Analysis of The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows is the story of Antoine Doinel (played by Jean Pierre Léaud). Antoine is a troubled and troublesome twelve year old boy. He is the unwanted, illegitimate child of his mother, Gilberte Doinel (played by Claire Mauier), and step-son to Julien Doinel (played by Albert Rémy). The film traces Antoine’s leaving home, and coming of age. More important than Antoine’s personal coming of age, the film is a bitter critique of Parisian society and the French attitude towards children. Truffaut, drawing largely from his personal experience, is able to force the viewer to question how children are treated through Antoine’s story. Antoine’s story is a sad one of neglect and indifference. Throughout the film it is made clear that Antoine’s parents do not love or want him. Early in the film Antoine’s parents are already discussing what they should do with him during the summer, or how they should get rid of him during the summer, the film takes place in the winter. Antoine’s parents are also always talking about how they should send him away, whether to a boarding school or, as his step-father constantly threatens, a military school. In Antoine’s family life there is no one there for him. His mother wishes she never given birth to him, and only views him as a nuisance to her life. The step-father doesn’t seem to mind Antoine, but by the end of the movie he would like to have nothing to do with Antoine. The film is a critique of the way children are treated in Paris. At no point in the film do any parents take any interest in the well being of their children. The only parents in the film are Antoine’s, and his friend Rene’s (played by Patrick Auffray) parents. Rene’s parents have so little to do with him that they don’t even notice that Antoine stays at their house. Rene’s mother is an alcoholic and his father is completely indifferent to him. Truffaut seems eager to point out that children are not treated with love or affection. They are either a nuisance or they are not noticed. This forces the children to grow up too fast, Antoine may be coming of age in this film, but he is only twelve. The fact that he seems to be doing and acting like a much older person is not a compliment on his maturity, but rather calls into question the way children are viewed and treated in France. Truffaut’s critique of child perception in France is especially acute during Antoine’s first attempt at running away from home.