The 400 Blows

In 1958, 27-year-old François Truffaut was the only top French critic who did not receive an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival. A year later, he won the best director award at Cannes for his debut film 400 Blows. The original title of the film "Les Quatre Cents Coups" refers to the French expression "faire les quatre cents coups" (faire les quatre cents coups), and this is what both the author and the main character of the film did. 12-year-old Antoine lives in a cramped apartment in Paris with his mother with self-destructive habits and a strange stepfather. Feeling redundant at home and incompetent at school, the young man decides to take the reins of life into his own hands, hiding from the harsh reality in movie theaters and amusement parks. He is convinced that he can manage on his own, but soon he is faced with thefts and bickering parents who always have the last word. Antoine graduates from a school for children with special needs. Although the struggle for existence there is even tougher, the main character does not give up on his dreams. "400 Blows" gave the wind to the wings of the French new wave and was the first in a film series that follows the character of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) through adolescence, marriage, fatherhood and divorce.