Film -- The 400 Blows

Take

One of the amazing things about living in NYC—one of the things you're paying for—is access to myriad cultural institutions, including a number of artsy/indie movie theaters, a handful of which are located in or around the Village.

I'm not much of a cinephile—I'm often the guy who elicits "really? you haven't seen that?", and I never took a film class or even read a book on film—but I love seeing movies, especially in theaters, and am glad we poked around and decided to watch this one. 

I was easily convinced based on Truffaut's reputation and the glowing Wikipedia reception section, including Kurosawa's statement that The 400 Blows is "one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen." But still I wasn't really expecting to be blown away—I figured the cultural and temporal distance, and my limited perspective, would prevent the sort of engrossed captivation I have felt during more intense and modern films such as—this is very offhand—Breaking the Waves (utterly bleak realism) and Pan's Labyrinth (powerful fantasy in a darkly real context—fascist Spain—that had me on edge from start to finish).

Anyway, this movie to my surprise sucked me in and held me there the whole time. Basically, it's the story of a delinquent teenager and his troubles at home, school, and (eventually) juvenile prison. He is a willful and confident kid who carries himself with a bit of swagger, but also seems to engage in arbitrary self-destructive behavior. It's as if some things he does, understandably, for kicks or to rebel, and others just because he is lashing out on account of the fact that his parents and society are failing him. His mom is having an affair and his parents struggle to communicate with him, despite making something of an effort (they are neither absent nor monsters); the rigid and disciplinarian educational system only serves to rouse his wrath. Eventually he runs away from it all, living with a fellow delinquent friend and then hiding out in a warehouse, until the law catches up with him. And then he manages to escape from there as well, and the final scene of him running along the countryside to the ocean he always longed to see is utterly compelling.

But underneath this wild exterior one gets the sense this kid has more complicated thoughts and is not lacking in introspection or self-awareness, and this eventually comes out towards the end when he is interviewed in juvie. 

Overall I found that the main character's performance and the pacing of the film just grabbed me, and I left hopeful that he would figure out his way in the world, though perhaps there were no real signs this was likely.

Afterthoughts

Man, I did not do this movie justice, particularly with respect to how it was shot, noteworthy scenes, the protagonist's charisma, the tone, and the pacing. (Note to self: when you've only got 10 minutes, skip the rambling intro.) In fairness, I saw it last fall, and my longer-term memory isn't so hot. C'est la vie!