The 400 Blows

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Awards

Academy Awards 1960 - Nominated - Best Original Screenplay

BAFTA Awards 1961 - Nominated - Best Film from any Source

BAFTA Awards 1961 - Nominated - Best Newcomer to Leading Film Roles

Bodil Awards 1960 - Won - Best European Film

Academy Awards 1960 - Nominated - Best Original Screenplay

BAFTA Awards 1961 - Nominated - Best Film from any Source

BAFTA Awards 1961 - Nominated - Best Newcomer to Leading Film Roles

Bodil Awards 1960 - Won - Best European Film

Cannes Film Festival 1959 - Nominated - Palme d'Or

Cannes Film Festival 1959 - Won - Best Director

Cannes Film Festival 1959 - Won - OCIC Award

French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Awards 1959 - Won - Best Film

New York Film Critics Circle Awards 1959 - Won - Best Foreign Language Film

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The 400 Blows

Director:
François Truffaut
99 Minutes
 

At A Glance

Film Synopsis

Francois Truffaut's first feature, The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups), is also his most personal. Told through the eyes of Truffaut's life-long cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), The 400 Blows sensitively recreates the trials of Truffaut's own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, petty crime, and a friendship that would last a lifetime. The film marks Truffaut's passage from leading critic of the French New Wave to his emergence as one of Europe's most brilliant auteurs.

Three years after The 400 Blows took the world by storm, Francois Truffaut returned with the second chapter in the ongoing saga of romantic ne'er-do-well Antoine Doinel, Antoine and Colette. Originally appearing in the international omnibus film Love at Twenty, this nimble short subject is classic Truffaut, depicting a teenage Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) living on his own and pursuing his first love affair, initiating a lifelong career of quixotic dreams and amorous restlessness.

Also available as part of The Adventures of Antoine Doinel Box Set .

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Details

Runtime:
99 min.

Country:
FRANCE

Language:
French

Color:
Black & White

Plot Summary

SPECIAL FEATURES: 

  • New digital transfers of The 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette, enhanced for widescreen televisions
  • Two audio commentaries for The 400 Blows: one by cinema professor Brian Stonehill and another by lifelong friend of Truffaut, Robert Lachenay
  • Rare audition footage of Jean-Pierre Leaud, Patrick Auffay and Richard Kanayan
  • Newsreel footage of Jean-Pierre Leaud in Cannes for the showing of The 400 Blows
  • Excerpt from a French TV program with Truffaut discussing his youth, critical writings, and the origins of Antoine Doinel in The 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette
  • Television interview with Truffaut about the global financial reception of The 400 Blows and his own critical impression of the film
  • Theatrical trailer for The 400 Blows
  • New and improved English subtitle translations

 

 

 

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