Product Details

• Actors: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble, Georges Flamant
• Directors: François Truffaut
• Writers: François Truffaut, Marcel Moussy
• Producers: François Truffaut
• Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Live, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• DVD Release Date: July 13, 1999
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1572525320
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,360 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Classics > International > France

• For more information about "The 400 Blows" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 1 in The Antoine Doinel Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Francois Truffaut's first feature was this 1959 portrait of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a boy who turns to petty crime in the face of neglect at home and hard times at a reform school. Somewhat autobiographical for its director, the film helped usher in the heady spirit of the French New Wave, and introduced the Doinel character, who became a fixture in Truffaut's movies over the years. Poignant, exhilarating, and fun (there's a parade of cameo appearances from some of the essential icons and directors from the movement), this film is an important classic. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com

The knowing yet innocent face of Jean-Pierre Leaud, the 14-year-old star of The 400 Blows, is the heartbreaking core of Francois Truffaut's most intimate film. As Antoine Doinel, Leaud begins his career as director Truffaut's alter-ego, a young boy neglected by his mother and stepfather who, to cover his absence at school, tells a lie that leads him to run away from home and end up in reform school. There's nothing remarkable or surprising about the plot; the power of this film comes from how completely it draws you into Antoine's life. Antoine is a vivid, natural presence, one of the most compelling collaborations between a writer/director and an actor. The movie seems to capture him as he lives. Antoine endures his parent's indifference, humiliations at school, deprivation and juvenile delinquency--yet the movie never feels pitying or condescending, as if it were trying to rub your nose in Antoine's suffering. On the contrary: His resilience is what grabs you, his refusal to be broken down as he struggles towards a more adult understanding of the world. Truffaut and Leaud made many excellent films together (Day for Night, Two English Girls), including further chapters in Antoine's life (Bed and Board, Stolen Kisses), but none were quite as simple, rich, and devastatingly potent as The 400 Blows. (The title, incidentally, refers not to abuse or anything sexual, but is a French idiom for a wild and unruly youth or "raising hell.") --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 400 Blows, May 11, 2004

By	Steven Hellerstedt "SH" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I've spent decades avoiding THE 400 BLOWS, afraid it was either dark and brooding, or a documentation of child abuse (physical and/or emotional), or an angry and vindictive assault on the authors' of Francois Truffaut's traumatic childhood.
I shouldn't have worried. THE 400 BLOWS is a gentle and compassionate movie. It isn't overwhelmed by its anger, although a few characters, particularly the coming-of-age hero's mother and his school teacher, aren't terribly sympathetic. Being new to THE 400 BLOWS, I found the commentary by Premiere magazine film critic Glen Kenny especially helpful in understanding French New Wave cinema in general and Truffaut in particular. By the way, according to Kenny "400 blows" refers to a French colloquialism similar to the American "paint the town red." It means to give oneself over to every type of excess, and raise a little heck in the process.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True-to-the-Bones-and-Heart Modern Day Dickensian Fable, February 12, 2000

By	M. Tsang "Chinese U2 Fan" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The most heart-felt movie I've ever seen is a powerful mix of sharp-eye, hardhitting autobiographical remembrance of a nearly bruised childhood and a celebration of the wide-open, spontaneous and lyrical qualities of cinema to capture pointed truths of family, school and street lives as seen through the curiously haunted eyes of one Antoine Doinel, a modern-day Dickensian hero in a decidedly unglamours Paris, searching, often wrongheadly, for love and acceptance while, almost against himself, challenging the authorial rules imposed on children growing up in conformist post-WWII France. The film's tone is one of anguished bittersweetness and quiet defiance, counterpointed by bursts of joyful freedom and naughty prank playings as shared by many in their pre-adolescenthood. Doniel's friendship with the well-off but neglected Rene is also among the most moving portraits of childhood friendship ever. An unforgettable portrait, a cutting social study, a New Wave classic and Truffaut's best, but most importantly a timeless and univsersal "true" story. And yes, the last freeze, when it comes, is a stunner. Gosh, I just love it! (P.S., this relatively small and quiet masterpiece also happens to be the all-time favorite film of John Woo, imagine!)

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get this one only if you are not interested in all the Doinel films., May 18, 2006

By	Doctor Trance (MA, United States) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: The 400 Blows - Criterion Collection (DVD)

However, if you are a fan of this entire film series by Truffaut, then you should spring for the Adventures of Antoine Doinel boxed set. It comes with all the extras found on this disc, plus a bonus disc which features excerpts from a 1961 documentary on Truffaut, which touches on this film, and a promotional art gallery for this film. Neither of these bonus features are found on this disc, nor is the bonus short film, Antoine and Colette, which is on the 400 Blows' disc in the boxed set. Great if you only want this movie, but I'd pay the extra dough as it's well worth it to have the entire Criterion boxed set, which is loaded with extras covering all the other films.