The 400 Blows

THE LONELINESS OF AN UNWANTED YOUTH

François Truffaut’s 1959 debut feature has lost none of its power in nearly 50 years.  In his first film Truffaut introduced the fictional character of Antoine Doinel as the director’s autobiographical alter ego, a young adolescent on the cusp of his teens, coping with an insensitive school master, quarrelsome parents and lack of direction. If anything, the crimes that cause the adults to give up and write him off as a juvenile delinquent seem mild and even more misunderstood by 2008 standards and direct the blame more clearly on those entrusted to look out for the boy’s welfare.

That slightly dated aspect aside, this snapshot of neglected youth resonates poignantly with anyone who has ever been marginalized and passed over, which seems to be an increasing number of us these days. 

In his 1959 New York Times review, Bosley Crowther likened Antoine to a pint sized Jean Gabin and I can’t think of a more fitting description.  The startling authenticity of character is due in no small measure to Jean Pierre Leaud’s performance (then 14) who infuses Doinel with a disarming blend of natural charm and unnerving remoteness.  Leaud would appear in several later films as an older Antoine but would never again achieve quite the same blend of innocence and aloof guilt.

Few films are better at taking us inside the head and heart of an outwardly sturdy and inwardly isolated youth.  It is his very ordinariness that makes him so compelling as he wanders down, or is pushed down, a road of petty crime.  Opens January 25 at the Music Box in a sparking new black and white print.