The 400 Blows was probably my favorite film that we watched during the course, mostly because of the interactions between the characters and for the depiction of the internal workings of a troubled boy, which I’ll admit may be my own bias. Although, I believe that Truffaut brings together Mis-en-sen, cinematography, editing, and sound to create the world that Antoine lives in to life. The mis-en-sen of each scene is properly used in order to depict exactly what is happening in each scene.
In the dinner scene with his parents, Antoine’s home is filled with paraphernalia of race car drivers and big races. This is used to show the innerworkings of Antoine’s feelings about his own life. He’s constantly trying to outrun his own mistakes. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do this by confronting his problems head on, rather he tries to escape them by either running away or lying which causes more problems for him.
The choice of shots in the film really showcase the isolation that Antoine feels in the world that he lives in. While he is running away from home after his parents find out that he’s been lying to both them and the school, he decides to run away and spends the night on the streets. Most of the shots are long shots showcasing how small he is in comparison with the world around him. This is done to effectively showcase the he has no control over the things that are happening to him, he is a child incapable of taking control of his actions, which will only make his hard situations worse.
Finally, sound editing is extremely important in this movie, especially in the very last scene of the film. The bright and happy music that highlights Antoine’s escape starts becoming slower and the strings begin plucking in order to create a tension in the viewer. The music then completely slows down and becomes melancholy as he slows down, showing the viewer that he’s finally come to the realization that his life will continue being very difficult.
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