What’s New about The 400 Blows?

The François Truffaut film The 400 Blows was one of the first films in the French New Wave era of films. The 400 Blows is unlike any film we’ve studied this semester because it incorporates many new wave film conventions into one genre. French expressionist films during this era attempt to evoke a lot of raw emotion and The 400 Blows is no different. The film looks at Doinel’s life as he tries to understand the world with no help from anyone else. And for every step of his life, he is misguided into making more mistakes. Despite Doinel seeming like a bad child from beginning to end, the film still makes you feel sorry for him. From the lonely walks around the city of Paris to being punished and disciplined without given a proper explanation why, Truffaut highlights the struggles of childhood. Doinel simply wants to be free, but he faces obstacles throughout the film and none of them truly teach him why he is wrong. His parents, his teacher, and other adults in the film scold him for trying to escape school, lying, and stealing, but he still doesn’t understand the severity of his actions because nobody tells him. The film also does not shy away from showing these punishments either. When Doinel’s teacher finds out that he lied about his mother being dead, Truffaut chooses to show his father striking him in front of his classmates. There is no dialogue between him and Doinel, no questions asked, just action being taken. And then he returns to his seat with a cold look on his face as if he is used to this treatment. It is all that he knows. This kind of sheer emotion is something unique to new wave films and that is why they are important to the history of film.