Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The 400 Blows (1 Viewer)

The Film

Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, the first in what would become known as the French New Wave, is one of the most touching and exhilarating of films. Filmed in the Paris streets and in other real-life locations and not in the confines of a studio, The 400 Blows screams innovation and originality in its every frame. Even today, fifty years after its premiere, it still manages to impress through its fresh, flip approach to storytelling and with a mesmerizing young actor in the movie’s central role. How miraculous that in subsequent films by the same director, the story of Antoine Doinel continues to amaze and delight those who first became taken with him as a thirteen-year old boy in this fine film.

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a thirteen year old living with his rather apathetic mother (Claire Maurier) and stepfather (Albert Rémy) in a cramped Paris apartment, is all boy. He scribbles graffiti on school walls, plagiarizes from Balzac to get a good grade on his class essay (and gets caught), plays hooky from school and uses the time to see movies and play arcade games, and runs away from home when he lies about his mother’s dying to get out of trouble at school. Distraught over their “juvenile delinquent” (though compared to the gangs we have today, he’s almost a choir boy in comparison), his parents have no choice but to have him sent to a reform school where Antoine, looking for any opportunity to escape, longs to see the ocean for the first time.

Antoine’s story is based on Truffaut’s own troubled childhood, but what’s most unique here is the writer-director’s obvious excitement at telling his story with all the cinematic marvels available to him. You’d be hard pressed to find a more intoxicating sequence than Antoine, on his hooky holiday, enjoying the Rotor Wheel ride at a local carnival with Truffaut’s cinematic eye and the dizzying camerawork of Henri Decaë a true work of art. Subsequently, a long, revealing tracking shot as Antoine makes his detention center getaway is breathless in its ruthless examination of emotions. And yet, that famous final freeze frame isn’t the joyous, triumphant look we expect but something more vacant, distant, and longing, just another surprise Truffaut has up his sleeve. Other moments also remain memorable: the gym teacher who takes his class out on a walking excursion around the neighborhood loses them a few at a time as they splinter off for other adventures of their own, all seen from above as Truffaut films downward on the boys craftily sneaking away; the Doinels' idyllic night on the town (movies and strawberry ice cream) soon to come to a sad end when Antoine becomes impossible; Antoine‘s tear-streaked face as the paddy wagon takes him away after a creepy night in two separate jail cells.

Jean-Pierre Léaud was truly a dream find as Truffaut’s childhood surrogate. His naturalness before the camera and his seeming innocent face masking his inner mischievousness made him the perfect choice to play this part. Both Claire Maurier and Albert Rémy, neither bad people but lacking the ability to show warmth and affection for their son, make wonderfully real adults who should never have had children. Patrick Auffay as Antoine’s best friend René matches Léaud with his cherubic face masquerading for a sweet little demon underneath. Guy Decombie as the pedantic teacher (nicknamed “Sourpuss” by Antoine) is every kid’s nightmare: a dull, uninvolved teacher.

Video Quality

The film’s 2.35:1 aspect ratio is delivered at 1080p using the AVC codec. Though the grayscale isn’t top notch resulting in blacks of only average quality, sharpness is pleasing, and the film’s grain structure is definitely intact. A stray hair or two show up, but otherwise the image is blemish free. The white subtitles are quite easy to read though they can speed by quickly. The film has been divided into 23 chapters.

Audio Quality

The PCM (1.5 Mbps) 1.0 track can have its shrill moments, but most of the time, it offers a well balanced, open mono track that‘s a pleasure to listen to, Jean Constantin‘s jaunty music being given a fine aural record that complements the visuals beautifully. Much to my surprise, there was no hiss or other audio problems that are often found with foreign films of this age.

Special Features

The disc offers two commentaries. The first and best is by professor Brian Stonehill who dissects the film and also adds audio comments from others in Truffaut’s life to give the commentary additional interest. The second commentary track is by Truffaut’s lifelong friend Robert Lachenay who speaks his comments in French which are then subtitled in italics. His comments, though, are start and stop and not as interesting as Stonehill’s more scholarly approach.

All of the bonus features are presented in 1080i.

There is 6 ½ minutes of audition footage featuring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick Auffay, and Richard Kanayan (who has a hilarious scene in the film as a child trying to get thoughts down on paper but whose pen keeps blotting ink on each fresh sheet). Léaud seems very natural while Auffay is shyer, more reticent. Kanayan is full of bubbly spirits as he sings a couple of songs.

