The 400 Blows

Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)

Timing: 1:39 (99 min)

8.018/10
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8.062/10
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8/10
134000

All about film

Video 9

Photo 92

Actors and characters

Release date

1959-06-03

Country

France

Production

Les Films du Carrosse, Sédif Productions

Genre

Drama

Budget

$0

Revenue

$9 465

Website

Director

François Truffaut

Actors

Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Rémy, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay, Robert Beauvais, Yvonne Claudie, Pierre Repp, Guy Decomble, Daniel Couturier
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

François Truffaut

Operator

Henri Decaë

Composer

Jean Constantin

Artist

Audition

Editing

Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte
All team (33)

• François Truffaut's feature film debut.
• The French expression “faire les 400 coups” means “to behave outrageously, to violate moral norms.” Specifically, when referring to childish mischief or hooliganism. In Russian, this idiom is approximately equivalent to the expressions “walking disaster,” or “33 misfortunes.” The expression originates from the siege of Montauban by Louis XIII in 1621, when the French king ordered 400 cannon shots to be fired at the city (“400 coups de canon”), hoping to instill terror in the ranks of the Protestant defenders.
• The film is dedicated to André Bazin.
• It is usually said that this was Jean-Pierre Léaud’s first role in film. The 14-year-old boy ended up on the set after responding to an advertisement, and Truffaut cast him, struck by his resemblance to himself at the same tender age. However, Jean-Pierre already had some experience in film – he played a small role in Georges Lampin’s adventure film “Beware of the Tourists!” (1958).
• When Antoine and René walk through the city, they pass a wall covered with posters and advertisements. One of the posters features Harriet Andersson in Ingmar Bergman’s “Summer with Monika” (1953). That film also tells the story of two young runaways.
• François Truffaut continued the story of Antoine Doinel in several more films, tracking his fate at different stages of life – in “Antoine and Colette” (1962), “Stolen Kisses” (1968), “Bed and Board” (1970), and “Love on the Run” (1979). And Jean-Pierre Léaud appeared with Truffaut two more times in the roles of other characters – in “Two English Girls and the Continent” (1971) and “American Night” (1973).
• Director François Truffaut did not require his young actors to memorize their lines and encouraged improvisation.
• Among the considered titles for the film were: “Antoine’s Escape,” “Four Thursdays,” “Little Angry Ones,” “School of the Street,” “Wandering Life,” “Children of Paris,” “Little Idlers,” “Little Friends,” “Wild Foxes,” and “Little Soldiers.”
• The film was shot in 46 days. Work began in November and continued with one day off in the first six weeks and three in the last two weeks until the end of December. Subsequently, the director would adopt a rule of making films in this way, using a “lightning strike” strategy.