Blu-ray, DVD Release: The 400 Blows

By
Laurence
– January 27, 2014Find Others: Blu-ray, DVD, Movie, New Release, NewsGet More: , ,

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 8, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion

The 400 Blows

Jean-Pierre Léaud is Antoine Doinel in Truffaut's The 400 Blows.

The unforgettable 1959 debut feature by François Truffaut (Jules and Jim), The 400 Blows is a wrenchingly personal coming-of-age drama that introduced the character that would become the director’s lifelong cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud, La Vie de Boheme).

With the utmost sensitivity, The 400 Blows dramatizes the trials of Truffaut’s own difficult childhood, characterized by aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime.

The 400 Blows marks its maker’s official transition from influential critic to one of Europe’s most brilliant auteurs, and is considered one of the first true works of the French New Wave.

Presented in French with English subtitles, Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition of the film contains the following features:

• High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Two audio commentaries, one by cinema professor Brian Stonehill and another by François Truffaut’s lifelong friend Robert Lachenay
• Rare audition footage of Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick Auffay, and Richard Kanayan
• Newsreel footage of Léaud at Cannes in 1959
• Excerpt from a 1965 French television program in which Truffaut discusses his youth, his critical writing, and the origins of Antoine Doinel
• Television interview with Truffaut from 1960 about the global reception of The 400 Blows and his own critical impression of the film
• Trailer
• One Blu-ray and one DVD, with all content available in both formats
• A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Annette Insdorf

Buy or Rent The 400 Blows
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About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.