Movies

Antoine Doinel is a boy who grows up in a family that pays him little attention, especially his mother. As a result, he spends his free time either alone or roaming the streets of Paris, gradually becoming a petty delinquent. This behaviour is simply his way of becoming self-aware and asserting his own identity in opposition to the social norms imposed on him at school and by society at large. Misunderstood and misjudged, Antoine is sent to a reform school, from which he escapes at the first opportunity to run towards the open horizon of the ocean.

The 400 Blows is the first film in François Truffaut's Adventures of Antoine Doinel series, which also includes the short film Antoine and Colette (1962) and the feature films Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (1970) and Love on the Run (1979). The character of Antoine Doinel is portrayed by Jean-Pierre Léaud in all of these films. Léaud is a key figure of the French New Wave. As well as collaborating with Truffaut, Léaud worked with other key figures of the French New Wave, including Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, and Jacques Rivette.