The 400 Blows (1959), directed by Francois Truffaut in his feature debut, follows thirteen-year-old Antoine Doinel — a semi-autobiographical surrogate for Truffaut himself — as he drifts between neglectful parents, unsympathetic teachers, and petty crime until he ends up in a reform school.

Why It Matters

• One of the defining films of the French New Wave and one of the greatest films ever made about childhood and the cruelty of institutions
• Jean-Pierre Leaud's performance as Antoine is among the most natural and heartbreaking child performances in cinema
• The final freeze-frame — Antoine reaching the sea, trapped between freedom and the frame — is cinema's most famous ending about the impossibility of escape

Truffaut made the film as both autobiography and indictment of the French school system that failed him. Its tenderness toward its young protagonist, combined with clear-eyed observation of adult failure, makes it a film that viewers carry with them for life.

Reference:

Wikipedia: The 400 Blows

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_400_Blows