The 400 Blows:
Defending the Mischievous and the Innocent
The French New Wave era of film is known for its distinct style of experimental filmmaking and it’s celebration of youth and the city of Paris. One notable director of the time, François Truffaut and his film, Les Quatre Cents Coups, or The 400 Blows (1959), put the practices and ideas of the New Wave time period to use all while making a deeper point about the treatment of juveniles in the 1950s. Based on Truffaut’s own experiences as a child, The 400 Blows explores Paris through the eyes of a young boy trying to find his place in the world despite being misguided and misunderstood. Trying to make sense of the complications of boyhood, Truffaut approaches young Antoine in a sympathetic
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As a child, Truffaut was born illegitimately to his young mother. Unwanted, he was sent to live with a wet nurse and later his biological Grandmother. Returning to his mother and new stepfather’s care at age ten, he was later sent to a Parisian juvenile center after being turned into the police by his own stepfather and then expelled after six months for bad behavior. Because of the exact parallels between Truffaut’s childhood and that of The 400 Blows’ protagonist, Antoine, one can see the film through a new perspective. Because it is the cinematic representation of his own childhood, Truffaut becomes the defender of childhood innocence, as he experienced the same misunderstanding as Antoine. Antoine is no longer an unruly miscreant, but a misguided boy, as “Truffaut constructed [the] character in the manner of his alter ego” (Gonzales). This autobiographical inspiration for Truffaut’s filmmaking can also be seen in his early short film, Les Mistons (1957). Meaning ‘The Mischief Makers,’ this short can also be seen as an exploration of Truffaut’s childhood and the wonders of boyhood. A possible inspiration for the feature-length The 400 Blows, the French ‘les quatre cents coups’ having a loose meaning of ‘to make mischief’, we can see the film to be about the limitations and opportunities that comes with …show more content…
The audience observes young Antoine as he goes about his daily life of school, chores, and homework, a technique that most modern films to not use. A notable example of this use of everyday life would be in Antoine’s classroom. Truffaut brings the audience into the room by focusing on the various schoolboys as they go about their lesson. The shot focuses on one boy in particular, who has no direct relevance to the plot of the film, as he struggles to copy the poem the teacher is dictating. With the instructor’s voice droning on from off-screen, we watch as the boy spills his ink again and again in one long, medium close-up take. The use of a long take is unconventional and brings the audience out of the idea of a ‘film’ and into the idea of film as real life. This simple interaction of a character represents the idea of ‘passionate time’ due to the fact that we see another boy, another ‘mischief maker,’ who, like Antoine, most likely has chores to do and a mother and father to answer to. Another example of ‘everyday life narrative’ within the film would be the scene where Antoine and René go and watch the puppet show. The puppet show itself has no relevance to the scene, as the shots focus on the huge audience of young children. The use of focus is clear, with a
This film captures this class distinction without subduing the atmosphere through the use of a variety of cinematic devices. “A good film is not a bag of cinematic devices but the embodiment, through devices, of a vision, an underlying theme” (Barnett, 274). The audience can see this theme of the realities of the oppression, poverty and despair of this time period through the use of the things mentioned, but also through the character development that is driven by the character’s hopelessness. Each of the characters associated with the lower class is motivated by the conditions, which are viewed through the cinematic devices mentioned above: color, spherical lenses, long shots, and high angle shots. Sources Cited:.
Initially it appears as though there is no plot in the film, The 400 Blows, because it chronicles the misadventures and mishaps of a young boy, however the true plot of the story lies in his struggle and attempt to be understood by his parents and society. Throughout the film, the viewers follow Antoine as he commits mischievous acts seemingly without reason. In various scenes Antoine commits acts that are deemed inappropriate and deplorable, however even as he is condemned for his actions, he is silenced and denied the opportunity to explain himself. Because society labels him as a menace and nuisance, he attempts to find ways in which he is able to express his own thoughts and feelings in order to be understood by those who reject
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
As I watched, I had to wonder at the manner in which action shots, such as actors jumping from moving trains, were completed. Today, with current technology, a predominant amount of the action scenes are created digitally, with green screens. It is with a knowledge of the dependency of actions films on special effects, that I gained a profound respect for this particular film. The action scenes with trains colliding, derailments and military conflicts were capable of eliciting a stark drama in black and white magnificently enabling the sense of true to life action. The Train, is a tale fraught with suspense and espionage, of two opposing forces, a vanquished countryside and the foreign foe. With that said, it is important to note that majority of the characters placed more value on the artwork than human lives. Ironically the main character, Labiche was the only person predominantly concerned with the loss of life and not the art collection. On the other hand Waldheim, the man who held little regard for human life, the enemy’s as well as his own people, treasured that art collection beyond
Canadian filmmaker and cinephile, Guy Maddin once said, “I do feel a bit like Dracula in Winnipeg. I’m safe, but can travel abroad and suck up all sorts of ideas from other filmmakers… Then I can come back here and hoard these tropes and cinematic devices.” Here, Maddin addresses his filmmaking saying that he takes aspects from different film styles and appropriates them into his own work. In The Saddest Music in the World (2003), Maddin uses a combination of French Surrealist filmmaking and classical American Hollywood cinema, specifically melodrama, to create his own style. In an article by William Beard, Steven Shaviro talks about Maddin’s filmmaking, and he links Surrealism and melodrama together saying, “Maddin’s films are driven by a tension between romantic excess [melodrama] on the one hand and absurdist humour [Surrealism] on the other.” In regards to The Saddest Music in the World, the relationship between Surrealism and melodrama is not one of tension, as Shaviro suggests, but one of cooperation. This paper will analyze two films by filmmakers Maddin was familiar with —Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali on the Surrealist side, and All That Heaven Allows (1955) by Douglas Sirk on the melodrama side—to showcase the important elements of each, concluding with an analysis of The Saddest Music in the World in conjunction with both film styles. Ultimately, it will be shown how Guy Maddin combines French Surrealist cinema and Hollywood melodrama in The Saddest Music in the World, to create his own unique film style.
