The 400 Blows (1959)

"Angel faces hell-bent for violence."
#10,3927,046
Movie
Audience Score
80
The 400 Blows
Latest Trailers
StarringJean-Pierre LéaudClaire MaurierAlbert Rémy
DirectorFrançois Truffaut
Criterion Channel logoWatch on Criterion Channel
NR 1 hr 39 minNov 16th, 1959DramaThe Adventures of Antoine Doinel Collection PosterPart of The Adventures of Antoine Doinel Collection
Share
Embed MovieCopiedi
Plot
For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Movie Details

Theatrical Release:November 16th, 1959
On Digital & Streaming:December 22nd, 2025 - Watch Now
Original Language:French
Production Companies:Les Films du Carrosse, Sédif Productions
The 400 Blows on the Web:WikiData
coming of ageblack and whiteparis, francecomplicatedcalmgentlebitterdelinquentskipping schoolfingerprint

The Adventures of Antoine Doinel Movies

The release of François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows in 1959 shook world cinema to its foundations. The now-classic portrait of troubled adolescence introduced a major new director in the cinematic landscape and was an inaugural gesture of the revolutionary French New Wave. But The 400 Blows did not only introduce the world to its precocious director—it also unveiled his indelible creation: Antoine Doinel. Initially patterned closely after Truffaut himself, the Doinel character (played by the irrepressible and iconic Jean-Pierre Léaud) reappeared in four subsequent films that knowingly portrayed his myriad frustrations and romantic entanglements from his stormy teens through marriage, children, divorce, and adulthood.