest portrayal of troubled youth to the screen. In many ways, Antonie Doinel is not only the cinematic embodiment of Truffaut, but also the French New Wave as a whole.
Truffault's masterpiece. Timeless and true, heartbreakingly sad.
François Truffaut's iconoclastic feature debut and one of the most enduring examples of the French New Wave.
What is there to say about The 400 Blows that hasn't already been said?
It's a cornerstone of the French New Wave, and one of the greatest movies about childhood, from anywhere, ever.
Henri Decae's black and white photography helped Truffaut enormously but what the director himself provides is a sense that though there is no easy answer to the problems of growing up, there is a hope that will never be wholly denied.
Vibrant, visually exciting and emotionally resonant.
Distinguished by its naturalistic, quasi-documentary approach and an extraordinary central performance from the 12-year-old Jean-Pierre Léaud, this is a blisteringly authentic story.
It's streetwise stuff, shot in a vigorous on-the-hoof style, but also full of joy, both in its blissfully comic moments and in Doinel's telling passion for moviegoing.
Alive with the joy of filmmaking for its own sake.
Criterion's Blu-Ray presentation of The 400 Blows isn't perfection, but it suggests there's a whole new world of black-and-white cinematography to be discovered in high-definition.
The 400 Blows, one of the initiating sparks of the French New Wave, ultimately boils down to the film's trendsetting coda, perhaps the most exclamatory question mark in movies.
An enduring masterpiece...Truffaut's autobiographical fiction shows an admirable equanimity by depicting the highs and lows of boyhood. [Blu-ray]
Landmark French drama of restless, troubled boyhood.
Audience Reviews for The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups)
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups) yet.
Latest News on The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups)
March 25, 2011:
Five Favorite Films with Julian SchnabelAs an accomplished modern artist, sometime provocateur and acclaimed film director, Julian...
June 12, 2009:
Five Favourite Films with Wes CravenNo director in recent history has made their particular genre as much their own as Wes Craven. The...
March 23, 2009:
RT on DVD: Bolt, Bond, and Watchmen: Tales of the Black FreighterIt's a good week for Watchmen fans, as the highly anticipated animated short Tales of the Black...
What's Hot On RT
Every Star Trek movie listed
Star Trek is Certified Fresh
Forest Whitaker serves the White House
Trailer for Tom Hanks thriller
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 31
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 86
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
- VIP Access: Eli Roth talks Aftershock 1
- Total Recall: Star Trek Movies 88
- Parental Guidance: Star Trek Into Darkness 18
Top Headlines
-
J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars, and More
0
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Begin a New Trilogy
6
-
Mickey Rourke Confirmed for Expendables 3
3
-
Brad Bird Still Mulling Incredibles 2
0
-
Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, and Martin Short Join Inherent Vice
0
-
Bruce Willis Makes an Expiration Date
2
-
Drew Pearce Hired for Mission: Impossible 5
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Sie küßten und sie schlugen ihn (DE)
- The Four Hundred Blows (Les Quatre cents coups) (UK)