Aside from its acting, the other major influence which Mean Streets had upon American film-makers was through it's use of a rock n' roll soundtrack (almost perfectly integrated with the images), and in its depiction of a new kind of screen violence. Unexpected, volatile, explosive and wholly senseless, yet, for all that, undeniably cinematic violence. The way in which Scorsese blends these two - the rock and roll and the violence - shows that he understood instinctively, better than anyone else until then, that cinema (or at least this kind of cinema, the kinetic, visceral kind) and rock n' roll are both expressions of revolutionary instincts, and that they are as inherently destructive as they are creative. This simple device - brutal outbreaks of violence combined with an upbeat soundtrack - has been taken up by both the mainstream cinema at large and by many individual `auteurs', all of whom are in Scorsese's debt - Stone and Tarantino coming at once to mind.
In recent times, such stereotyped categorizations of films are becoming inapplicable. ‘Blockbusters’ with celebrity-studded casts may have plots in which characters explore the depths of the human psyche, or avant-garde film techniques. Titles like ‘American Beauty’ (1999), ‘Fight Club’ (1999) and ‘Kill Bill 2’ (2004) come readily into mind. Hollywood perhaps could be gradually losing its stigma as a money-hungry machine churning out predictable, unintelligent flicks for mass consumption. While whether this image of Hollywood is justified remains open to debate, earlier films in the 60’s and 70’s like ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (1967) and ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) already revealed signs of depth and avant-garde film techniques. These films were successful as not only did they appeal to the mass audience, but they managed to communicate alternate messages to select groups who understood subtleties within them.
The reclusive film director Terrence Malick has to date, only directed a small number of films. His twenty year hiatus between directing Days of Heaven (1978) and The Thin Red Line (1998), may provide the explanation for such a sparse back catalogue. Malick’s refusal to talk with the media, has led to hearsay, as to how he occupied his time during the hiatus. Malick’s directing debut Badlands (1973) is a collection of concepts, all carefully moulded together to create one iconic piece of film. This process draws in and also alienates the audience. Malick’s style is positively noted by critics to be influenced by European philosophy. This is clearly due to Malick’s study of philosophy at Harvard and Magdalen College Oxford. There is no given explanation to the mindless violence featured within the film, mainly due to the films resistance to the straight forward approach. The familiar and the unknown are carefully merged together. The only way of gaining an understanding into the hidden meanings within Badlands is by breaking down the film, by looking at the characters, the use of sound, the visual setting and the films genre. The illusionary effect of Malick’s style means that all is not as it seems.
One of the most prominent and influential directors in New Hollywood was Italian-American Martin Scorsese. His first major critical success, and what is often considered his “breakthrough” film, was 1973’s Mean Streets. This film helped to establish Scorsese’s signature style in regards to narrative and thematics as well as aesthetically. Scorsese developed a unique and distinct directorial flair to his films, with reoccurring themes, settings, cinematography, and editing techniques, among other elements. This led a number of film critics to declare Scorsese an “auteur,” similar to Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and other auteur directors of the French New Wave.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
Connelly, Marie. "The films of Martin Scorsese: A critical study." Diss. Case Western Reserve University, 1991. Web. 07 Apr 2014.
... movie stars like royalty or mythical gods and goddesses, viewing the drama between great archetypal characters in a personal psychic realm. By considering the statements made and their societal impact from a Marxist perspective, Benjamin’s method is highly effective, as it does not simply consider art in terms of pure aesthetics anymore, but considers art’s place in a society capable of mechanically reproducing and endlessly duplicating film, photography, and digital art. His qualm with losing the aura and mystique of an original work is negated by the cult of movie stars, the adoration of fame, the incorporation of soundtracks which embody a particular time period, cinematographic allusions, and time-capsule-like qualities of a film such as Basquiat, a 90s tribute to the 80s, produced both as a part of and resulting from the art movements and trends it addresses.
This New Wave aesthetic solidified film as a mainstream artform, stressing that film was carefully crafted similarly to literature. Individual directors, or auteurs, were expected to “author” their films in much the same way that an author would write a novel. This auteur theory and its accompanying aesthetic became the backbone of the French New Wave and was what drove innovation. Breaking free from the screenwriter, producer, and studio driven systems of the past, and putting the creative power back in the hands of the director was seen as a crucial step in solving Cahiers’ perceived problems with French cinema before the movement.
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge In this essay I will be analyzing in depth four scenes from Baz Luhrmann's critically acclaimed Moulin Rouge that was released in 2000. I will be analyzing the opening sequence, the sequence in the Moulin Rouge itself, the two dancing sequences 'Like a Virgin' and 'Tango Roxanne' and the final scenes of the film. Throughout this essay I will be commenting on the filming techniques that Luhrmann uses and what affects these have on the audience, also I will be analyzing how the film is similar and different to typical Hollywood Musicals.