The 400 Blows ((free)) Jun 2026

The 400 Blows was his manifesto. It was autobiographical (Truffaut had a similar childhood to Antoine) and stylistically revolutionary. It won the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, legitimizing the New Wave movement.

, roughly translates to "". As a semi-autobiographical work, Truffaut utilizes the film to "clean the slate" of his own troubled childhood, transitioning from an acerbic film critic to a pioneering auteur. Plot Analysis: The World of Antoine Doinel the 400 blows

The French idiom “faire les quatre cents coups” means “to raise hell” — living a wild, reckless youth. The 400 Blows was his manifesto