Les Quatre Cents Coups [DVD]

Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is a twelve-year-old Parisian boy who lives with his parents Julien (Albert Rémy) and Gilberte (Claire Maurier). His academic record is inadequate and his annoying teacher (Guy Decomble) does not allow his acts of indiscipline. Furthermore, his family situation does not make him feel loved or cared for. One day, after having been punished by the teacher for writing on the classroom walls, Antoine will excuse himself for not having completed his punishment, alleging the false death of his mother. After his lie is discovered and he is exposed to his parents, Antoine will decide that it is time to look for a life on his own and will give up the family home, thus beginning his adventures through a city with apparently many possibilities for a twelve-year-old boy...First movie directed by François Truffaut and a pioneer of the French New Wave that meant a revolution in the way French filmmakers understood cinema in the late 1950s. The Four Hundred Blows is a hymn to freedom and also began the cycle that Truffaut dedicated to the character of Antoine Donel at different stages of his life and always played by the actor Jean-Pierre Léaud. Nominated for the Palme d'Or and winner of the Best Director award and the OCIC award at the 1959 Cannes Festival and nominated for the Oscar in 1960 for Best Original Screenplay (written by François Truffaut and Marcel Moussy).