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THE 400 BLOWS, François Truffaut's directorial debut in 1959, introduces his enduring alter ego, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) - a misunderstood 12-year-old, neglected by his parents and mistreated by repressive schoolteachers, who seeks refuge in truancy, petty crime and, above all, cinema. Following its UK theatrical release via BFI Distribution in January, it now comes to Blu-ray presented in HD from a new 4K restoration, released by the BFI on 25 April and also made available via iTunes and Amazon Prime.
Truffaut's most autobiographical film is widely regarded as one of the all-time great coming-of-age movies and was a cinematic landmark that heralded the French New Wave. Extras on this Blu-ray release include a feature commentary, audition footage and, Truffaut, Bazin, Renoir: A Love Story, film academic Catherine Wheatley's illustrated presentation, recorded at François Truffaut's Cinematic and Literary Influences Study Day earlier this year.
Special features
Presented in High Definition from a new 4K restoration
Feature commentary by Robert Lachenay (2002)
Audition footage (1958, 7 mins): Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick Auffay and Richard Kanayan's screen tests for Truffaut
Les Mistons (1957, 18 mins): Truffaut develops his distinctive style in this early short
Truffaut, Bazin, Renoir: A Love Story (2022, 18 mins): Film academic Catherine Wheatley's illustrated presentation, recorded at François Truffaut's Cinematic and Literary Influences Study Day, BFI Southbank
Images of Paris: documentary gems from the BFI National Archive, including Panorama Around the Eiffel Tower (1900, 1 min), Metropolitan Railway of Paris (1913, 6 mins), and Lunch on the Eiffel Tower (1914, 1 min)
Original theatrical trailer
2022 trailer
Image gallery
*** First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with an essay by Ellen Cheshire, a biography of François Truffaut, credits and notes on the special features.
See the new trailer at the link above. |
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