The film won the Best Director prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, so there is 6 ½ minutes of newsreel footage at the event showing the standing ovation for the movie and featuring a brief interview with Jean-Pierre Léaud.

The 1965 French television program Cineastes de Notre Temps features a 22 ½-minute interview with Truffaut, Léaud, Remy Albert, and Claude de Givray talking about Truffaut’s career as a director from The 400 Blows to his most recent (then) successes.

A 1960 French television interview with Truffaut on the program Cinépanorama features Truffaut answering questions after returning from the United States having been presented the Best Foreign Film award by the New York Film Critics for The 400 Blows. The interview lasts for 7 minutes.

The film’s original theatrical trailer runs 3 ¾ minutes and is in the proper aspect ratio. (Other film clips in previous featurettes were in pan and scan 4:3.)

The Criterion Blu-rays are now including a maneuvering tool called “Timeline” which can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc, the title of the chapter you’re now in, and index markers for the commentaries that go along with the film, all of which can be switched on the fly. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.

The disc case contains a folded pamphlet with a couple of stills, a cast and crew listing, and film professor Annette Insdorf’s brief essay on the cinema of Francois Truffaut.

In Conclusion

One of the world’s great films, and the first in a number of masterpieces by the great French filmmaker Francois Truffaut, The 400 Blows is not to be missed, especially in this Blu-ray release which offers quite clearly the greatest sound and picture the film has ever enjoyed on home video. Highly recommended!


Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC

Glad to see that you finally had a chance to get around to this film, Matt. Good stuff, as always. Thanks!

CC

Thanks a lot for the review. Once I can find it for a reasonable price in Canada i'll buy it. So far Criterion has done a great job on their Blu-ray releases.

THE LAST METRO on Blu-ray was going to be next, but BOLT came in today, so it jumped ahead of THE LAST METRO in line since it comes out on the 22nd.

although i've never seen any other french new wave films... 400B is one of the best films i've seen =D. it's like the "slumdog millionaire" from past set in France except it'd be more like just plain old slumdog, minus the millionaire part.

This title is priced at $21.99 at Amazon.com







Crawdaddy

hmmm, very tempting.

This is possibly my most impressive looking blu ray, especially in terms of it looking like film, just a gorgeous transfer. The detail is so excellent that you can see in some shots that were pushed when the negative was developed to get the fine detail from the lighter parts of the image. It's something I'm completely used to seeing in black and white prints in galleries or my own work but quite simply it never stood out to me on video before. actually seeing the grain and the amount of fine detail make that possible (and it pulls me into the image even more).

Now if only the packaging wasn't shit, this'd be perfect, as it is, I'm thrilled to upgrade my old fox lorber disc, bought in 2001 and watched many times. This is so much better.

bought it. loved the PCM 1.0

were there more bonus material in prior releases? seems a bit barebone for a criterion release. film itself is excellent PQ and audio, but the extras leave somn to be desired, no retroactive examinations or impact on culture.

The 400 Blows is one of my favourite films, so I'm happy to upgrade from the Antoine Doinel set to the Blu-ray. And it's very cheap on Amazon, so for me it's a no-brainer!

Recently re-watched The 400 Blows, but for the first time on Blu. This film is a masterpiece. I've seen it several times over the years, and obviously the best presentation is on this Criterion Blu. Superb, clean print.

This was definitely one of the most moving, poignant films I've ever seen. Brilliant story of a kid growing up, with all of the difficulties going along with this. Also really enjoyed the time & place; late 1950's Paris was as much of a character in the film as Antoine and his friend Rene. I've always enjoyed urban settings, and this was one of the best portraits of a city from this time period that I've seen.

Though the film was a drama, there were some amusing moments:

- The scene when the Antoine & Rene were trying to sell the stolen typewriter to that guy on the street, and then he tried to steal it from them.

- The sequence when the small children were put into a fenced area on the grounds of the juvenile facility, presumably to "protect" them from the wild, older delinquents - LOL.

And, the end was fantastic; I've always liked uncertain endings in film, which I think makes them more interesting & leaves them open to interpretation.

