Under Pressure

Before becoming directors Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were film critics. They wrote for La Cahiers Du Cinema, and in its pages they developed the Auter theory of film making. They pioneered the idea that the director is the author of the film.

Then they started the French New Wave, and forever changed the face of cinema. Godard would direct Breathless, but Truffaut would kick things off with Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows).

The 400 Blows stars Jean-Pierre Leaud as young Antoine Doinel. Antoine is a boy under a lot of pressure. His cruel, foul tempered teacher wants him to conform and behave. His friends want him to break the rules and rebel. His parents want him to go away.

His mother has little affection for him, and sees him as the root of all her problems. His step father has little time for him, and feels that he has done enough by "giving him a name".

When Antoine learns that his mother is having an affair, he begins to see his parents relationship decay. He is caught in the middle.

Antoine runs away from home, but is eventually caught and returned. After recieving a poor grade he runs again. He is apprehended while trying to return a typwiter he had stolen. This time he is sent to detention.

Antoine's break, his descent into crime is a highly dramatic story, lent even more poignancy by the understanding that it is Truffaut's own story. He led a childhood much like this character.

Leaud is perfect as young Antoine. So much so that Truffaut would make three more films with Leaud as the same character. Much of the directors career was spent examining this boy's journey into adulthood.

Truffaut believed that human drama was more important than technical achievement. And yet every shot of this film is a work of beauty. His framing is exquisite. His use of light and shadow was ground breaking.

The final shot of the film is deservedly quite famous, and has been copied more times than could easily be counted.

truffaut's work, and this film in particular, has inspired many of today's best loved directors. Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarrantino, Francis Copolla, Steven Soderberg, and P.T. Anderson would not be making films the way they do had they not seen The 400 Blows.

Truffaut would later direct such classics as Shoot the Piano Player, and Juliet of the Spirits, but above all others he will be remembered for this, his first and best film.