Plagiarism or Homage?
We see throughout The 400 Blows that some of Antoine's problems stem from his being something of a misfit at school. A turning point in the movie comes when he is instructed to write a composition about an event he witnessed personally, and he instead chooses to write up a fictional event based on Balzac's The Quest of the Absolute, a book he's read for pleasure. The school suspends Antoine for plagiarism, but I think the underlying reason for his suspension is that he failed to follow instructions. It seems to me that Truffaut wants us to understand that the assignment is only partly about developing writing skills—it's also about teaching the students they must obey society’s rules.
Sent to Reform School
Antoine's home life is not so good either. His mother and stepfather would rather not have to deal with him. Eventually they get their wish when he steals a typewriter and is caught trying to return it. Antoine had never been in trouble with the law before, and I find it shocking that his parents get the police to incarcerate him over such a petty offense.
Truffaut's Cinematic Style
Truffaut's visual style in The 400 Blows is exuberant. The movie was shot at interesting locations in and around Paris, except for the last sequences, which were shot in Normandy. The film feels free-flowing and spontaneous, and even though Truffaut avoids sentimentality, he fills his movie with warmth and humor. I think he does a great job of showing that bourgeois society is trying to destroy Antoine's joy of life, but the boy simply won'’t allow them to crush his spirit.
Audio Commentary Track
The Fox Lorber DVD comes with only one bonus material of any consequence, the feature-length English-language audio commentary by film critic Glenn Kenny. Kenny goes into considerable detail about Truffaut and the French New Wave, and I found his commentary quite informative. He says that when Bob and Harvey Weinstein were young, they saw The 400 Blows, and it inspired them to create Miramax. Kenny also claims that "New Wave" was originally a term dealing with the sociology of children, but it was later applied to the revolutionary, very personal films made beginning around 1958 by Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and others.
Below I've listed all the special features on The 400 Blows DVD.
DVD Details:
- Release Date: July 13, 1999
- Widescreen (2.35:1), Black-and-White
- Feature Run Time: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
- MPAA Rating: Not Rated
- French Monaural
- English Subtitles
- English-Language Audio Commentary by Film Critic Glenn Kenny
- Filmographies and Awards (Truffaut, Léaud and 3 Other Actors)
- Trailers (10) for Truffaut Movies
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