400 Blows: Amazon.ca: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Francois Truffaut: DVD

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Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly good movie, Jan 28 2010

By Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: 400 Blows (DVD)

THE 400 BLOWS was an international sensation when first released in 1959, and with good reason. This film has the objectivity and immediacy of a documentary but with the passion and social realism of OLIVER TWIST and the charm of Jean Constantin's vibrant music for jazz flute, which it incorporates brilliantly. Not to mention that the performances are top-notch and the direction, handled with masterly assurance, succeeds equally whether in kitchen-sink close up or in Truffaut's magnificent crane shots of workaday Paris. That this all fits together so well -- and for a rookie director, Francois Truffaut -- seems no less a miracle now than it was back then.

The story focuses on young Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), a kid from a working-class Paris neighborhood, who has to contend with bickering and aloof parents, schooling where regimentation seems an end to itself, a grind of a home life and a chronic lack of money. A plot precis doesn't do justice to Antoine's story, which would chart the boy's descent from disaffected pre-adolesent schoolboy to (in society's eyes, at any rate) budding criminal. Yet Truffaut handles Antoine -- a near-copy of his young self -- with a sympathy that communicates very well to us in the audience. He ends the film on a hopeful if ambiguous note.

I can unqualifiedly recommend this seminal film, which remains so fresh even to this day. I am a little reluctant to insist on the new ART HOUSE ESSENTIAL edition for sale here, because the CRITERION COLLECTION version, also available through Amazon, costs (as of this writing) only US$2.50 more, has multiple bells-and-whistles, and includes two commentary tracks, one by a film scholar and one by Truffaut's best friend from childhood. I am not favoring one competitor over another because JANUS - CRITERION and "Art House" are all the same company. In the absence of company specs to the contrary, the ART HOUSE version seems to lack those enlightening extras. But it does not alter my five-star rating.

One small semantic note -- it would be logical to assume that "400 blows" refers to corporal punishment, which would be a literal translation from the French. Instead, it's a French idiom that means more along the lines of "raise some hell" or "sow wild oats," a far less violent and sympathetic understanding of the phrase. This is quite in line with Truffaut's treatment of the story in this astonishing and wonderful film.

5.0 out of 5 stars New Wave crashes upon the beaches of the French cinema, April 27 2010

By technoguy "jack" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: 400 Blows (DVD)

Les Quatre cents coup is a happy film as it pins us to the wall of this first film of the nouvelle vague,kicking against the pricks in the cause of realism,based on memories of the director's childhood,bringing the streets of Paris to us in a rush of energy and spontaneity.Subject matter may be bleak,taking in police stations,truant, neglect and juvenile delinquent institutions.The young hero,Antoine Doinel(Leaud),is in trouble,just as the man,Truffaut,he is the alter ego for,was,until he broke into film via his spell as a critic for Cahier du Cinema under Andre Bazin,who he dedicates this film to,who died as this film was being released.

He is unhappily treated by his teachers and step-father,his mother doesn't love him,he loves books and cinema,and he has a brain.Jeanne-Pierre Leaud,14,was the unstable youth and bad student,picked out to play the leading role. Funny, moving, honest and sad, this is a highly effective portrayal of the anguish and restless energy of adolescence by a director about to change the way the world thought about cinema.While bunking off school with his friend Rene,Antoine discovers that his mother is having an affair.Excusing his absence,he tells his teacher his mother is dead,then goes on the run and attempts to fund himself by flogging a stolen typewriter.This is a free-wheeling tale, Antoine's restless energy fuels this film of youthful rebellion-the famous final frame-the crest of the new wave-Antoine frozen in front of the sea.

The nouvelle vague was a shock reaction to the old formulas and recipes.Directors no longer dependent upon professional scripts and pre-existing literary works,themes set in the past, with reconstructed sceneography and periodic detail.Now, relevance to the audience,risk,innovation,realism,the everyday,along with hand-held cameras, jump-cut editing, amateur actors,low budget films,reinvigorated cinematic form.The experimentation with the structure of cinematic language had begun,freedom to choose thematic content.This superb first film won director's prize at Cannes.This was a film d'hauteur,where the director asserted themselves over every other person.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential Classic for All Ages, Feb 8 2010

By Walter J. Jamieson Jr. - Published on Amazon.com

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This review is from: 400 Blows (DVD)

This is the one movie which I would recommend for all boys old enough to read subtitles and their parents. (This is not meant to exclude girls, but since the main character is an 11 or 12 year old boy, the emphasis is male oriented.) It is a universally regarded classic, is brilliantly filmed, funny, and serious as well. A pleasure to watch all the way to the freeze-frame ending, which has been imitated too many times to count.
It is a growing up story without candy-coating or hypocrisy. It's also a perfect introduction to fine films at a time when practically none are being made for young people. In French with English subtitles.

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