---
title: "The 400 Blows"
year: 1959
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-400-blows"
fi1m_id: "the-400-blows"
imdb_id: "tt0053198"
tmdb_id: 147
wikidata_id: "Q162331"
fi1m_score: 91
critics_score: 85
critics_reviews: 12
published: "2026-09-12"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:13.252083+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The 400 Blows (1959)

Directed by François Truffaut · 1h 39m · MPA NR · Drama

## Identity

The 400 Blows

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-400-blows
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-400-blows
- **IMDb ID:** tt0053198
- **TMDB ID:** 147
- **Wikidata ID:** Q162331
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053198/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/147, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162331

**Fi1m score: 91** · Critics 85 from 12 reviews

*In a sentence:* A boy keeps getting into trouble with adults who could use some supervision themselves

> François Truffaut’s portrait of a neglected Parisian boy deserves its reputation. Jean-Pierre Léaud makes Antoine’s mischief and vulnerability equally convincing, even when the music presses a little too hard for sympathy.

## Synopsis

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is growing up in Paris, where trouble at school follows him into a home that offers little understanding. He skips lessons, tells lies and finds pleasures in books, films and time away from adult supervision. As his misbehaviour draws more attention, the distance between what he needs and what adults expect of him grows. François Truffaut’s drama follows Antoine through this unsettled adolescence, with Claire Maurier as Gilberte Doinel, Albert Rémy as Julien Doinel and Patrick Auffay as René.

## Review

*The 400 Blows* understands how a boy can be troublesome and still be badly treated. We would recommend François Truffaut’s film to anyone who remembers being told off before they had managed to explain themselves. Antoine Doinel, played by Jean-Pierre Léaud, lies, skips school and tests the patience of his parents. Truffaut lets us enjoy some of that behaviour, then makes us notice how little patience the adults had to begin with.

Léaud never tidies Antoine up for our benefit. The mischief is enjoyable, but there is enough defiance in the performance to make us understand why an adult might lose patience with him. His vulnerability comes through without a constant appeal for sympathy, which is why the neglect hurts. We are free to find him difficult; that does not make the adults’ treatment of him any easier to bear.

Henri Decaë’s photography makes Antoine’s Paris seem worth skipping school for. There is pleasure in looking at the city, and that helps us feel the temptation of being out in it with no adult in charge. Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte’s editing gives the wandering enough room to seem like part of his life, not simply an interval between offences. The pace can be loose, but we would miss that freedom if every scene existed only to bring the next punishment closer.

The children’s faces at the Punch and Judy show moved us more than we expected. Truffaut gives their enjoyment serious attention, and for a moment the pleasure of watching is enough to fill the screen. It is a welcome reminder of how much there is to childhood beyond the behaviour that attracts adult notice. Coming from a film so concerned with a boy’s troubles, that interest in what children enjoy feels generous without turning them into little angels.

The adults are less evenly served. Claire Maurier as Gilberte and Albert Rémy as Julien have the difficult job of making grown-up impatience credible alongside Léaud’s confusion and defiance. Both resist making the adults merely hateful, although we sometimes wanted a fuller sense of their lives away from Antoine. Truffaut’s closeness to the boy occasionally narrows what he is prepared to see in everyone else.

Jean Constantin’s music sometimes encourages the sympathy a little too firmly. Its warmth makes the sadness easier to settle into, when Léaud has already given us enough reason to care. That is a small irritation, particularly beside the uncertainty that the performance allows. The boy is interesting enough without musical reassurance about what we should feel for him.

Truffaut draws on his own neglected childhood, and his affection for Antoine can make him protective. It also helps explain the care he takes over the pleasures of books, films and truancy. Coming-of-age dramas can be too eager to make childhood look enviable; there is little danger of that here, even when Antoine is enjoying himself. Its 99 minutes require no knowledge of film history. See it with someone who remembers school rather differently from you.

