French New Wave: 400 BLOWS (Truffaut 1959)

Here's the other iconic French New Wave movie, the 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959). I've never seen this movie, and know very little about it, but reading a description of it, a troubled youth who loves Balzac and cinema reminds me of the Truffaut essay. It will be interesting to see how much this movie reflects the themes of the essay, what is it *possible* to express with film. It's interesting that this movie is also in love with movies, as Breathless is, but perhaps in a very different way. (For that matter, Patricia loves Faulkner in Breathless, you can hardly go wrong with that--I wonder if Absalom, Absalom proves the point that some novels are unfilmable.)

Remember, watch the movie first, come ready to talk about it!

We will meet on Friday, December 19, 2025, at 8PM, at LEANING TOWER OF PIZZA at 24th Street and Lyndale, same as always. See you there!