Les quatre cents coups

A look into the camera as a freeze frame. Beforehand, Truffaut’s famous debut accompanies the 14-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), who has once again escaped from the youth correction facility, with a minute-long dynamic tracking shot at his place of yearning, the open sea. The film ends as described above, with a dual cinematic exclamation mark, unambiguously underlined by the rushing of the sea and muffled guitar tones. As Antoine looks into the camera, in one of the most famous close-ups in film history, many things are reflected with his gaze: the unloving, impoverished conditions under which he lives with his mother and stepfather, the correction facilities, the lack of attention he receives from the adult world and an uncertain future. (mg)