I need to catch up! Perhaps I can do so this weekend? I'll do what I can, I guess.
My first movie of the weekend is the début film of French directeur François Truffaut: Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows), which is a semi-autobiographical dramatization of the director's own childhood. Whether or not you feel for the main character (a young boy named Antoine), you get the sense that his parents are resentful of his presence. Another mouth to feed, a somewhat mischievous child who doesn't follow directions well and who doesn't do well in school. Harangued by a martinet schoolteacher, he often gets in trouble for small wrongdoings, which doesn't help his situation at home.
At the beginning, Antoine's father seems to have a somewhat more conspiratorial air with Antoine, as the two share wry smiles and anecdotes while Antoine's mother sees in her son something that irritates her (we're not exactly sure where the sense of resentment comes from, at first). However, as the movie continues, we see the mother (somewhat genuinely) attempt to win back her child while the father becomes increasingly agitated. We learn much more of the relationship and tension later on in the film, which I had to say surprised me, but in a good way. It was more Hitchcockian and less Shyamalan-esque.
I had a conversation with my brother Matt not too long ago after he had just seen Casablanca for the first time, and he commented to me how good the movie looked (which of course I felt, also), despite the year it was made, and as I watched this film, I had the same spark: the movie is beautifully filmed, with deep black-and-white contrasts, and superb shots. Everything seems just so, in a way that refuses to annoy its viewers, but rather draw them in to its world. I was very impressed with this film in all aspects. Highly recommended.
Score: 9.5/10
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