400 Blows

Pros: Direction/Script, Look, Cast, Leaud, Music, & Ending.

Cons: Nothing.

The Bottom Line: Les Quatre cents coups is a Brilliant, Majestic Debut from Francois Truffaut & One of the Landmark Films of the French New Wave.

Review: Throughout the emergence of cinema, international cinema has always been dominated by Americans. After World War II, that all began to change as Europeans began to take over. The Italians begin to a new wave of neo-realism while Sweden found a hero in ...

Pros: Acting, direction, music score

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: Essential viewing for anyone interested in Truffaut, the French New Wave, and foreign cinema.

Review: If ever there was a film that can stir the emotions of the viewer, than it is Francois Truffaut's "The Four Hundred Blows". This classic, semi-autobiographical film helped to usher in the French New Wave and launched Truffaut's successful and all too...

Pros: Visual style, Intimate portrait, humor, poignancy.

Cons: Not plot driven

The Bottom Line: Great introduction to French New Wave cinema.

Review: When I taught film appreciation at the high school level, one of my goals was to get my students to enjoy foreign film. I didn't want them to have an instant negative reaction the first frame an English subtitle appeared on the screen. So I used The...

Pros: Acting, script, plot, direction.

Cons: Nothing

The Bottom Line: A classic, one of the most influential films ever made. The begining of the French new wave.

Review: Before becoming directors Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were film critics. They wrote for La Cahiers Du Cinema, and in its pages they developed the Auter theory of film making. They pioneered the idea that the director is the author...

Pros: beautiful cinematography, touching story, and believable characters.

Cons: A slow moving and subtle story which doesn't hit the viewer over the head with messages.

Review: 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...

Pros: Not Only an Incredible Film But Also the Beginning of an Incredible Period in Film

Cons: Nothing

Review: And so began the French New Wave as we came to know it. With The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coup), François Truffaut jumpstarted the newly formed French New Wave, a filmmaking style of intense personal films that remained stylistically different....

Pros: Great cinematography, engaging story, perfect acting

Cons: Can't think of any

The Bottom Line: This film is one of the best I've ever seen. Truffaut is a master. The 400 Blows is a must-see.

Review: The 400 Blows is as perfect a movie as you will ever see. Francois Truffaut's first film, also regarded as the first film of the French New Wave, showcases his mastery of the medium. As the story is loosely autobiographical, and Truffaut identified...

Pros: Causes great introspection; interesting cinematic study, as well.

Cons: Not a light movie.

Review: Is there anyone who can't in their heart identify at least in some way with Antoine Doinel, the main character in "400 Blows"? This is the question that I find myself asking whenever I see this movie, because even though I definitely wouldn't...

Pros: One of the greatest films ever made.

Cons: Sequels don't live up to the original.

The Bottom Line: Les Quatre Cents Coups is one of the greatest films ever made. It is a beautiful, lyrical, touching story and an integral part of cinematic history. A must see!

Review: Les Quatre Cents Coups is a watershed film in cinema history. It is a landmark of the French New Wave and marks the launching of the career of the great Francois Truffaut. The honesty which Truffaut brings to this story and his avoidance of...

Pros: extremely intelligent, but intimate and sensitive

Cons: may require patience

Review: I saw this movie as an attempt to broaden my scope of movies I've seen and to get a better sense of what has happened in the past with movies. This was the first Truffaut that I've seen.


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