The 400 Blows

So much has been written of Francois Truffaut's ``The 400 Blows'' (1959) that I feel there's little I can add. Ebert's review touches on the major points and considerations that contribute to why this film is so important. To that I can only add that I enjoyed it very much. It's a story about a 13 year old boy with a yearning for an unfortunately undefined "freedom". Truffaut's own childhood is the basis, and for that I greatly admire his objectivity: this film never resorts to sentimentality, never attempts to defend the apparent descent of the main character into a life of crime. It's a straightforward story of a young man with a passion for life, told by a young filmmaker with a passion for cinema. One other thing I'm compelled to mention: the performance of Jean-Pierre Leaud in the lead is positively amazing. I have never seen a better performance by a first-time actor or any unstudied performer for that matter. I recommend watching this film and then a second time with the commentary. While the commentator's urbane drone gets a little monotonous, it can't dampen the love of Truffaut for cinema, nor the merits of this film.