Les Quatre Cents Coups

One of these days, while browsing the net for something interesting, I found a topic in a forum about classic movies. Most of the opinions were quite shitty, but there were also some good ones. One of the replies, with a huge list of classic movies and some remarkable directors, caught my attention and made me realize that I still have many good movies to see. That being said, I decided to download some major titles that I should have already seen.

Directed by François Truffaut in 1959, “Les Quatre Cents Coups” was launched to the screens even before Godard’s “Breathless” and may be the movie that marked the beginning of the French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague), which nowadays is claimed to be one of the major influences of some well-known directors, as for instance the great Quentin Tarantino.

The story is quite simple in its essence. We are presented to a young teenager - Antoine Doinel (brilliantly interpreted by Jean-Pierre Léaud) – who lives with his uncaring mother and stepfather in a poor house, under difficult conditions. At school, the old fashioned and though ways to teach do not combine with Antoine, and so, most of the times this kid gets in trouble, making him feel as an embarrassment to the eyes of his parents. As we can predict from this scenario Antoine turns into an outcast of the society, missing out classes, running away from home and stealing in the streets. The young man ends up being arrested and being sent to a juvenile detention center.

To truly understand how brilliant this film is, we have to go back 50 years in time, when this title came to the screens. Technically speaking, and I’m not that into the techniques of shooting a movie, “Les Quatre Cents Coups” was kind of a pioneer with some camera tricks that nowadays we are so used to see. I can name two moments in which Truffaut appeals to some innovative techniques for the time. First of all, the moment when Antoine is being interviewed by a psychologist. That facing-the-camera scene opened doors to the development of many film-shooting techniques which are essential nowadays to several types of movies. Then we are presented to the freeze-and-zoom shots. This very simple technique is one of the major responsible factors for the intensity of the final moment of this story. There are probably many other innovations concerning making of the movie, but I’ll leave that to experts in this field.

Putting this technical stuff aside, there are several reasons why we can consider this film a truly must-see. First of all the interpretation of Antoine by Jean-Pierre Laud. If it isn’t the best child interpretation ever, it probably ranks among the top 3. The intensity conveyed by this character is absolutely devastating. It almost makes you feel the need to take side with the teenager. The feelings of hope and pity strike you at the same time during the whole movie. While watching the movie you will always get the feeling that there is hope for a twist in this boy’s life. Also, the way this young kid narrows the gap between pure innocence and perverted adulthood is pretty amazing. It is said that the boy embodies Truffaut’s true childhood, and maybe that’s the reason why the whole thing tastes so real.
Moreover, this is the type of movie that can make you laugh (think of the the amazing scene shot from above during a physical education class within the city), can take you to your tears (the moment Antoine gets arrested and drops a tear behind bars), can make you feel disgusted (the hypocrisy between mother and son), or can even put you a stupid smile on your face looking at the beauty of being a child in the beautiful Paris.

Truffaut sure took his time to prepare a proper ending for this movie. Without spoiling the final moment, I can say that feelings of freedom and imprisonment are combined in an absolutely brilliant way giving this ending the deserved intensity.

If you’re up for some real cinema please take your time to watch this movie. A complete 5 out of 5.