Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The 400 Blows Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 1, 2009

François Truffaut’s "The 400 Blows" (1959) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include two audio commentaries, one by cinema professor Brian Stonehill and the other by the director's lifelong friend Robert Lachenay; rare audition footage; archival interviews; original trailer; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Reading Balzac while having a smoke

Twelve-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud, Masculin Féminin, La Chinoise) is a troublemaker. He skips school and goes to the movies, steals, lies and runs away from home. But he wants to be good -- he takes care of the garbage and helps his stepfather cook. Occasionally, he even tries to get his homework done.

At school, Antoine isn’t liked. His teacher (Guy Decombie, Bob Le Flambeur) is convinced that the boy is always up to no good and routinely reminds him that he is keeping an eye on him. Antoine doesn’t like his teacher either. The two argue a lot and the Antoine often ends up standing alone in front of the classroom board.

Antoine’s mother (Claire Maurier, La Cage aux Folles) isn’t too fond of her son either. She is also having an affair with another man, who treats her in a way her husband doesn't. Because she has grown tired of the tiny apartment the Doinel family shares, she spends as much time away from it as possible. Antoine’s stepfather does not know about his wife’s affair and believes that she works a lot to provide for the family.

While away from school, Antoine accidentally sees his mother with her lover. He does not reveal to his stepfather what he has seen, but makes it clear to his mother that he knows about her affair. Then for a short period of time things change for the better and the Doinel family become closer.

Very soon, however, Antoine is again in trouble. He is caught stealing and quickly sent to a correctional facility. He becomes angry, and so do his parents. As time goes by, Antoine then learns about life, responsibility and dignity. Eventually, he earns his freedom, but not the forgiveness of his parents.

François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows chronicles a young boy’s struggle to become independent in a world ruled by adults. We begin to feel about Antoine the moment we see him. We immediately understand what his heart desires, but we also realize that he cannot outsmart those he disagrees with. Then gradually we come to the realization that he is a doomed rebel.

Like all great coming-of-age films The 400 Blows boasts memorable images that linger with us long after the end credits roll. There are sequences in it that are so beautiful we don’t want the main characters to utter their lines and disrupt the magic. At times it feels almost as if we have discovered a painting that has suddenly come alive.

Dedicated to the great André Bazin -- a close friend of Truffaut and founder of Cahiers du Cinema, the influential French film magazine -- The 400 Blows is also an incredibly tender film. Even though Antoine experiences so many disappointments, we rarely see him looking bitter. On the contrary, he finds humor in his failures and smiles at those who punish him. We do not detect a sense of guilt through his actions either.

I saw The 400 Blows rather late, after I had already seen Louis Malle’s Le Souffle au Coeur a.k.a. Murmur of the Heart, another terrific coming-of-age film. For reasons I’d rather not talk about, I ended up attending a special screening where the film was shown to a select few, dubbed in a foreign language. I doubt those who were in the screening room with me understood what it was supposed to convey. Later on, I recall many of them openly dismissing it as a naive and childish film about a boy who couldn’t stay away from trouble. For me, The 400 Blows was a revelation. The final sequence where Antoine looks at the ocean and then runs into the water overjoyed by his newly found freedom stayed with me for years. It also inspired me to break free of the world I could not tolerate.

The 400 Blows Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, François Truffaut's The 400 Blows arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm composite fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.

Telecine supervisors: Lee Kline, Maria Palazzola.
Telecine colorist: Jean-Marc Moreau/Vdm, Paris."

I could not wait to get my hands on this Blu-ray disc. Aside from The Third Man, this is the second black-and-white film to be released on Blu-ray by Criterion and I was very impatient to see how it would look in high-definition. First of all, the color scheme is terrific -- the blacks are lush and very rich, while the whites are crisp and natural looking. Contrast is very pleasing as well. As soon as I received the disc, I took my DVD release of The 400 Blows from The Adventures of Antoine Doinel box set and ran a few quick comparisons. Aside from the stronger detail and contrast, this new high-definition presentation holds together substantially better on a large-size screen. Second, I must note that there are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Indeed, the grain structure of the film is very much intact, and I am convinced that film buffs will be pleased with the organic qualities of the high-definition transfer. Third, I did not see any large scratches, debris, damage marks, or stains that could spoil your viewing experience. (Obviously, if you have already seen how good the DVD version of The 400 Blows looked, then you should have a pretty good idea what to expect from the Blu-ray release). This being said, there are a few minor sharpness fluctuations, but they were also present on the French MK2 Blu-ray release of The 400 Blows, so more than likely they are inherited. To sum it all up, this is the best presentation of The 400 Blows that I have seen to date. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The 400 Blows Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

As expected, the audio treatment is as solid as the video presentation discussed above. The dialog is crisp, very clear and without any distortions that I could detect. Furthermore, Jean Constantin's music sounds quite lovely. As far as I am concerned, the soundtrack is also notably well balanced. You won't hear any disturbing pops, background hiss, or cracks either.

The 400 Blows Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the supplemental materials found on the DVD release of François Truffaut's 400 Blows have been ported to the Blu-ray disc. First, there are two audio commentaries, one by cinema Professor Brian Stonehill and another by François Truffaut's lifelong friend Robert Lachenay. Both commentaries are very informative, but I personally prefer the one by Mr. Lachenay as it offers a very personal look at The 400 Blows and its director (the French-language commentary features optional italicized English subtitles). Interviews - here you will see rare 16mm screen tests featuring an interview with Jean-Pierre Léaud, an improvised dialogue between Léaud and Patrick Auffay (René in the film), and an audition by Richard Kanayan (who plays one of the children, and went on to appear in Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Players [1960]). Cannes 1959 - this newsreel excerpt from Francois Chalais and Jacques Planche's Reflets de Cannes 1959 presents the excitement of the film's screening and award winning at the festival (Truffaut won Best Actor), along with Jean-Pierre Léaud's thoughts about being in the acclaimed film. Cineaste de notre temps - this excerpt from the "Francois Truffaut ou l'espirit critique" episode of the French TV show Cineaste de notre temps (December 2, 1965) features Truffaut discussing his youth, his critical writings for Cahiers du cinema, and the beginnings of Antoine Doinel in The 400 Blows and Antoine and Colette. Other interviewees include Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Remy (Antoine's stepfather), and collaborator Claude de Givray. Cinepanorama - in this excerpt from the TV show Cinepanorama (Jean Bescout, February 20th, 1960), host France Roche interviews Francois Truffaut after his return from New York, where The 400 Blows was named Best Foreign Film by the New York Film Critics Circle. He discusses the global reception of The 400 Blows and performs some self-critical evaluation of his work. Finally, there is also a theatrical trailer. The Blu-ray disc also arrives with a lovely booklet where you would find "Close to Home", a very informative essay by film scholar Annette Insdorf.

The 400 Blows Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Francois Truffaut's timeless masterpiece The 400 Blows looks and sounds spectacular on Blu-ray. I am unsure what else to say here that hasn't already been said better by countless other film critics. So, I would like to encourage you to do whatever it takes to add The 400 Blows to your collections because without it they would be incomplete. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.