*Fi1m score 91, published 12 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

All twelve reviews are positive, and the praise lands in the same places. Most critics read the film as Truffaut’s account of his own unhappy childhood and admire how plainly it is told: the portrait of Antoine Doinel is called honest, unsentimental and free of false notes. Jean-Pierre Léaud is singled out again and again, for defiance in some accounts and for a mix of mischief and vulnerability in others. The closing image is mentioned by nearly everyone as the moment that stays, and several credit the film with shaping generations of film-makers.

The spread is narrow. The cooler notices are the two from 1959: The New Yorker admires the young lead’s authority and the picture of a boy adrift among adults but stops short of a rave, and Variety, reporting from the festival, finds the technique uneven while calling Truffaut an important new director. Later reviews carry none of those reservations, and nobody holds the film’s sentiment against it; Slant treats the soft-heartedness as part of why it lasts.

## Straight answers

**Is The 400 Blows worth watching?**

*The 400 Blows* is worth watching for anyone who remembers being told off before they had a chance to explain themselves, and we scored it 91. Jean-Pierre Léaud makes Antoine both difficult and badly treated, and Henri Decaë's photography makes truant Paris look worth the risk. Jean Constantin's music presses for sympathy a little too firmly, but Léaud has already earned it.

**How long is The 400 Blows, and what is it rated?**

*The 400 Blows* runs 1h 39m and is rated NR by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch The 400 Blows in the US?**

*The 400 Blows* is streaming on HBO Max, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. It leaves HBO Max on 30 September. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does The 400 Blows compare to The Kid?**

*The 400 Blows* is the sadder and more clear-eyed of the two, while [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid) is the warmer and funnier. Both follow a child with unreliable adults around him, but Truffaut lets Antoine stay difficult where Chaplin's affection tips into sentiment. Choose Truffaut if you want to remember school; choose Chaplin if you want to laugh while it hurts.

**What should I watch after The 400 Blows?**

After *The 400 Blows*, try [*The Kid*](https://film.one/film/the-kid) (1921, Fi1m 84): A resourceful child and an unreliable adult, with comedy that never forgets hardship. Then [*Bicycle Thieves*](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves) (1948, Fi1m 93): Another city seen beside a child learning how badly adults can fail; and [*Ratcatcher*](https://film.one/film/ratcatcher) (1999, Fi1m 88): Lynne Ramsay finds brief pleasures within a childhood shaped by poverty and guilt.

