400 Blows (A Childhood Story)

    400 Blows, in my opinion, is one of the greatest childhood coming-of-age films I have ever seen. It accurately portrays the disconnect between children and adults, and the desperate need to be seen and understood. It also shows a trouble maker that does not necessarily want to cause trouble. The use of realism in this film is what makes it so meaningful. Either you grew up knowing a child like the main character, Antoine, or you were that child. The story is realistic and understandable. You empathize with this boy that just wants to be seen and understood by the adults around him. 

    The adult influences around him, from his parents to the police officer, treat him as though he is unwanted in this adult world. At the end of the film, it is even revealed that his mother did not want him and his mother does not hide the fact that Antoine is nothing more than a nuisance that prevents her from living her life. His step-father seems like he tries, but in reality, he is just tolerating his step-son. Antoine's disconnection from the adult figures causes him to act out through creative and destructive means. 

    Although Antoine attempts to change and grow throughout the film, he does not succeed as much as the audience wants him to. The frustration that the audience feels reflects the character's own feelings. At the very end of the film, Antoine finally reaches the ocean, a goal that he had mentioned earlier in the film, but the audience does not truly feel a change or 'happy ending' for the boy. He is at a dead end, and the audience does not know what awaits that boy in adulthood. How did his experiences as a child affect his growth into adulthood? We are not permitted to see that ultimate change, and it causes a need for more information. The focus that we put on that frustration ignores the progress that he has made. The final frame mirrors the mug shots taken of him earlier in the film, but during the mug shots, he was trapped and suffocated. At the final frame he is free of that restriction, allowing a potential growth in his adulthood. I feel as though the audience somewhat ignores his growth throughout the film, just as his parents and other adults ignored it as well. We are the adults that ignore his progress in the end.   

    Overall, this film and Truffaut's understanding of realism come together to tell a story that we all are familiar with in one way or another. Antoine does not have the parental connections that a child is supposed to have, and it affects him negatively. Truffaut understands this story, and he may have been the perfect person to tell this story. I have seen many coming-of-age films, but none of them have ever felt real to me. There's always a disconnect in these coming-of-age films that makes it feel as though they are too specific or too general. Truffaut is able to make the story specific to a person that everyone knows. This film was able to tell a story that everyone understands and feels somewhat of a connection to. Whether you were Antoine as a child or you knew of a child like Antoine, you know this story.