The 400 Blows 'link' Now

Like Truffaut, Antoine deals with distant, often annoyed parents who view him as a burden. The Escape: In moments of despair, Antoine finds solace in the cinema and literature

The turning point occurs when Antoine, trying to return a stolen typewriter, is caught by a night watchman. His stepfather, tired of the trouble, hands Antoine over to the juvenile justice system. The second half of the film is a descent into institutional horror: a grim detention center, psychological interviews with uncaring judges, and an attempted escape. The 400 Blows

François Truffaut was a brash young critic writing for Cahiers du Cinéma . He had penned a scathing manifesto decrying the "cinéma de papa" (Dad's cinema), arguing that films should be personal expressions of the director, much like a novelist writes a book. He championed directors like Hitchcock and Hawks as "auteurs." Like Truffaut, Antoine deals with distant, often annoyed