The 400 Blows

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

One of cinema's most enduring portraits of childhood alienation, Truffaut's debut is nearly universally celebrated as a landmark of the French New Wave. Critics consistently single out its unsentimental honesty about adolescence and the autobiographical rawness that gives it lasting emotional weight. Audience appreciation has remained just as strong across the decades, with no meaningful gap between contemporary critical reception and popular affection.