I've seen this film numerous times. And every time I watch it, I think of new things. It goes to show you that watching and re-watching films can lead to new perspectives about an old film. The 400 Blows isn't that old, yet it does have a definite New Wave sensibility which I suppsose is getting dated with the passage of decades.
Of course this film is about the horrible childhood Francios Truffaut endured living in Paris in meager circumstances. The film is decidely low tech. There are many tracking scenes which were done with cutting edge, at the time, cameras. Undeniably, this film's ending has endured for years with several, perhaps even more, filmmakers stealing the ending.
I particularly like the ending with it's stop motion shot. It captures the freedom and fragility that the main character feels at the time of the shot. His face is anguished, yet free. Youthful, but full of anxiety.
The film is great today as it was in it's release, winning the top prize at Cannes Film Festival. I've taken a vow to study more of Truffaut's films. Of course I had seen the 400 Blows, who hasn't? I think any serious student of World Cinema has seen the 400 Blows. It's a film which set of the tide of the New Wave and launched the careers of not only Truffaut, but also Jean Pierre Leaud.
Over the Summer, or what's left of it, I hope to watch more Truffaut films and blog about them. Blogging helps me to write my script. It stirs up ideas and emotions which are the lifeblood of screenplays and films. I'm looking forward to watching Day for Night which will be released on Criterion this Summer.
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