Post your responses to The 400 Blows here. Think about how the architecture played a role in the experiences of Antoine Doinel , the protagonist. The film has autobiographical content, based in part on experiences in the life of the director François Truffaut .
The 400 Blows is part of the French New Wave movement and is also steeped in Auteur Theory. Roger Ebert wrote, "The cinema saved Francois Truffaut's life, he said again and again. It took a delinquent student and gave him something to love, and with the encouragement of Bazin he became a critic and then made this film by his 27th birthday."
Include any other thoughts you have about the film in your post.
cheryl wilgren clyne
Alright. First off, I really love Truffaut. And if anyone really liked this film, you should definitely watch Antoine & Colette- which shows his character much older and trying to pursue love.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, the main examples I saw of how the architecture starts playing a role in the film is the state that France was in, and the financial state his family was in as well. Not only was Antoine's family in financial deficit, it was following WWII and France was in a very rough economic state as well. This is displayed through how cramped Antoine's flat was, sharing it with three people, and the crumbling structures of old buildings (store fronts, the classrooms, houses, etc). This all fits into the French New Wave precisely, because this genre of cinema focuses much on social and political disruption.
However, I am unsure if the economic state of France was something he had firsthand experienced when he was a child. I guess that would take a bit more looking into!
I have to say I wasn't a fan of this movie. I think it was that I wasn't terribly interested in the story and the overall depressing feel of the film just didn't appeal to me. It seemed that there were always a lot of middle gray tones (making it feel even more depressing) and never a bright white color. I'm not sure if that's just because of the technology at the time, or if it was a conscious choice to give the film a dreary feel.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I thought some of the camerawork was very beautiful. I was especially drawn to the scenes where the camera would move through a space as though the viewer was seeing through the character's eyes. The one that stuck out to me was when Antoine was in the tiny one person jail cell, and the camera showed the station as he would be seeing it through the chain link fence.
As far as the architecture goes, I noticed that it often seemed to reflect the mood of the storyline at the time, such as the cramped, crappy apartment as a reflection of Antione's family life or the glitzier buildings and bright lights of the cinema during the upbeat scene where the family goes to the movies and finally gets along.
The movie was shot beautifully. The visuals drew me in especially with the story line. The multiple camera angles and repetitive suspense of the child going to get in trouble is intriguing. And yeah, the idea of a child living in a very adult world is the same for all children. Learning how to be a grown up and being responsible. We are all taught how we act in a adult world. Like his mother, when he skipped class, he was up to no good. And so was his mother when she cheated on his dad.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship of the mother, father and son is genuine and made me think about how I grew up. He grew up with no siblings and not a lot of love from his biological mother.
I look forward to the other movies since this one ended so abruptly.
I like this movie a lot. I think it reflect the time that it plays in with all the different characters and the acerbity of the teacher and the parent very well. Especially the teacher typified all what you expect from that time.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the cameraposition and the movement was so close that it set you into the story. The sportscene where the one teacher and the boys are running over the street had a really good camera angel. This bird-view is a good solution for that scene.
Something what i recognized about the relationship with his parents is, that they always called him "boy". The never said son or even his real name.
I'm stuck in the middle of this movie. For a movie not having the typical introduction, rising tension, climax, and resolution thing going on, I still found myself engaged with what was going on because the selection of boy's life shown was very interesting. I don't think the movie would have been as engaging with someone who didn't lead a life as interesting as his. On the other hand, I didn't find myself as excited or involved like I do with many movies that follow the type of structure I explained before. The abrupt ending threw me off and I wasn't a fan of the freeze zoom. In that aspect the film fell short to me. Now I am all for movies with open endings, but this one just didn't cut for it.
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple of shots that stood out to me, one acting like the boy's perspective. There is a shot of him walking to his parents' bedroom and the camera jumps into his perspective as he opens the door. The camera pans over from left to right, showing the audience the room like a person would scan a room to find something. The camera stops on the area he finds and he walks over to it.
Another scene I found memorable was at the end when he is running down the road to the ocean. The camera just follows him at his side for several minutes. It is basic idea, but also very beautiful.
Architecture was key in the main character life because the movie was about how society put pressure on him. In this time, it was harder for people to set their own paths to follow their dreams. They went to school to learn skills to get a normal, steady job. The movie was showing the audience how the boy was trapped. There were no choices for him, so he reacted by being a troublemaker. His cramped apartment and the dreary outside environment made his life seem cold and hopelessl. This added to his longing of escaping so he could be free to run his own life.
My favorite part is the really long shot at the end when hes running down the road. I think its beautiful how the shot continues for so long it makes it really hard to take your eyes off of that scene.
ReplyDeleteI think all the angles in this film are really nice the camera seems to always be moving along with the characters. The scenes seemed to be alternated alot between interior and exterior spaces, it was almost every other shot. I really like how they would slowing move around the scene, it gave it a good sense of depth.
I wish it would of been in english I feel like I was starring more at the text then the actual film, but Istill enjoyed it.
I also like the part where he was on that spinny ride. Even though it was making me sick I think the framing was really nice. I think a lot of great perspectives were used throughout the film especially when capturing the emotions of the children, that played a huge role in this film.
Although I was not particularly intrigued by the content of this film I was really drawn to the cinematography as well as the complexity of the characters and the sincerity of the performances. It is always a risk to work with kids as young as the ones in this movie, but I think that the performances were really great. I loved how Truffaut used the scenery and architecture in this film. The tightly packed Parisian streets, apartments and schools force us to be up close and personal with the characters. This intimate approach emphasizes the characters emotions and makes us begin to feel slightly closterfobic. At the end of the film we get a break from that closterfobia when Antoine breaks free in the last scene. We as a viewer finally get a release from the confined spaces and static scenery which forces us to feel the same release that Antoine must feel in the movie.
ReplyDelete