Movie Review: 'The 400 Blows' - Did the Cahiers Understand?
Truffaut's autobiographical work, 'The 400 Blows,' is said to be based entirely on episodes from the childhoods of Truffaut himself or his friends, compiled onto cards and edited, with no fictional elements whatsoever.
There is no need to elaborate on the presence of Jean-Pierre Léaud, who played Truffaut's alter ego Antoine in this film, but in his adult roles in 'Day for Night' (Truffaut) and 'Masculin Féminin' (Godard), the aura of his childhood vanished, and he transformed into a peculiar actor perfectly suited for playing petty, small-minded men.
Antoine, an unwanted child living with his mother, repeatedly plays pranks at school, draws the ire of a strict teacher, begins skipping school with a friend, and eventually ends up in a reformatory after committing theft. Even while depicting such a dark childhood, the film never feels gloomy, likely because the brightness of a boy who has won his 'freedom' in exchange for the trust and love of adults permeates the entire film.
What supported Truffaut's downward spiral, which could easily have led straight to a life of crime, were the friends drawn to his brightness, and among them, 'cinema' must surely have been Truffaut's best friend. Perhaps only those who never lose their childhood sense of wonder can become great film directors.
The adults of that time (the heavyweights of the French film industry) were the ones who completely failed to understand the feelings of such children (the Nouvelle Vague group).