François Truffaut’s film The 400 Blows (or Les Quatre Cents Coups) falls under the category of art cinema; its style and form can be understood by way of an understanding of the conventions or anti-conventions of the art film model. Truffaut’s treatment of story, character, image, and space conform to the generally recognized set of characteristics that typify the genre. In the film the life of the protagonist, Antoine Doinel, accords with the filmmaker’s conscious attempt at creating a film that challenges commonly held notions of narrative, character, and style. As such, Les Quatre Cents Coups is a film in which the central character’s motives are ambiguous, narrative events are loosely connected, and degrees of closure are limited. These characteristics will later form the basic structure of the art film model and can be used to understand the film and art films, in general.
An understanding of Les Quatre Cents Coups proves a difficult task without some understanding of the French New Wave, an influential film movement falling roughly between 1959 and 1964. During this era, directors such as: Godard, Chabrol, Truffaut, sought to produce films with a casual style and ambiguous but psychologically developed characters; these directors were opposed to studio filmmaking and the norms of “classical style” and story, which promoted narrative clarity and unity. According to James Monaco, the “aesthetic of the New Wave cinema was improvisational and its photography and editing were far less mannered than its predecessors” (Monaco). Truffaut’s attempt to grapple with the “poetry of childhood” in the story of Antoine Doinel is replete with the methods of the New Wave. Doinel’s psychological tension becomes the focus of the camera; Truffaut maps out a world which holds as its nucleus a single protagonist. Doinel is centered upon but never treated with overt sentimentality. He exists within the film’s form and frame but manages to transcend those elements which seek to crush his seemingly indomitable spirit.
Les Quatre Cents Coups opens with a series of low-leveled shots of Parisian avenues. These shots hold as their common reference point an initially distant but increasingly dominant Eiffel Tower. This tower may well symbolize the centrality of the protagonist which has yet to be introduced. The following sequence takes place in a classroom: A shot opens with a medium close-up of a pin-up girl and a giggling school boy. As the camera traces the photo’s path from boy-to-boy, the image falls into the hands of Antoine Doinel who is quickly caught by the irritable instructor, Mr. Sourpuss. Truffaut isolates Doinel and identifies him as the “target”; he becomes the fated protagonist of the film. This stylistic, directorial element also foreshadows Doinel’s relentless persecution. He will be the subject of attack of virtually all major characters and, perhaps not ironically, the subject of the camera. As Doinel’s destiny becomes increasingly evident, Truffaut continues to pay close attention to the protagonist’s psychological state. The director undercuts the serious nature of his thematic concerns, however, through a delicate use of comic elements.
Les Quatre Cents Coups is dominated by tension but not restricted to the conventions of a “serious” film. The is relaxed, footling, the film moves at an even speed. We seem to be watching trivia, amusing and somewhat inconsequential. Doinel’s gags serve to deflate the seriousness of his own loveless condition. A number of characters are identified as deliberate subjects of ridicule: Doinel’s father, the quintessential prankster who is unsuccessful in this duty as both father and mother; Rene, the Parisian Tom Sawyer who lives life on his own terms; the priest, the subject of an obvious joke made by an irreverent child; and Doinel himself, a victimized boy who, through the help of a friend, still manages to preserve his spirit. Truffaut maintains a delicate balance between the tragic and the comic; no one mood comes to dominate. Such a conscious choice on the filmmaker’s part preserves the ambiguity of the art film. A similar effect is achieved by Fellini in 8 1/2. Admittedly, Doinel dominates the film; his motives, however, are never explicitly stated. He is not the goal oriented protagonist of the classical cycle. In many ways, Les Quatre Cents Coups can be viewed as an artful rendering of biography. Indeed, Truffaut infuses some of his psychology into Antoine Doinel. The model of the art film is used, and consequently strengthened, by what seems a genuine psychology. Since art cinema relies on a psychologically developed protagonist, Truffaut is compelled to superimpose that which is “real” onto that which is “fictional.” The filmmaker, like Doinel, spent his first years under singularly loveless circumstances. Truffaut’s use of the circumstances of his own life, however, is limited by his desire to keep intact the form and style of his film. He writes, “I remember regretting that I was unable to evoke a thousand details from my adolescence linked to the Occupation but ... the ‘nouvelle vague’ spirit [was] incompatible with the notion of a ‘period film’”(Truffaut qtd. in Braudy). The filmmaker is committed to the methods of a movement and the art cinema.
