Meet Antoine Doinel...

Film is, perhaps, the most engrossing and encompassing of all the visual arts. The purpose of any good film is to draw us into the life or lives of the character(s), to elicit an emotional response to what we are viewing, and to make us hungry for more when it's over. On these counts, and on so many more, THE 400 BLOWS succeeds.

THE 400 BLOWS is the story of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), an adolescent Parisian schoolboy who is misunderstood, both at home and school, constantly in trouble at one or both of the aforementioned locales, who ultimately must make his own way in a world where he feels alienated and abandoned. It is a poignant and beautifully shot coming of age story which succeeds in conveying all of the confusion, heartache, joy, and sorrow experienced by any thoughtful young person as they navigate their way through adolescence.

Francois Truffaut is on a very short list of favorite directors. This film is the first of several semi-autobiographical films where he used the character of Antoine Doinel. In this introductory film, Antoine, at 12, is a boy who just doesn't fit in. He is smart, independent, sweet, affectionate, confused, and troubled.

His mother has remarried and is desperately concerned that Antoine is going to blow her chances at a successful second marriage. His attempts at reassuring her by trying to be a "good" boy always blow up in his face. For example, after getting into trouble at school, he promises his mother that he is going to try harder. We know, though, that it's only a matter of time before Antoine gets into trouble again.

Antoine grows up quickly when, on the day he cuts school with his friend, he catches his mother with another man. As he realizes that he will never make her happy, his pain and disgust spill over into other areas of his life, which he reviews. He recognizes that he will never make his teacher happy, he believes that there is no place for him at home, at school, anywhere. He decides to run away from home.

With the help of his best friend (whose home life leaves much to be desired as well), he steals a typewriter from his stepfather's office. Ultimately, his mother, frustrated and furious, allows the state to put Antoine into a juvenile institution.

Telling you any more than this would spoil the film for you, but, suffice it to say that, there isn't any person or any situation which can break Antoine's spirit or destroy his belief that there is a place out there for him where he belongs and where he will prosper. He is a free spirit incapable of yet acknowledging his own uniqueness.

This film is for anybody who remembers vividly the pangs of adolescence: the inability to communicate your thoughts and feelings; the frustration when you realize that grown-ups don't really know anymore than you do about life; the yearning to find a place where you fit in. This film is also for those who recall fondly those very same experiences.

My sincerest hope is that anyone who views this film will be motivated to explore more Truffaut titles (especially those which continue Antoine's saga*), who, sadly, died in the early 80s, but who left us with a wonderful and moving body of work which always celebrated the human spirit while delving into the human psyche.

* The following Truffaut films are those which continue with the adventures of Antoine Doinel:

Love at Twenty, Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run.