400 Blows

I thought that the "400 Blows" was a very fascinating movie. It made you feel what Antoine was going through, in a way that made you feel like as if you were there with Antoine. It kept you rooting for Antoine and excited to find out what his next move would be. I also felt that the movie was interesting, because Antoine had problems, and it isn't really interesting to watch a movie about someone that is perfect. In general, I felt that "400 Blows" was a great movie.

The "400 Blows" is about a boy named Antonie, who is unable to satisfy his parents, and always gets caught getting into trouble, such as when he is caught stealing his father's typewriter. His friend, Rene, is usually the mastermind of their mischevous tasks. It comes to the point where his parents can't take him anymore, so they send Antoine to a "Juvenile Observation Center." At the end of the movie Antoine is found walking escaping from the Observation Center, and arriving safely at the ocean shore. Antoine and his best friend, Rene, are very similar. They both enjoy playing pranks and having fun, and don't really care about the consequences. Antoine's dad is caring yet impatient with Antoine, which is shown when he gives rights to Antoine, to the Observation Center. Antoine's mother is strict and even more impatient with him, and is not forgiving at all. She is always scolding him, except for the short phase whene she was nice to him. She also isn't even at heart a good person, for example she cheats on her husband. The movie takes place in the 1940's in France. One symbol in the movie would include the ocean, which symbolizes freedom, becaus it is where he goes when he is finally free from everything, the Observation Center and his parents.

The director, Francois Truffaut did a great job with the dramatic aspects of this film. The actors were phenomanal, especially Antoine (Jeane-Pierre Leaud), who at such a young age was able to fit his role greatly. He made you believe the emotions that he was going through. I also felt that the actor of the role of Rene (Patrick Auffay) did a great job as well. He was the typical trouble maker, who always had an idea to have some kind of fun, and was also very believable to me as the viewer. One other character that fit their role well was Antoine's mother, Gilberte (Claire Maurier) who fit the typical evil mother. She was glamarous, bossy, cheated on her husband, and just had this swagger that fit her role beautifully. I felt that the director picked the right actors for the right roles, and I have no complains about them. The lighting of the screenplay, seemed to set the mood of Antoine, for example it was always dark when he was home, a place where he didn't like to be and it was light at the end of the movie, when Antoine was happy to be free. It might just be a coincidence, but I personally think that it was done on purpose.

The cinematic aspects of the film were definetly important for the enjoyment of the movie. I thought it was cool how the director had a view from Antoine's eyes as he was spinning in the ride at the fair they went to. This makes you feel as if you were in the ride, with Antoine. The movie mainly uses birds eye views to make the viewers feel as an onlooker of Antoine's life. An example of this is when there is a birds eye view of Antoine in gym class. There is also a freeze frame on Antoine's face at the end of the movie, which I felt was just used to symbolize the end of the movie.

I felt that "400 Blows" was a lot more interesting than "Black Boy." Maybe, because "400 Blows" was a movie, which allowed me to visualize what was going on better. The protagonists of both "400 Blows" and "Black Boy" both had troubles dealing with society and both of them got into some bad habits. For example, Antoine wasn't accepted by his parents, who wanted him to be a good student and stay out of trouble, yet he would always skip class and get into trouble. Simirarily, Richard Wright was never really accepted by society, since he was black, and he was never accepted by most of his relatives. Richard Wright also had some bad habits, like reacting on curiousity, which led to him burning the house down. However, Antoine and Richard from "400 Blows" and "Black Boy" also have fairly different lives. Richard, being black, had to deal with racism,and really wanted to get an education and become an outstanding writer. Whereas, Antoine really could care less about school, and even though he was given the opportunity to receive and education, he would rather go on adventures through France, with his best friend.

I would most definetly recommend "400 Blows" and would give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. The only thing that I must critique, is the ending. It wasn't a very satisfying ending to me, since I still had questions left about Antoine. Other than that though, I felt the director, François Truffaut did a superb job directing and writing this fascinating film on the life of a troubled youth in France. The viewers that I would recommend this movie to would be a teen to adult audience, since I don't think most children would understand the plot enough, to appreciate this great work.