400 Blows

Having seen a lot of 'classical' films recently, I didn't really feel this would raise the bar all too much. All I can say is yes Andy it really is a masterpiece.

It first occurred to me almost half way through the movie how much I was enjoying it because it had taken me that long to come out of it. I was so submerged in the movie the genre and the style of it that it totally captivated me. Its that principle of you know you have a good movie when the audience aren't aware they are watching one.

I'll explain what took me out of the movie later on in the post. But for now I'll explain what I liked about this film.

From watching so many 'dull' and 'tedious' black & White and classical movies recently, I really did have something to compare this movie to. Yes it wouldn't stand up to modern standards as it does loose its drive somewhat during the movie but placing it in its time it really is an astounding piece of film.

What stood out was its cinematography, it never felt flat like a lot of other old movies we have watched recently. The hand held camera work really did help this movie set a new bench mark for movies. It all felt so smooth in the way it handled itself, shots felt fluid and all connected well with one another. I was never taken out the movie by cutting the extreme close ups like the Russian Revolution films seemed to all so adore.

Most importantly the main character was likeable for the most part, he really did feel like a real living person and delivered this through an amazing performance from start to finish. I did feel at points that the movie was stretching itself on how it could more develop and build on this character from showing us his day to day life. This is where I first sat back and realised I was watching a movie again. This is from having been brought up with modern film cuts, It wasn't a bad thing it was just a thought that occurred to me that took me out of the movie itself.

The character I feel can be compared to 'Into the Wild' in the sense that you do feel sympathy for the parents as they aren't really do all to much wrong to deserve what their child does in return. This is another fault I could pick at, but you know. I don't want to, its such a lovely charming movie that really does pull you into this young boys life that I can accept this small fact that occurred to me.

The film was essentially a snap shot of this boys life, its a strand that follows him during a short period of his life. It's not like most other films as it doesn't really to seem to have an active goal or an obvious inciting incident. It's more a story of this boys life, we are almost following him from day to day. This is were it does loose some drive as I think from a modern audience prospective we are constantly expecting something to happen, like one of his parents to get run over and for him to relise what he has. This never happens or something similar, so you can say it does loose drive from this.

If you look at the film for what it is at heart, you see that it would have lost its charm if something like this was to happen. Its about this boy and his life, his faults and his misgivings. This is all we are interested in.

I really did enjoy watching this movie and hope what we watch next can follow its standard, as it really did set the standards in the first place.