Review of The 400 Blows

I have seen this movie twice. The first time, I thought it was an okay picture. However, because it is such an important French New Wave film and had a big impact on future projects and because so much positive stuff has been written about it, I thought I'd give it another try. Well, it did improve some with the second watching--particularly since I have also seen the rest of the "Antoine Doinel" films. But, was it "great",...not really, though it still was a very very good film. There is very little negative about it other than the occasionally poor sound track. As many New Wave films are supposed to have a "home-made" quality about them, much of the time this wasn't a problem. But, there were times when the amateurish quality of the music was distracting. Also, a smaller complaint was the abrupt ending, though this is only a small complaint since the director returned to his alter-ego in follow-up films. When all seen together, now THAT is a fascinating thing-and something I recommend you try to do if you see "The 400 Blows".