The Kids Stay in the Picture: The 400 Blows, by Aaron Pinkston

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Though comedian W.C. Fields famously said, “Never work with animals or children,” the cinema is full of wonderful stories told through the eyes of the young. Films with child protagonists span every genre, generation, and film movement. “The Kids Stay in the Picture” surveys this interesting subgenre, following the School of the Art Institute and Gene Siskel Film Center film series “The Child in Cinema.” The series will cover the many historical and social contexts around why films centered on children are so integral to the landscape of world cinema.

This series is going in chronological order but any discussion about the child in cinema can begin and end with François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. Maybe I should hold my opinion until seeing all of the films in the series, but to me, The 400 Blows best expresses the experience of being a child through the medium. The film is the first in a series of five starring French New Wave star Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel—watching a child grow up before our eyes decades before Boyhood. In The 400 Blows, Antoine is a troubled adolescent, twelve or so years old, who is bogged down by family and school. He’s a dreamer, most interested in Bazin and the cinema. Writer Patrick E. White sees Antoine in transition from child to artist, with his mischievous behavior (eavesdropping on adults’ conversations, constant lying) and difficult family life feeding into this.[1] Eventually, after his childhood mischievousness escalates into more serious transgressions, Antoine is sent away to an observation school, leading to the film’s ultimate escape and famous final sequence.

Interestingly, The 400 Blows is the first in this series to explore one of the major spaces of childhood: the classroom. School brings in a new system of order, bringing in a sense of politics into childhood, and also introduces a new authoritative figure in the teacher. Here, and often in films, the authoritative teacher is only a power facade on a fool who really has no control or influence on the students. The 400 Blows is incredibly critical of the education system, which is too strict to allow for creativity or individuality. When the film’s teacher notes that France will be sorry in ten years when Antoine and his classmates are contributing citizens, that may be true in an academic sense but if you fully read Antoine as a stand-in for Truffaut (they shared identical family dynamics and common interests),[2] the young boy became one of the most important artists in 20th century France.

This leads to one of the most interesting questions I had coming out of this viewing: is Antoine a bad kid? Without question, and with the knowledge of the autobiographical nature of the film, we are meant to root for Antoine—or, at the very least, see his misbehavior in the context of his life. Like the title character in The Kid, the petty crimes he commits don’t outweigh the viewer’s sympathetic perspective. Many of his transgressions (lying to cover up a day spent playing hooky, be inspired by art and not understand the differences of plagiarism and homage, the participation in passing around dirty pictures in class, etc.) are either totally normal for children or misunderstandings. With the camera’s view in the classroom, Antoine is no worse than the kid stealing from the coat rack or his friend René, who is a majorly bad influence.

Still, there is a strain throughout the film of whether we can trust Antoine is always telling the truth. Aside from the major lie that really spurs the film’s second half narrative, there are other lies throughout that only the viewer can see. One involves the his father’s Michelin Guide, which is brought up over and over again—Antoine has no reason for lying about its whereabouts, but he does consistently and convincingly. In the film’s final act, Antoine openly wonders about lying to the observation school’s psychologist, which really wouldn’t gain him anything other than his personal space.

Whether or not you can excuse Antoine’s behavior, it is hard not to sympathize with him when you see his family situation. He has bipolar relationships with both parents: the father is a carefree jokester and incredibly strict, his mother is cold and cruel and then intensely loving once caught in her own lie. Gilberte and Julien are incredibly mean to each other, too, constantly fighting. You’d think they were staying together only for Antoine’s sake, but they don’t like him much either—the mother’s remark that “he gets on my nerves” isn’t exactly something you expect to hear, even when a mother thinks it. The film smartly reveals more information subtly over time which only makes the parents look even more cruel and petty. The specific situation of Julien, who is not Antoine’s biological father, gives the character something of a sacrifice complex. Paired with Gilberte’s infidelity, he certainly comes out a little more positively.

One of the major reasons why The 400 Blows especially speaks to the truth of childhood is its documentary-like style. Like Bicycle Thieves and the Italian Neo-realism movement, The 400 Blows edges on gritty realism, though it is much more flourish and stylistic, in line with the budding French New Wave. Much of the documentary style comes from long scenes of observation, sometimes moving the plot forward, sometimes existing only as a humorous interlude. The style is employed most in the early classroom sequences and during the psychologist’s interview at the observation school. In the classroom, we see children acting as children do, passing around a pin-up photograph, mocking their teacher behind his back and (sometimes) doing their work. In one of the most entertaining sequences of the film, the children peel off of an exercise line, two-by-two as the camera watches up from above—it’s really a non-narrative sequence (we don’t see how the kids get away with this or what their larger plan is) that can be read as a metaphor for the anxiousness and mischievousness of boys at this certain age.

The interview scene is particularly fascinating as it stands out in the film while giving a very different perception of Antoine. It feels the least like performance in a role where Léaud is already pretty natural. His responses to questions about his family, past and sexual experiences seem candid moments outside of filming a character. The naturalism might come from Truffaut’s decision to stage the scene in nearly the exact same way as he auditioned Léaud for the role.[3,4] Aside from the stylistic, the interview also provides context to Antoine’s relationship with his mother, which gives more clarity to their emotional distance.

Childhood, especially in Antoine’s case, is being trapped. He’s trapped in the school system, trapped in his tiny apartment, trapped within an uncaring family, later trapped in a cell and the observation school. His biggest moment of expressive joy while on the carnival ride during his day playing hooky is an interesting metaphor for this, as the centrifugal forces pin him down, making it a struggle to move. Even the film’s famous last shot hints at an uncertainty—when he’s completely free, on his own in nature, he’s trapped by the uncertainty of what is next. After a series of long tracking shots and free camera movement, the final frames quickly zoom in and literally freeze Antoine in space and time.

Jean-Pierre Léaud gives a masterful performance, with the childlike quality that is commonly preferred but with true maturity. As previously mentioned, Léaud would play Antoine in four more films which further explore his love of art and budding romantic relationships as he becomes an adult. Léaud would become one of the most consistent figures in French cinema of the 1960s through the 1980s, working often with New Wave pioneers Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, as well as Jean Eustache, Jacques Rivette and Bernardo Bertolucci. The only child actor in this series that has a more popular presence is Drew Barrymore, but no one would have more cultural relevance or work in more important films. That, of course, starts with The 400 Blows, an incredible casting find and debut for star and director.

References

[1] Patrick E. White, “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Boy,” Where the Boys Are: Cinemas of Masculinity and Youth

[2] New Wave Film, François Truffaut

[3] YouTube, The 400 Blows, Audition Footage”

[4] YouTube, “Antoine’s Questioning – The 400 Blows

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1 Response

  1. FictionIsntReal says:

    I thought he was a bad kid. My sympathies were entirely with the authority figures, although I know they’re not supposed to be.

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