The 400 Blows (Les quatre cents coups) --- François Truffaut 1959

Theatrical released poster of The 400 Blows.

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          François Truffaut’s debut feature, Les quatre cents coups or The 400 Blows was one of the representative works of French Cinema. The 400 Blows means “to raise hell” in French words. The story recounts the young Parisian boy, Antoine Doinel, who constantly misbehaves at school and at home, struggles for the indifference of his family and the authoritarian nature of his teacher. He is then sent to a reform centre after he was caught in the act of stealing the typewriter at his father’s company. He is able to run away to the ocean one day which he longs for but he realizes that he has no way to escape anymore. The camera zooms in on his face, showing the freeze-frame of Antoine. And that’s the end of the film. This final shot is quite shocking for the audience because the ending of story is so abrupt as it only shows Antoine face frozen in front of the camera. It is quite unique; especially when it is placed at the end of the film, which makes the audience confused.

The tracking shot where Antoine is running towards the ocean. 

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Long takes

         The tracking shot of Antoine running away from the reform centre at the end of the film is intended to convey that he is bursting into freedom, letting down by his parent and society but at the same time, he loses his way because he is approaching the seashore but nowhere else to go. He has mentioned in the earlier part of the film that he has never seen an ocean before, and we thought that is the reason why the last scene is at the ocean. This is the place where Antoine longs for and it somehow simplifies the freedom of him to escape from the predicament that he have. The camera pans from left to right, revealing the seashore bit by bit, and it finally cut to the wide shot of the sea. Antoine turns to stare at the camera and the camera freeze on his face, with the puzzled look. It may signify he has no idea about how his life is going to be. The final part is immense with emotions where Antoine is all alone. This is the scene where the director uses the long takes to shoot the landscape of the seashore also.

The freeze frame on Antoine at the last part of the scene. 

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Jump cuts

          Jump cut is one of the important elements in new wave films, as well as in The 400 Blows. It can be used as a reminder that they are watching the films, and also to suggest the less important part of the film. We can find the most significant use of jump cuts in this film from the scene where the psychologist is asking Antoine questions. Antoine answers a series of questions but we never see the psychologist. By doing this way, audience’s attention is only on the Antoine’s answer but not the psychologist. Another scene where Antoine’s father, Julien Doinel (Albert Rémy) is talking to the Chief police officer about how he can settle Antoine, it cuts to the shot of another police officer who is questioning Antoine about the event of the stealing. The jump cut is odd as it does not link in between. It then cuts to his father whom left the police station and the shot is cut back to the situation where the police officer is typing the report.

Antoine is answering the psychologist’s questions. 

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Self-reflectivity

          Self-reflectivity is another element that is used in The 400 Blows. It is sort of like reminding us that we are watching the film. The camera movement in the film brings the audience back to the reality. We can see during the scene where the teacher leads the school boys to run across the city’s streets, camera is shot from bird-eyes view, and it constantly make us feel that we are sitting in the helicopter while watching the school boys running away from the jogging session. Another example will be the scene where Antoine is talking to the psychologist in the reform school. The psychologist is never shown on screen, with only the voice over of her and as if Antoine is talking to the camera. It makes us think that Antoine is talking to us, the audience, explaining his life and the reason of his current situation.

Antoine writes on the wall about his teacher. 

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Anti-authoritarian character

          We found the element of anti-authoritarian in the film. This can be seen when Antoine and his pal, René (Patrick Auffay), who sneak out from school to watch films, seeking for entertainment, smoking and stealing. All these are the immoral actions that a normal student will not do. René is refuting his teacher when Antoine gets caught in the issue of plagiarising in writing an essay and is being sent to consult the principal. He is not afraid of the authority of the teacher and his action is to protect his best friends. Another scene that shows anti-authoritarian is during the interview session between Antoine and the psychologist. The psychologist questions him whether he had sex before and Antoine answers directly that he had the thought before but did not attempt. Antoine writes on the wall about his teacher after he gets caught in holding the pinup model’s picture. He is challenging the teacher’s authority.


Improvised plot/dialogue

          During the interview session with the psychologist, Antoine didn’t have a script. (Truffaut, 1984) After the director asks the questions, he was given the freedom to answer as he likes, as long as it matches the storyline. This shows that the dialogues are not scripted and he spoke spontaneously.

The Paris city’s view. 

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Location shooting

          For the filming on location, The 400 Blows is filmed mostly based in various locations in Paris city, in the city’s streets, inside the apartment, in the school, and at the seashore. It uses the direct sound where we can see from the scenes where school boys are talking to one another in the classroom and Antoine walking down the stairs to throw rubbish. By picking up the direct sound, it makes the film looks more natural and creates realism.


Handheld camera

          The 400 Blows uses handheld camera movement in many scenes, especially in the beginning of the film, where credits are shown, and also the classroom scenes. It usually takes longer time and the camera movement is a bit shaky. It makes the classroom real and natural by filming at the school boys and the desk and chairs. It somehow makes a relationship between the school boys and the teacher, and among the school boys themselves.

          The 400 Blows, a semi- autobiographical film, reflects the director’s difficult personal life through the main character, Antoine Doinel. Truffaut uses the character to express his feeling when he was as young as the age of the main character. He tends to use the character to exhibit the rebellious stage of an adolescent. He uses his daily problems as the ideas for writing the script, and mostly based on his own memories. The film uses Antoine’s point of view to narrate his family and school life.