214 - The 400 Blows

    A young French boy deals with a difficult life at home and at school, leading to being held in a detention facility.
    This is one of those classic movies that I’ve just never brought myself to watch.  It’s one of the Criterion titles that constantly shows up.  I think it’s never been out of print in their collection.  Plus, it’s Truffaut’s first feature.
    It’s hard to tell how much of my interpretation is an issue of cultural and period differences.  Most of the behavior seems to be dated, both in the parenting and school settings.  The behavior of the kid is a little bad, but doesn’t seem all that terrible.  He’s not malicious, and he just seems to want to avoid the unpleasantness of the people around him.
    I didn’t think much of the photography until later in the movie.  Gradually, I came to really like the very long shots that he likes using around the city.  These are well-lit, and it’s easy to see exactly what we’re supposed to focus on.  Several of these are done from a high angle, and that really showcases some excellent planning and blocking.
    It’s hard to say that there’s much of a plot.  It’s mostly an exploration of the character and the circumstances he deals with, but there’s also something fascinating about the way that we identify with him.  Identifying with him allows us to feel the sense of imprisonment that he feels.
    There’s one problem that I can see, and it’s that I don’t see the influence this has had.  That isn’t quite true: I see that the school and child behavior in Cinema Paradiso are similar, but that movie is much more of an idealized fantasy… sort of.