The 400 Blows

“IT DOESN’T MATTER, AS LONG AS I’M HAPPY” i don’t think i liked the 400 blows in a comforting way (i watched this 2 times), but it stayed with me in a way most films don’t. it felt a little too honest, almost like it didn’t care if i understood it or not. and that threw me off at first. i kept waiting for it to tell me how to feel about antoine, but it never does. antoine is frustrating. i found myself getting annoyed at him because he lies, steals, makes things worse for himself (so me) and then immediately feeling bad for even thinking that. because at the same time, it’s obvious no one around him is really paying attention to him in a way that matters. it’s not literally neglect, it’s quieter than that. it’s like you’re just…there, but not really seen. and i think that’s what got to me. it feels familiar in a way i can’t fully explain. knowing it comes from françois truffaut’s own life made it more interesting. it doesn’t feel like a “story” it feels like something remembered, maybe even something he never fully got over. and i think that’s why the film doesn’t try to fix anything. it just shows things as they are, which is honestly more amazing than if it had a clear message. jean-pierre léaud doesn’t feel like he’s acting either. there were moments where i felt like i was just watching a real kid who didn’t know what to do with himself. that awkwardness, that unpredictability so natural, it made everything feel more real. the iconic ending, i didn’t interpret it as hopeful. if anything, it felt empty. like he got what he thought he wanted freedom but now what? it made me think about how often we treat “escape” as the answer, when it doesn’t actually solve anything underneath. i guess what i keep coming back to is this: how much of a person is actually their fault? if you grow up in an environment where no one really guides you, where attention only comes when you’ve done something wrong, how are you supposed to turn out “right”? and at what point do people stop being a product of that and start being responsible for themselves? i’m still not sure how i feel about the film as a whole. but it felt real in a way that made me attached to this, and i think that’s why i can’t just brush it off.