A Cinematic Tour de Force

Les Quatre Cents Coups is a watershed film in cinema history. It is a landmark of the French New Wave and marks the launching of the career of the great Francois Truffaut. The honesty which Truffaut brings to this story and his avoidance of sentimentality is what allows this film to endure. It is one of the most compelling depictions of youth and its inherent frustrations. At its simplest, Les Quatre Cents Coups is the story of a boy who has never experienced freedom, never felt liberation - he has never seen the sea. We follow the protagonist as his life becomes increasingly restricted until his sense of entrapment becomes so unbearable that he must run and break free. Truffaut leaves us with the haunting question of "what next?", a question fortunately answered by means of four sequels none of which quite live up to the breathtaking power of the original. This is a MUST SEE film.