The 400 BlowsLes 400 coups

 Directed by François Truffaut

StarringJean-Pierre Léaud

Claire MaurierAlbert Rémy

SynopsisAntoine Doinel, a young Parisian boy in the 1960’s, has troubles

at home and in school. He is neglected by his parents; he skips school, sneaks into movies, runs away from home, steals things, and tries to return them (disastrously). He is a misunderstood adolescent who is left without attention, so he delves into a life of petty crime. Like most kids, he gets into more trouble for things he thinks are right than for his actual trespasses. But unlike most kids, he gets whacked with a big stick and sent to a correctional facility. Throughout the movie, Antoine inhabits a Paris of full of dingy flats, seedy arcades, abandoned factories, and workaday streets, a city that seems big and full of possibilities only to a child's eye.

ReviewWatching a movie in a foreign language can be interesting, but

many parts of the movie are often lost in translation. Any humor or cultural reference to France can be difficult to understand, which ultimately takes away from the movie. I would say that the movie was mediocre. While it had its moments of good entertainment, I personally thought it moved very slowly. The plot was ordinary; it lacked a climax or highpoint to make it more exciting. Also, the ending was very open-ended, and I felt that a further explanation to the end would have made it better. Overall, the movie was fine, but there was nothing about it that stood out or made me a fan.

The New Wave MovementThe New Wave Movement in France was never formally

organized, but it made a huge difference in European/French filmmaking. It impacted films in the late 1950’s and into the 1960’s, making them more focused on current social and political issues instead of classic period pieces. Editing, visual style, and new portable technological equipment changed movies dramatically throughout this time as well, giving them more modern feels. Films also took on a documentary style, and tended to raise questions that are not answered in the end.