Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

The 400 Blows (1959)

Director(s) François Truffaut
Producer(s)

No producer listed for this movie
Top Genres Crime, Drama
Top Topics Coming of Age
More Films Directed by François Truffaut More Films from 1959 More Films from the 1950s Top Classic Movies of the 1950s Top Coming of Age Films

The 400 Blows Overview:

The 400 Blows (1959) was a Crime - Drama Film directed by François Truffaut .

Academy Awards 1959 --- Ceremony Number 32 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best WritingFrancois Truffaut, Marcel MoussyNominated
See More Oscar Winners

The 400 Blows BlogHub Articles:

Review: The 400 Blows (1959)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 25, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Being a great believer in context,  it was a wonderful thing watching 400 Blows once more because I felt like I knew this man behind the camera so much better and I knew this character Antoine (Jean-Pierre Leaud) even better than he knew himself. After all, he was just coming into his own in this i... Read full article

Review: The 400 Blows (1959)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 25, 2017 From 4 Star Films

Being a great believer in context,  it was a wonderful thing watching 400 Blows once more because I felt like I knew this man behind the camera so much better and I knew this character Antoine (Jean-Pierre Leaud) even better than he knew himself. After all, he was just coming into his own in this i... Read full article

The 400 Blows (1959)

By Beatrice on Dec 6, 2016 From Flickers in Time

The 400 Blows (Les quatre cents coups) Directed by Francois Truffaut Written by Francois Truffaut and Marcel Moussy 1959/France Les Films de Carrosse/Sedif Productions Repeat viewing/Netflix rental #356 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Truffaut captures the giddy freedom of adolescence... Read full article

Offbeat Blu-ray Review: The 400 Blows – The Criterion Collection

By Devon Powell on Apr 3, 2014 From Hitchcock Master

Distributor: Criterion Collection (USA) Release Date: 08/Apr/ 2014 Region: Region A Length: 1:40:02 Video: 1080P (MPEG-4, AVC) Main Audio: Uncompressed French Mono Subtitles: English Ratio: 2.34:1 Bitrate: 38.83 Mbps Notes: This release also includes a DVD disc. Criterion released the film as a Blu-... Read full article

The 400 Blows (1959)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 1, 2013 From 4 Star Films

This French New Wave film directed by Francois Truffaut, more aptly titled The Wild One or Raising Hell, is about a young boy named Antoine. He comes from a working class family and his parents are struggling and frustrated. In school he gets poor grades and his teacher often punishes him. Annoyed... Read full article

See More The 400 Blows Articles

The 400 Blows Quotes:

No Quote for this film.
The 400 Blows Facts
All the young actors who unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Antoine were used in the classroom scenes.
So pleased with Jean-Pierre Léaud and his screen test (an informal conversation with the film's director being off-camera), François Truffaut doctored it into the finished film by using fade-outs and substituting his voice with off-camera female psychiatrist's voice.
When Antoine and Rene are suspended from school, they go gallivanting around the town. At one point they pass a wall of posters and flyers, and they pull off a picture of a woman. The woman is Harriet Andersson in a shot from Ingmar Bergman's Monika, also about two young lovers who ran away from home to "live their own life."
The English title of the movie "400 Blows" is a gross misinterpretation of the original title. The Finnish and Swedish translations of the title, roughly translatable to "400 practical jokes" are closer to the original meaning, albeit not perfect. The original title stems from the French expression "Faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to live a wild life", as the main character does. Literal translation of the expression would be "to do the 400 dirty tricks".
François Truffaut's first film to be released on the Blu-Ray Disc format.
See More Facts about The 400 Blows >>