A Review of 400 Blows

400 Blows was a fun film to watch. So much fun and art was implied in this film itself. For example, the scene where Antoine and his friend skipped school and went to the giant, circular, spinning room must have been a blast to film. When shooting from inside the spinning room -presumably to get a relatively still shot of one boy from the other's perspective -I became aware of how much fun it must have been to film this movie.

Artistically speaking, I could tell the photographers likely had strong still-camera experience, because the framing of each shot was artistically beautiful just by itself. Many few shots seemed like they were taken just because they were pleasing to the eye, not because they conveyed any important events for the narrative. Perspective was also incorporated to set the tone during the opening shots.

The film began with a moving image shot from a vehicle circling the streets of Paris a mile or so away from the Eiffel Tower. The Tower remained the center of focus throughout, though it was often blocked out by buildings looming into our defilade. This opening set the tone for the rest of the movie. It seemed to say, "This is real side of Paris -the side the tourists don't see. This is where the lives of the French really take place -down here at street level."

The film also offered interesting motifs. Everything from the cheerful music played whenever characters were shown out on the street, to the overly strict teachers at the school, served to bring familiarity to a place for me as a viewer. Even Antoine's constantly escaping overly-authoritarian environments was a motif throughout the film -one that the film actually finished with.

In conclusion, 400 Blows is a film that is fun to watch -not just for its entertaining story-line, but also for its interesting filming techniques and fun motifs. It was also, no doubt, a fun film to produce as well.