What I know before going in
I knew the film chronicled the
life of a young boy in Paris
Immediate reaction
It’s rare to see a movie about
young adulthood told in a mature manner and aimed completely at adults. I don’t
know how well this film would work for someone the same age as the protagonist,
but I found it to be a very honest and down-to-earth portrayal of what a
latchkey childhood would be like in 60’s Paris. There is not any sentimentality
applied to the film. It is told very matter-of-factly with a little bit of
comedy thrown regarding Doinel’s antics. I wonder how this film influenced
other famous movies about kids such A
Christmas Story or The Sandlot.
Again though, most movies about kids seemed to be primarily aimed at children
or nostalgic adults, so The 400 Blows seems
to be incomparable to other films that on the surface may seem similar.
I definitely enjoyed Doinel’s
antics during the first half of the movie, especially his excuse that his
mother died. That excuse was hilarious in how bold and outrageous it was for
Doinel to use it, even though I can totally see a desperate kid using his
mother’s death as a last-ditch effort to avoid trouble. The sequence of the
teacher marching the kids through the streets of Paris was also quite humorous.
The camera moves from the ground to rooftops as it slowly tracks the group, and
one-by-one the kids run off from the group until only one or two are left.
Perfectly observed and underplayed moments such as these are what made The 400 Blows such an enjoyable
experience for me.
The film then slowly
transitions to become much more harrowing during the second half. In the first
half we see brief glimpses into the disorder of Doinel’s life. The apartment he
lives in with his mother and not-father (a revelation that probably makes
Doinel feel even more worthless) is obviously way too small. Doinel has to
sleep on a couch in a sleeping bag. He also has to do this insane maneuver
around the door any time he wants to take the garbage out. His parents aren’t
portrayed as completely evil either. They are simply two people who probably
never wanted a kid and as a result are somewhat absent from Doinel’s life.
Eventually, this absence manifests when Doinel begins running away. Finally,
Doinel steals his father typewriter and ends up getting caught when he tries to
return. It is interesting that Truffaut chose to stage Doinel’s capture when he
was returning the typewriter instead of when he was stealing. I think this was
to reinforce that, at his core, Doinel is a good kid. He just likes a little
structure. His interactions with his teacher also show this. He gets caught
with the naughty picture in the beginning even though it’s not his. Doinel also
attempts to write an excellent essay, but ends up plagiarizing from Balzac.
Doinel’s basic decency makes it
all the more tragic when he ends up in the youth correctional facility. The
most devastating scene being the one where he is locked up along with much
older criminals and women of the night. Doinel’s misfortune is made all too
clear as he cries in the back of the van. I couldn’t believe that this could
happen to a 12 year old. He isn’t even a teenager yet! Doinel suffers further
indignity when his mother comes to the facility explicitly to disown him. Of
course, Doinel eventually escape and, in a beautiful series of tracking shots,
runs to the ocean (a desire seeded earlier in the film). I can’t even imagine
what must be going through Doinel’s head as he stares longingly out into the
water. He is alone at this point, no friends, no family, and nowhere to go. For
a 12 year old child, that has got to be terrifying. However, he is also
completely free. There will be no teachers to ridicule him and not parents to
abuse him. Doinel can now do anything he wants, and for a 12 year old child,
that has got to be exhilarating.
Further thoughts
I sometimes wonder if huge
artistic movements, such as the French New Wave, are possible in today’s world.
Through the internet, everyone can essentially find their own unique niche of
film, music, or literature. This is definitely beneficial in that it allows
people to more easily discover weird, exciting new art. However, it may also be
somewhat harmful in that less adventurous people may narrow into one specific
genre and refuse to expand their boundaries. When The 400 Blows was released, there was much less in terms of
entertainment, waiting out there to stimulate people. I bet a lot of people
went into their local theater; saw that a movie called The 400 Blows was playing, and simply went in and watched it. Being
that this movie is a highly personal and one of the first shots of a new brand
of cinema (eventually leading to New Hollywood and the rise of indie movies) I
would imagine that most people had their minds blown and realized they had
never seen anything like this before.
I just don’t think a deeply
personal film and raw films such The 400
Blows would get any play today though, even though I think all the elements
are in place for a second new wave to emerge. It’s rare that I go a single week
without seeing an article bemoaning the low quality of recent blockbusters or
feel a little when that latest box office numbers are announced. I would
imagine that the critics of Cahiers du Cinéma had similar feelings towards the “cinema of
quality” that they thought was choking France’s movie industry. I would also
imagine that most young adults would enjoy seeing their troubles and
frustrations displayed on the silver screen much in the same manner that the
youth of the 60’s latched onto the New Wave films.
And
I don’t think that what’s blocking the creation of second New Wave is with
viewers, it stems from a much higher level. For example, my brother and I
recently went to see Before Midnight, a film that is deeply indebted to The
400 Blows, and we brought along one of my brother’s friends. Now this
friend did not have the most adventurous tastes in film. However, he very much
enjoyed Before Midnight. In fact, he later admitted that he could not
stop thinking about the film. The film’s intensely personal conversations about
life, love, and everything else were probably a shock to him. He probably did
not think a film as deeply human as Before Midnight could even exist. I
know if more people saw the film, I know they would enjoy on a similar level as
my brother’s friend. A lot of people would also probably enjoy The 400 Blows
if they were forced to sit down and watch it. If studios were only willing to
promote these films more, it may be possible to recreate the radical nature of
the French New Wave.
Why is it on the list?
The
400 Blows was one of the first films to establish the honesty and stylistic
daring of the French New Wave.
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