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The 400 Blows is directed by Francois Truffaut. The
film stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy,
and Guy Decomble. ***
The 400 Blows is the first major film directed by Francois
Truffaut, formerly a film critic known for his brutally-honest
reviews. The film, based loosely on Truffaut’s childhood,
follows the story of Antoine Doinel, a young man in his
early teens. His life is a mess – he’s frequently getting
into trouble in school, his parents fight all the time and
are hard on him, he lives in a low-income household, and
to make things even worse, discovers that his mother is
having an affair with a co-worker. He tries to make ends
meet, but nothing seems to work. The film is the story of
this young man’s struggle in society, and the consequences
that befall him. *** Truffaut’s first major feature film
is also his finest. With the film he creates believable
characters, and a true-to-life story that anyone who has
ever been young will be able to relate to. The movie runs
a brisk 100 minutes, and never outstays its welcome. Every
second feels authentic. ***
The characters and the actors who portray them make
this film their own. The obvious stand-out actor his a young
Jean-Pierre Leaud, who stars as Antoine Doinel. Truffaut
created the character has a version of himself at a younger
age, which may be the reason that director and actor alike
are able to make this character so three-dimensional and
be lievable. If you’ve ever been young, you’ll be able to
relate to Leaud in this role. Who amongst us hasn’t hated
a teacher in school, gotten in trouble, and been hollered
out by our parents? And unlike other rebellious youngsters
of the era captured on film, Antoine doesn’t use violence
to rebel, or talk back to his superiors. He wants to be
free, but he obviously doesn’t want to hurt or offend anyone
in his life, which makes him all the more a sympathetic,
tragic figure who learns the hard way that freedom isn't
free. ***
The 400 Blows won audiences over at Cannes way back
in 1959. Half a century later, its message is as strong
as ever. A brilliant piece of cinema that manages to be
believable throughout its duration, it’s no wonder Truffaut
became hailed as one of France’s finest filmmakers. With
this film, he launched the French New Wave and hundreds
of imitators. There’s no denying it – this is one of the
greatest films ever made. ---
Image and Sound:
All in all, The 400 Blows looks pretty damn good in
1080p. This isn’t a leaps-and-bounds improvement over Criterion’s
most recent standard-def disc, but there are noticeable
improvements, and it definitely looks better on a large
HDTV screen than the normal DVD does. The image is clear
and detailed throughout (I was able to pick out details
I couldn’t see on SD and read some text that was unreadable
on the original DVD), it definitely looks better than I
expected for a film this old. My only complaint is that
there are a few scenes in which the grain level tends to
spike. However, this is a very minor complaint, and it certainly
doesn’t detract from enjoyment of the film. This isn’t the
best-looking black and white film I’ve seen on Blu (Casablanca
still holds that honor), but it’s definitely in the upper
tier. Dialogue is presented in the original French Mono,
and the track has been beautifully remastered and is free
of any annoying pops or hisses. Needless to say, English
subtitles are included. Criterion knows how to do faithful
transfers right for classic films, and this Blu-Ray Disc
is proof. Their transfer here has me looking forward to
1080p transfers of other vintage foreign/classic films.
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| Special
Features: |
As if the gorgeous transfer wasn’t good enough, Criterion
has included plenty of bonus material as well .. In addition
to the obligatory booklet the company includes with their
releases (in this case it contains an essay, well worth
reading), there are some interesting featurettes included
on this disc. We get to see an interview with Jean-Pierre
Leaud about his opinions of the film and acting, a French
television program episode on film directors that focuses
on Truffaut, as well as two commentaries and rare audition
footage. When Criterion releases a movie, they almost always
put out the definitive edition. This release of The 400
Blows proves that will be true for their Blu-Ray releases
as well.
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