Jean-Pierre Léaud’s revelatory turn...

| Feb 11, 2023

A portrait of the artist as an unhappy child.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 6, 2022

[The 400 Blows'] most prevalent connection to the then burgeoning French New Wave is its message of freedom

| Mar 18, 2019

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 18, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Truffaut brought a fresh and piercingly honest portrayal of troubled youth to the screen. In many ways, Antonie Doinel is not only the cinematic embodiment of Truffaut, but also the French New Wave as a whole.

| Original Score: 90/100 | Jun 7, 2010

What is there to say about The 400 Blows that hasn't already been said?

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 23, 2009

It's a cornerstone of the French New Wave, and one of the greatest movies about childhood, from anywhere, ever.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 17, 2009

Henri Decae's black and white photography helped Truffaut enormously but what the director himself provides is a sense that though there is no easy answer to the problems of growing up, there is a hope that will never be wholly denied.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 17, 2009

Vibrant, visually exciting and emotionally resonant.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 9, 2009

One of the first glistening droplets of the French New Wave.

| Original Score: 5/6 | Apr 9, 2009

Distinguished by its naturalistic, quasi-documentary approach and an extraordinary central performance from the 12-year-old Jean-Pierre Léaud, this is a blisteringly authentic story.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 9, 2009

The 400 Blows, one of the initiating sparks of the French New Wave, ultimately boils down to the film's trendsetting coda, perhaps the most exclamatory question mark in movies.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 27, 2009

Seems forever young.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 1, 2008

Forget my curmudgeonly attitude and see it -- again, or for the first time -- for yourself.

Full Review | Sep 27, 2007

A remarkable confluence of talents are at work here.

Full Review | Sep 27, 2007

Distinguished by its intensity of feeling and freewheeling use of the wide-screen frame, the film ranks among Truffaut's best.

| Jul 9, 2007

An engaging, moving film.

| Jul 9, 2007

Still one of the cinema's most perceptive forays into childhood.

| Jan 26, 2006

Amazingly, this vigorous effort is the first feature film of M. Truffaut, who had previously been (of all things!) the movie critic for a French magazine.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 20, 2003