A Film Buff Standard

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.


One of the best things about this movie is that it attempts to show a mood, color, or atmosphere rather than a stories' story. Yes, it has definite narrative elements, but with this film the focus is more on what it is like to be the main character of the film, a child who must overcome the obstacles presented to him in school, and at home.

I don't want to give away the specifics of the actual incidences, but the powerful delivery of the moments is what make the film so great. Truffaut it the type of master of film that can show you a film with completely invisible editing, making it very difficult not to get involved in the story.

As a person who likes to analyze film that I watch, I'm more likely to break away against the flow of the story, but with Truffaut it's very difficult to do so. There are times, however that the narrative devices overshadow the plot itself. To me, this is not a negative, as I enjoy creative uses of old devices as much as new devices (because every storyteller must use devices to tell his or her story, you might as well do it in an interesting way.) I would never say that it ever reaches the level of deviation that something like Fellini's "8 1/2" does, but watching that movie a little afterward strikes up an interesting contrast. Though similar in the intimate focus of one character's life, they differ in the approach to the telling of nearly the same perspective. I would never say that the point of view gets closer to the subject in 400 blows than that of 8 1/2, but watching each story, using that as the major point from which to judge, I'd imagine that one might learn a lot about what it is to make a film.


People who are trying to learn more about film and/or are sensitive to coming of age stories would get the most out of this film. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys film for the film medium itself.