The 400 Blows

François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence.

François Truffaut’s directorial debut introduces his enduring alter ego, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) – a misunderstood 12-year-old, neglected by his parents and mistreated by repressive schoolteachers, who seeks refuge in truancy, petty crime and, above all, cinema. Truffaut’s most autobiographical film is widely regarded as one of the all-time great coming-of-age movies; a cinematic landmark that heralded the peak of the French New Wave.

Ranked joint 50th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll