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RAISING HELL

Today's film was Francois Truffaut's first film ever

Les quatre cents coups / The 400 Blows

This is also the first of 5 films involving the same character (and actor) Antoine Doniel. In this film he is 14. And incorrigible. The victim of a dysfunctional family who lives on the edge of poverty.

But the story is not a downer. It is a celebration of Antoine's spirit which, as we will see in subsequent films, overcomes adversities at the same time it may also create the same adversities. A paradox. But there is always fun as well as trouble.

This is the third or fourth time I have seen this film. It still astonishes and I cannot really tell you why.

The boy, played by Jean-Pierre Leaud, is charming and original in every respect. In one way he has the world on his shoulders. His face reads this. In another there is a twinkle in his eye and a devil on his shoulder.

The other kids are great too, the classroom sequences priceless. Authoritarian teachers brought to heel by powerless adolescents.

The film is in black and white which helps reduce the charms of Paris in the gritty environment that Antoine lives. The photography capitalizes on the bleakness of the landscape.

This film is seen as the beginning of the "new wave", the break between classical and modern film making. There are other films that make the same claim but this one, particularly, veers away from many traditional approaches. There is no studio shot. Much of it happens in the street with real people around. There is no traditional "act" structure. No real ending. We end the film with a still shot of Antoine at the beach. Caught between his past and his future.

We do not know what happens next.

It seems reasonable to believe that Truffaut did not plan to make a series of films or, perhaps, that he did. The fact is that we would predict a sequel if we saw this film today.

"Les quatre cents coups" or "400 blows" is an idiom for raising hell.

The next film in the series is on this same disc. A short. Thirty minutes. Up next.

This is a NYTimes 1176 Best film and already a 5 out of Netflix5. I will see it again for sure.

Labels: best films, films