Matthew Britt
10/26/10
400 Blows
French
1959
Francois Truffaut
One thing I definitely noticed about this film was that it focused on utlizing certain shots to build up tension and create a certain atmosphere. Just like "The Battleship Potempkin", the film relied on tension and intense emotion from the different scenes. The emotion and atmosphere came more from the directing than it did from the narrative, in my opinion. A great example of this would be the last scene, where the boy runs toward the ocean, but then quickly back to land, with the film ending with an intense look on the boy's face, directed towards the audience.
In John Conomos's "Truffaut's The 400 blow's, or the sea, Antoine, the sea", Conomos =talks about Truffaut's love of literature and how it is echoed in his film-making. He describes the film as lyrical, almost relating it to a beautiful novel, in the sense of how the story progresses, and the lyrical scenes that take place. In Roger Ebert's review of the film, Ebert stresses the simplicity of the film, and how the film is based on feeling; and how that's beautiful in it's own right. Evert's review basicaly says that with 400 Blows, you don't have to over-analyze or dig for meaning, all the meaning of the film is right there in front of the viewer, and it's all easy to relate to.
In Conomos's essay, he mentions how the final scene's "are some of the most hauntingly personal scenes in all of French cinema". These scenes are haunting and personal because they touch upon a universal nerve that audiences, regardless of where they're from, can all relate to. As Antoine runs back from the water, the audience is familiar with the allegory; that universal feeling in life of being stuck between individual fulfillment and the "right choice" in order to survive in a harsh society. In Ebert's essay, Ebert mentions over and over again the simplicity that the film convey's. This ofcourse is seen throughout all the film, as the film emphasizes the emotion's from the boy, which is shown by facial gestures throughout the scenes. One reason this film is so timeless and important is due to it's ability to use simplicity and play on basic human emotions through it's simple use of effective cinema.
I loved this film. This film is actually one of my favorite film's of all time, and the last scene in particular left me with a feeling I only rarely get from amazing film's. Everything about the film, the utiliziation of the different shots, the acting, storyline, atmosphere, etc...is perfect. I can truly say this film's a masterpiece that deserves to be apart of the all time greatest-film discourse.
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