The 400 Blows -

Before directing this film, François Truffaut was a harsh film critic. He believed French cinema of the 1950s was too literary and artificial. He wanted to create a "cinema of auteurs"—where the director acts as the author of the film, using the camera as a pen.

versus social entrapment. Antoine’s small acts of defiance—stealing a typewriter or skipping school—are portrayed as desperate attempts to find agency in a world that offers him no place to belong. Ultimately, The 400 Blows the 400 blows

Modern audiences often hesitate to watch black-and-white films from 1959. They worry about pacing or dated acting. The 400 Blows defies those fears. Before directing this film, François Truffaut was a

“I wanted to see the sea,” he said.