### Reviews we read (12)

- **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (5 out of 5): Truffaut's largely autobiographical debut paints a grimly authentic portrait of troubled adolescence, with echoes of Vigo and neorealism. Jean-Pierre Léaud effortlessly conveys mischief and vulnerability as Antoine Doinel, and the audacious freeze-frame finale sent ripples around world cinema. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-lpjyj5/the-400-blows/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): Ebert calls it one of the most intensely touching stories about a young adolescent, drawn from Truffaut's own life. He singles out the iconic final freeze-frame of the boy on the beach for its emotional power. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-400-blows-1959)
- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): Truffaut’s sublime autobiographical debut is a portrait of the artist as an unhappy child receiving the blows of cruelty and humiliation. The critic singles out the heartstopping images of the children’s faces as they watch a Punch and Judy show for particular praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/06/the-400-blows-review-francois-truffaut)
- **The New York Times**, Bosley Crowther (90/100, inferred): Crowther hails it as a small masterpiece for its clarity and honesty in depicting a boy's troubles. He praises the realistic, unsentimental portrayal without false notes. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1959/11/17/archives/screen-the-400-blows-a-small-masterpiece-from-france-opens.html)
- **The Times**, Ed Potton (★★★★☆): Truffaut’s new-wave landmark shows young Antoine Doinel raising hell in a quaint way through truancy and petty crime, with a rebellion and restlessness that has influenced generations of film-makers. Jean-Pierre Léaud is full of misunderstood defiance as the neglected alter ego for Truffaut. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-400-blows-1959-review-5jfj3w6d2)
- **Time Out**, Nina Caplan (5 out of 5 stars): Truffaut drew on his own neglected childhood to create a joyous New Wave debut about a delinquent boy who turns to lies and petty crime. The film captures the thrill of books, films and truancy through the eyes of a former critic now holding a camera, with the famous freeze-frame finale perfectly evoking the director's own uncertain but promising future. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-400-blows)
- **Empire**, Nick Dawson (85/100, inferred): Truffaut's debut spearheaded the French New Wave alongside Godard's Breathless. It is a classic coming-of-age film whose portrait of troubled Parisian adolescence remains vibrant, visually exciting and emotionally resonant. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/400-blows-review/)
- **The AV Club**, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (85/100, inferred): The film is a landmark autobiographical debut that models countless coming-of-age stories and places the director's personal tastes and identification with the protagonist at the center. It balances sensitivity and ambiguity with a current of bitterness drawn from Truffaut's own experiences. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/almost-every-coming-of-age-movie-since-owes-a-debt-to-t-1844977042)
- **Slant Magazine**, Eric Henderson (80/100, inferred): The 400 Blows remains one of the most vital New Wave films thanks to its symbiosis of real and reel life and its iconic freeze-frame coda that suggests the cinephiliac relationship between movies and experience. Truffaut's soft-hearted sentimentality and focus on the pop potential of personal story make it enduringly potent. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-400-blows-2014/)
- **The New Yorker**, John McCarten (70/100, inferred): McCarten praises Truffaut's skill in showing a boy's confusion in an adult world, likening it to De Sica. He highlights the strong performances, especially the young lead's authority. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1959/11/28/no-sanctuary)
- **Variety**, Gene Moskowitz (70/100, inferred): Moskowitz finds it an engaging, moving film that gets deep into a boy's disorientation with school and parents. He notes Truffaut emerges as an important new director despite some uneven technical qualities. [Read](https://variety.com/1958/film/reviews/les-quatre-cents-coups-1200419377/)
- **Eye for Film**, Keith Dudhnath (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Truffaut's direction and the performances for making the film a timeless, charming observation of a troubled boy's life rather than a conventional drama. They call it a powerful masterpiece and one of the best films they have ever seen. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-400-blows-film-review-by-keith-dudhnath)

## Details

- **Director:** François Truffaut
- **Director:** François Truffaut
- **Screenplay:** François Truffaut
- **Cinematography:** Henri Decaë
- **Editor:** Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte
- **Music:** Jean Constantin
- **Producer:** François Truffaut
- **Cast:** Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel; Claire Maurier as Gilberte Doinel; Albert Rémy as Julien Doinel; Georges Flamant as Mr. Bigey; Patrick Auffay as René; Robert Beauvais as Directeur de l'école; Yvonne Claudie as Mme Bigey; Pierre Repp as Professeur d'anglais
- **Runtime:** 1h 39m
- **Certificate (MPA):** NR
- **Release (the US):** 16 November 1959
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Also in:** [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 1960)
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICGZfU-9Yl0

## Where to watch in the US

- HBO Max: streaming, leaving 2026-09-30
- Tubi: free, hd
- The Roku Channel: add-on, hd
- Hulu: add-on, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-12.*

Also available in: AR, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, MX, NO, PA, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1960: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The Kid* (1921), Fi1m 84: A resourceful child and an unreliable adult, with comedy that never forgets hardship. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-kid.md)
- *Bicycle Thieves* (1948), Fi1m 93: Another city seen beside a child learning how badly adults can fail. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/bicycle-thieves.md)
- *Where Is the Friend's House?* (1987): A schoolboy’s urgent errand meets adults who keep attending to the wrong things.
- *Ratcatcher* (1999), Fi1m 88: Lynne Ramsay finds brief pleasures within a childhood shaped by poverty and guilt. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ratcatcher.md)
- *Nobody Knows* (2004), Fi1m 87: Hirokazu Kore-eda watches neglected children cope, with patience and little sentimental reassurance. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-400-blows