21. Truffaut, the Nouvelle Vague, The 400 Blows

MIT 21L.011 The Film Experience, Fall 2013
View the complete course: ocw.mit.edu/21L-011F13
Instructor: David Thorburn
Introduce the French New Wave style, with comparisons to Italian neorealism and Hollywood, and use of improvisation, jump cuts, elliptical editing, and self-reflexiveness. Focus on Truffaut and his key films, especially The 400 Blows.
00:00 OCW Intro
00:25 Neo-realisms: Umberto-D and The 400 Blows
15:01 Origins of La Nouvelle Vague
23:53 Key films of 1959-60
29:32 La Nouvelle Vague: style and tone
36:38 Francois Truffaut (1932-1984)
44:38 The 400 Blows
License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
More information at ocw.mit.edu/terms
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[@abhimanyoo-tb4bj]

I'm so thankful to Prof. thorburn and this course for letting me know this beauty called "The 400 Blows" ❤❤❤

[@roadcrewfilms]

I love the passion of this teacher! I

[@dehmanem4733]

Film *The 400 blows* "les 400 coups" by François Truffaut a revolution in the art of French cinema with the advent of the New Wave and its filmmakers (1959)

[@philc.8606]

Thank you MIT and Professor Thorburn.

[@cyninbend]

The happy children at the puppet show also are all the OTHER children--when you are growing up in misery, it seeme that all the others are having a happy fun childhood, and only your world is difficult. I loved the theme that he no longer can partake in the happy crazy childish joy--he's being yanked out too soon...

[@kissmeimhuman]

Thank you Professor Thorburn and MIT OCW!!!

[@tru3b3li3v3r]

This is a great review of one of the best nouvelle vague films ever made. Thank you Mr. Thorburn.

[@Traveljournalist]

Amazing exposé !

[@johnhanley9946]

This was a very enjoyable video, The 400 Blows was truly a great film. I was interested to hear him call Hitchcock a "practicing theorist". It reminded me of Truffault's sort of homage to him in The Soft Skin, where Truffaut adopts the distictly different style of directing he used to film the protagonist's actions, especially when he's in the car running errands during his first getaway with his mistress. I never thought of it that way, that Hitchcock was a "practicing theorist", but I see the distinction he's making here, very interesting!

[@Uolmo]

Awesome lesson, thanks!

[@ruhshonae6826]

Amazing!

[@ArchitectdaSilva]

I love the movies but just watching the sheer energy and enthusiasm of this lecturer/professor Thorburn is certainly greater than anything that Truffaut produced. His knowledge of the subject is captivating to say the least.

[@helvete_ingres4717]

uh, no I can't agree that listening to someone talking about a film, no matter how vivacious, is comparable let alone 'greater' than actually experiencing the film. Least of all with a great film like this one (I don't regard much of Truffaut's ouevre as 'great', in fact this may be his only great film but it lives up to the hype imo)

[@ArchitectdaSilva]

@@helvete_ingres4717 you're probably right the work of art is always superior to anything else that relates to it, but at that moment I was so elated by prof. Thorburn's enthusiasm that I placed it on par with the enjoyment of watching 400 Blows. To be fair 400 Blows kept coming to mind whereas the lecture I have unknowingly forgotten :)

[@thephotographer9239]

wow! what an amazing teacher! wish I could have him as teacher !

[@sohrabnabi-zadeh7558]

A wonderful , passionate and informative account.I loved the 400 Blows, and in particular its long cuts and its final freeze! Thank you professor! I must say that i also loved Trauffaurt's Fareheit 451, I was young at the time and it fulfilled and somehow reinforced our political views on tyranny and dictatorship.

[@Larkinchance]

Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite film. Mostly because of the Bradbury story. It is more like an American film but without the superficial extravagance..

[@denyagusman155]

I wish I attend the program

[@marenkenseth1176]

obviously the guy on the bus just meant despair is available for all. it means a sign of the times as opposed to one persons, possibly paranoid, emotions. enforces understandable depression.

[@emilsmith751]

Haha wow! This guys is a force of nature! (aspiring art teacher writing here)

[@bev9708]

Fascinating, and as he mentioned he's had to leave a lot out for lack of time. I think it's interesting to note that Truffaut's family, especially his mother, was most extremely offended by the film and eventually they totally fell out and stopped speaking.

[@apollocobain8363]

Much of 400 Blows is a metaphor for the French film industry as Truffuant perceived it. The boy gets in trouble for a PICTURE, a racy picture, just as filmmakers would. There is a paternalism embodied in the teacher character which is like the conventions of French film. The boy's punishment is to stand by the wall -- he WRITES on the WALL, like a filmmaker. The puppet show scene shows us an audience divided between those who are entertained by the traditional Punch and Judy fare and the boys at the back who ignore it while talking about real issues that show their lack of innocence. I like this prof's enthusiasm but I think it is a common mistake to treat films solely as art and directors as having full control. Missing from that is that films can be art but they are very expensive to produce. Unlike a painting or a novel, a film is vetted before it goes into production. The idea and the script pass through many hands and receive input that is attached to the funding. Film is a business and the influence and demands of that business have to be part of understanding any individual film and the overall changes in film over time. 400 Blows explores the tensions between artist and convention, between passion and business and between literature and film.

[@adikravets3632]

27:50 no it not an accident. He really did murder without any hesitation

[@Larkinchance]

As for your closing comment, I too view these films as if they were great literature..

[@AlonsoRules]

nobody makes these films anymore

[@birddogfreemann]

I would expect more from an M.I.T. professor even though the subject is film.

[@manco828]

Way too much stuttering..

[@dynjarren7523]

Back when France was for the French.

[@VideoTalesV]

What the fuck are you talking about.

[@bt4086]

If you don't have a problem with France going around the world and invading other countries, then you cannot have any issue with the world coming back to France. France is ours now.

[@kiaandavids755]

There is always some dumb ignoramus that has to ruin a great video by saying something like this.

[@themoreyouknowfools4974]

@@kiaandavids755 just look at the comment that comes at the teachers stuttering. Fucking shallow I tell you.

[@unemusiqueunjour]

@@bt4086 pathetic