Tom
Mrs. Burgess
Enriched English 10
The 400 Blows: No, it really does
Fail. These four letters sum up François Truffaut’s attempt at a touching and memorable film. Although The 400 Blows starts with good intentions and an interesting directing style, it falls flat when the viewers are smacked across the face with an incoherent and meaningless script. The plot is very weak and many of the scenes feel random and thrown in, as though they don’t impact the storyline at all. Also, many of the characters have confusing motives and emotions. Why does Antoine hold Balzac in such high regard? Why is the mother cheating on the step-father? Why does he run away after getting an F on his paper when much worse things have been done to him? Truffaut doesn’t even attempt to plunge into these underlying side-stories, and as a result, the film has a very awkward and choppy flow. Lastly, Truffaut doesn’t sympathize with Antoine at all and in doing so, sheds any feelings or compassion that the viewer may have had for Antoine. The only thing that The 400 Blows excels in is cinematography and the art of cinema. François Truffaut is an expert at this craft and creates a truly outstanding visual piece for the audience. However, this is not enough to salvage a terrible plot and makes for a very boring and incomplete film.
The plot of The 400 Blows is actually quite simple. Antoine Doinel is a troubled youth whose mother is divorced and has remarried. Antoine persistently acts out at school and plays hooky with his friend, René, because he is not well liked by his teacher and receives very poor letter grades. Antoine’s home life is harsh as well. His parents are always fighting and treat him as an unwanted burden. Eventually, he runs away and attempts to steal a typewriter but is caught. His parents choose to send him to a labor camp where he eventually escapes and visits the ocean. The plot is very choppy and has a terrible flow, which often times is distracting to the viewer and causes the film to lose its appeal. Although the movie is intended to be a memoir, the film has a very neutral and third-party point of view and does not explore Antoine’s thoughts or feelings. This third-person limited perspective could represent Antoine’s isolation from those around him, especially his mother and father. In addition, René, Antoine’s equally irresponsible friend, constantly gets Antoine into trouble and represents temptation and delinquency, which eventually overcome Antoine. Antoine, himself, doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities. He is continually rude to his classmates, parents, and teacher and acts as though he is above everyone else. Overall, The 400 Blows has a very uninteresting plot and subsequently, creates characters that have no appeal to the viewer and detract from the quality of the film.
One aspect of the cinema that The 400 Blows excels in is acting. The actors all feel very natural in their parts and do a very good job in mastering their characters. Jean-Pierre Léaud is wonderful at conveying the “holier-than-thou” attitude that emanates from Antoine throughout the movie. Also, Claire Maurier does an excellent job in creating the self-absorbed and rude Gilberte Doniel. In addition to the fantastic acting, the film has some great lighting effects. When Antoine runs away and spends a night on the street, the whole scene is extremely dark and depressing. Truffaut shows the viewer that it is wet and cold outside not by showing rain, but by allowing a few street lights to show their reflections off of puddles in the alley. However, when Antoine finally runs away and at the end of the film, the setting is much lighter than it should be, signifying Antoine’s freedom from both the observation camp and society. Clearly, The 400 Blows does an excellent job at utilizing the dramatic aspects of film.
To compliment the fantastic acting and lighting, The 400 Blows follows up with unique and thrilling cinematography from the mind of François Truffaut. Truffaut does not confine himself to one style of film or one traditional type of shot, but rather creates a hodge-podge of photography styles that play off of one another to create some true eye candy. For example, whenever Antoine and René skip school, Truffaut uses wide, sweeping shots and focuses more on the freedom and thrill of the moment, rather than the characters. However, when Antoine is confined to his small, uncomfortable apartment, Truffaut uses very close angles and short shots which, when coupled with the dark setting, convey the anxiousness and longing to be free that Antoine felt. In addition to the provocative filming style, The 400 Blows features a unifying melody throughout the film that helps both provide filler music and set the mood for the scene. Truffaut changes the key to a major to Antoine’s freedom and happiness, or to a minor, to express Antoine’s depressing state. Also, the melody changes from just the bare melody at moments that are intended to be touching, or to a full chords and harmony at times that are lighter and less serious. Although The 400 Blows severely lacks a clever and touching script, Truffaut attempts to salvage it through a beautiful film style and a unifying score.
Although Antoine Doniel and Richard Wright have completely different backgrounds and come from different parts of the world, they share many strong ties. For example, although for different reasons, Antoine and Richard are both rejected by society. For Antoine, the rejection is mutual, as he rejects society by not going to school or following his parents’ rules, yet also, society rejects him. His teacher hates him and his parents disown him and send him to an observation camp. Richard Wright too rejects society, although for other reasons. Richard is fed up with the white-supremacist institution that society has set up in the South and moves to the North, but he also rejects the religious institution and as a result, the norm that society has put in place. However, there is much contrast in their lives as well. When Antoine runs away from home and is later put into the observation camp, he completely rejects his family and doesn’t wish to contact them. However, Richard Wright, through all of his rebellion and toughness, he still cares deeply for his mother and other family, as evident when he escapes to the North with them. Clearly, Antoine and Richard, although different in many aspects, are still very similar.
Although it was a nice attempt at a touching film, François Truffaut amazing sense of style is done a huge injustice by being accompanied with such a terrible plot. The writer fails to develop any sort of compassion or sympathy for Antoine as the movie progresses and, as a result, creates a very lackluster and boring film. The viewer is only able to see Antoine as a selfish jerk who has no real justification for rebelling and running away. Also, the story line feels very thrown together and many scenes, such as the shrine of Balzac or taking Antoine out to movies, have no effect on the story and feel very awkward and unnecessary. The one saving grace of The 400 Blows is the imagery and cinematography. Truffaut is a true master of the cinema and does an excellent job in creating some stunning images for the viewer. So, would I recommend this film? If you are looking for a wonderful literary work to sink your teeth into, absolutely not. The plot is completely incoherent and meaningless. However, if you love going to movies for magnificent images and spectacular eye candy, then, by all means, see this film. I truly hope that François Truffaut moved on to other movie and better scripts, because although The 400 Blow is a stunning work of art, it fails in the script department, and as a result, fails as a complete film.
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