François Truffaut's feature debut, a landmark in modern cinema and the film that launched the French New Wave to international...
François Truffaut's feature debut, a landmark in modern cinema and the film that launched the French New Wave to international attention. Follows the young and unhappy Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), who resolves to leave home and school and make a life for himself.
Truffaut and Léaud would continually return to Doinel throughout their careers, picking up the character at different stages of his life in one short film and three additional features - Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (1970) and Love on the Run (1979).
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Where to watch The 400 Blows
99 %71 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® rating
94 %38,939 reviewsAudience score rating
"An engaging, moving film."
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Variety
Variety"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."
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Total Film
Total Film"One of the first glistening droplets of the French New Wave."
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Time Out
Time Out"The later films have their own merits, and Stolen Kisses is one of Truffaut's best, but The 400 Blows, with all its simplicity and feeling, is in a class by itself."
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Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert"Vibrant, visually exciting and emotionally resonant."
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Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine"A landmark in modern cinema."
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BBC
BBCThe 400 Blows | Details
Award winner- Best Director and OCIC Award winner, Cannes Film Festival 1959
- Rating
- PG, Low level coarse language, sexual references
- Runtime
- 99
- Genre
- Drama
- Country of origin
- France