It's worth noting that there was a later short film made, titled Antoine & Colette (1962). I saw this years ago, and it was interesting - it took place three years after The 400 Blows (so, the time chronology was correct). Antoine was 17, estranged from his parents, and working in a record shop. He then falls in love with a young woman he met at a concert, and most of the film is focused on his fruitless pursuit of her. His friend Rene (from TFB) makes an appearance as well.

After I re-watched TFB, I went back & re-watched the subsequent Antoine Doniel films (Bed and Board, Stolen Kisses, etc.). dealing with Antoine's adulthood, primarily focusing on his relationships with women (marriage, divorce, affairs, etc.) It's interesting that Truffault made sequels using the same actor. However, I don't think the later films are as interesting as The 400 Blows, but they're still worth seeing. It's also nice to see how Paris obviously changed somewhat over the years as well.

The Drifter said:

Recently re-watched The 400 Blows, but for the first time on Blu. This film is a masterpiece. I've seen it several times over the years, and obviously the best presentation is on this Criterion Blu. Superb, clean print.

This was definitely one of the most moving, poignant films I've ever seen. Brilliant story of a kid growing up, with all of the difficulties going along with this. Also really enjoyed the time & place; late 1950's Paris was as much of a character in the film as Antoine and his friend Rene. I've always enjoyed urban settings, and this was one of the best portraits of a city from this time period that I've seen.

Though the film was a drama, there were some amusing moments:

- The scene when the Antoine & Rene were trying to sell the stolen typewriter to that guy on the street, and then he tried to steal it from them.

- The sequence when the small children were put into a fenced area on the grounds of the juvenile facility, presumably to "protect" them from the wild, older delinquents - LOL.

And, the end was fantastic; I've always liked uncertain endings in film, which I think makes them more interesting & leaves them open to interpretation.

It's worth noting that there was a later short film made, titled Antoine & Colette (1962). I saw this years ago, and it was interesting - it took place three years after The 400 Blows (so, the time chronology was correct). Antoine was 17, estranged from his parents, and working in a record shop. He then falls in love with a young woman he met at a concert, and most of the film is focused on his fruitless pursuit of her. His friend Rene (from TFB) makes an appearance as well.

After I re-watched TFB, I went back & re-watched the subsequent Antoine Doniel films (Bed and Board, Stolen Kisses, etc.). dealing with Antoine's adulthood, primarily focusing on his relationships with women (marriage, divorce, affairs, etc.) It's interesting that Truffault made sequels using the same actor. However, I don't think the later films are as interesting as The 400 Blows, but they're still worth seeing. It's also nice to see how Paris obviously changed somewhat over the years as well.

Click to expand...

After watching the Criterion 400 Blows I found out about the Artificial Eye (Region B) The Adventures of Antoine Doinel Blu-Ray set


The Criterion image is far superior for The 400 Blows and there is a different commentary
Antoine & Collette is included on one of the other discs as a special feature. I watched the whole short and it is in terrible shape including sound droputs frame jumps and an abrupt ending (probably due to rights issues) I wish they would have included the complete film that the Antoine & Collette is part of: Love at Twenty,

The other films barely fare better and I hope Criterion gets the opportunity to work their make on the rest of the oeuvre ... I have to admit while I didn't watch all of the sequels, it was an amazing work to follow one character from childhood to adulthood in separate adventures.

I was partially inspired by comments about Richard Linklater's Boyhood

Thanks for the info. IIRC, the Criterion Blu does not have the short 1962 film Antoine & Collete included; however, I did see a previous DVD (back in the 200X's) that had A&C as one of the special features (possibly on a second disk).

There have been so many versions of TFB available on home video, that it's hard to keep track of them all.

One of the many fascinating things about TFB is that the film is not an idealized version of childhood/adolescence - by any means. Antoine is not a good student, and is constantly getting in trouble at school; cuts class; lies to the teacher about a parent dying; etc. He lives in near poverty, and has a bad home life; his parents don't get along & his mother is obviously having an affair. Towards the end of the film, his parents obviously can't handle his delinquency/lying, and he is sent to a juvenile facility.

The subsequent films are interesting, but I've only seen older DVD versions of these - and the print(s) aren't that great - for the most part. Here's an old 2003 review of the entire Antoine Doinel series:

https://film.avclub.com/the-adventures-of-antoine-doinel-five-films-by-francoi-1798198556