The 400 Blows (1959)
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Reviews Counted:48
Fresh:48
Rotten:0
Average Rating:9.3/10
Consensus: A seminal French New Wave film that offers an honest, sympathetic, and wholly heartbreaking observation of adolescence without trite nostalgia.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: Director François Truffaut's first feature film, THE 400 BLOWS, is a landmark in French cinema. Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is a 13-year-old boy who can't seem to do anything right. His... [More]
Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Guy Decomble
Director: Francois Truffaut
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Reviews for The 400 Blows
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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 93/100 |
Truffault's masterpiece. Timeless and true, heartbreakingly sad. Full Review |
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5/5 |
François Truffaut's iconoclastic feature debut and one of the most enduring examples of the French New Wave. Full Review |
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5/5 |
What is there to say about The 400 Blows that hasn't already been said? Full Review |
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5/5 |
It's a cornerstone of the French New Wave, and one of the greatest movies about childhood, from anywhere, ever. Full Review |
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5/5 |
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. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Vibrant, visually exciting and emotionally resonant. Full Review |
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5/6 |
One of the first glistening droplets of the French New Wave. Full Review |
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5/5 |
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. Full Review |
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5/5 |
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. Full Review |
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4.5/5 |
Alive with the joy of filmmaking for its own sake. Full Review |
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4/4 |
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. Full Review |
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4/4 |
An enduring masterpiece...Truffaut's autobiographical fiction shows an admirable equanimity by depicting the highs and lows of boyhood. [Blu-ray] Full Review |
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5/5 |
This should be required viewing for today’s droves of would-be memoirsts in film or any other medium, and otherwise is simply a must for anybody who likes great movies. Full Review |
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4/4 |
Seems forever young. Full Review |
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5/6 |
Click to read the article Full Review |
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A+ |
Francois Truffaut's debut film not only galvanized the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement of French cinema, but also generated a personal language of cinema that Truffaut would elaborate on for the rest of his career. Full Review |
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Forget my curmudgeonly attitude and see it -- again, or for the first time -- for yourself. Full Review |
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A remarkable confluence of talents are at work here. Full Review |
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Distinguished by its intensity of feeling and freewheeling use of the wide-screen frame, the film ranks among Truffaut's best. Full Review |
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An engaging, moving film. Full Review |
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