Selected for Letterboxd Video Store by guest curator Richard Linklater.

GROWING UP IS A RUNAWAY STORY.

A restless Parisian boy navigates school, home, and authority figures who seem determined to misunderstand him. Small rebellions accumulate, pushing him further toward isolation and toward a defining break from the world around him.

François Truffaut’s first feature premiered at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Director, The 400 Blows announced the arrival of a new cinematic voice and a new movement. Deeply personal yet universally resonant, the film sensitively recreates the trials of Truffaut’s own difficult childhood and became a defining work of the French New Wave. This 4K restoration offers an opportunity to experience it with renewed clarity.

Languages: French. English subtitles available.