The sequence in which Doinel speaks with the psychiatrist is telling of the film’s mixture of character and biography. The camera is focused on Doinel who proceeds to relay with an impressive stoicism the tragic events of his life. The psychiatrist exists yet is never seen in the film’s frame. She is an irrelevant part of Doinel’s life, and, thus, is confined to the off-screen world. As the protagonist tells of parents who demonstrated pettiness, deception, and downright meanness -- which is the case in Truffaut’s own life -- it becomes clear that his energy and potential have not been exhausted. He remains alive despite the grim, black-and-white world in which he lives and the cramped spaces of apartments, ink factories, and alleyways. Most of Doinel’s time seems to be spent in hiding or at night. Space is not understood by way of the conventional notions of scene and setting of classical cinema, but by way of a deliberate attempt to reflect in the exterior what remains largely in the interior (i.e. Doinel’s thoughts, feelings, motives, ambitions, and desires). These are elements which exist in confinement as does Doinel in the latter part of the film.
The turbulent nature of Doinel’s mind is brilliantly depicted in the carnival ride sequence. As he enters the spinning world, he is flung against a wall and subjected to the force of gravity. He struggles to move but ultimately remains pinned. The camera moves with the protagonist, and it is inextricably linked to Doinel’s life. The irony here seems clear: If the camera traces Doinel’s life, so too does Truffaut. The filmmaker thus has a vested interest in his protagonist. Furthermore, it is difficult to explain the sequence in terms of the film’s narrative. Admittedly, it can easily be explained by the simple fact that Doinel makes a trip to the fair. Truffaut, however, makes no attempt to establish a scene; Doinel simply enters a door and the action ensues. His time on the ride begs the questions: What does this mean? What does this represent? Why is it significant? Thus in a scene seemingly unrelated to the plot, Truffaut manages to enhance and improve the film’s psychological dimension. Doinel’s ride is a celebration of moving images, which can be contrasted with the stasis of the freeze frames of the detention center and the final scene.
The freeze frame of Doinel’s face at the film’s end serves as a summary of the art film model’s main principles. After a determined and successful escape attempt from the juvenile detention center, Doinel runs aimlessly through the French countryside. As his pace increases, it becomes clear that Doinel has in mind some specific destination. The viewer however has no idea of this destination; he knows well the degree to which Doinel is tormented but knows little of his goals. Only when the sea appears does the viewer recall the mother’s plea that her son be placed near the ocean. The viewer’s curiosity has been momentarily satiated, but as Doinel approaches the surf the camera focuses closely on the protagonist’s face and freezes. So ends the film. The viewer is left with the most important question unanswered: What will become of Antoine Doinel? Truffaut makes “sure that the end [remain] neither optimistic nor pessimistic; he [wants] neither to romanticize the child nor to indulge in fatalism or melodrama” (Austin). Doinel is simply left hanging. Since he is not a goal oriented protagonist, the film does not concern itself with resolution in the conventional sense. The implications of Doinel’s life and actions are left to mind of the viewer. The protagonist’s world is a world in which resolution seems impossible.
Truffaut’s Les Quatre Cents Coups is a film conscious of its form. It is an “art film” aware of its style, form, story, and tropes. Truffaut treats the story of Antoine Doinel in accordance with these principles. The film’s style is indeed radically different than that of the “invisible” films of the classical tradition, and the film’s lack of a goal oriented protagonist, narrative clarity, and closure show that it holds a place in the tradition of art cinema. Les Quatre Cents Coups is a particularly representative art film because it manages to fuse ambiguity and style masterfully.

Works Cited
Austin, Guy. Contemporary French Cinema. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996.
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Braudy, Leo and Dickstein, Morris. Great Film Directors. New York: Oxford University Press,
1978. Print.
Monaco, James. The New Wave. New York: Oxford University Press. 1976. Print.