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Truffaut’s first feature is one of the defining films of the Nouvelle Vague. Based substantially on events from his own childhood, it marked his transition from controversial critic to world famous film director. In his portrayal of a troubled adolescent looking for an escape route from an unhappy life, Truffaut made the kind of film he had been calling for others to make and, by doing so, vindicated his claims to be an auteur in his own right. Fittingly the film is dedicated to his mentor Andre Bazin who died just as cameras were rolling on the first day of filming.
In planning Les Quatre Cents Coups, Truffaut knew that the success or failure of the project depended largely on finding the right child actor to play young Antoine Doinel. After an extensive search he chose Jean-Pierre Leaud who bore a striking resemblance to director himself at the age of 14. Leaud’s naturalistic, spontaneous performance is as true to life as acting gets; without at all trying, he ellicits great sympathy from the viewer. In the years to come, Leaud would play Doinel in five more films, becoming in the process the director’s screen alter ego.
