There has always been a confrontation between two major factions in world cinema, namely, the American submissive film and the European rebellious film. In the era mentioned above, this situation was extremely prominent. Due to the rebellious spirit of young Western European students, many excellent films were produced during that period. These films break with conventions and reflect very individual themes. We think they are representative of the new wave of art. Among them, the film with pioneering significance is "Four Hundred Lowers" produced by France in 1959.
"Four Hundreds" is also known as "Hu Zuo Fei Wei", whose director is Kosova. Truffaut. Anyone who has been in the history of film will know that Truffaut is a famous film theorist. After a terrible boyhood, the young Truffau followed the French film theorist Andre. Bazin, and filmed his first film "Four Hundred Under" in 1959. This apparently autobiographical film is also a gift he dedicated to his mentor Bazin.
"Four Hundreds" is a life-streaming film. He does not have a complete story frame, but uses the clues of what the protagonist will do next to mobilize the audience's interest. The film tells a young person's living conditions in school, family, homelessness, and prison, and shows the young person's resistance psychology. The protagonist’s happiest days are the three wandering lives, and the happiest moment he feels is the moment he escapes from prison. He sees a blue sky and an endless ocean. Although a little confused, he feels free again after all. It's beautiful. Thinking back to the repressive school, incompetent teachers and dilapidated families, it seems like a nightmare. Of course, it may also be hell, a narrow world that destroys human nature and extinct creativity. On the contrary, the space of the protagonist is vast, and the blue sea and blue sky at the end of the film need not be said anymore, even in his life of wandering due to various reasons (forced to be just an excuse), joy, curiosity, self-confidence, etc. The emotion of creativity is always evident in the body. It is gratifying to walk through the streets and run through the buildings. At this time, the mind is naturally broadened.
The most prominent feature of "Four Hundreds" is the use of the lens. The film uses a lot of long shots, of course, this is inseparable from the protagonist's genius performance. At the beginning of the film, the camera scans the streets of Paris. The role here is to imply where the protagonist wanders or ran away from home, pointing out that the main plot of the film lies in the protagonist's wandering life. At the end of the film, there is a famous long shot with the protagonist running for a few minutes. When watching movies, we will realize that there are many ways of switching between the shots of the character movement, but if we encounter such a long-shot follow-up, the audience will question from the bottom of their hearts. Although we know that the protagonist is running away, why do we want to shoot? Such a long time? At this time, the audience will realize that the significance of running is not only the development of the narrative plot, but also the expression of the protagonist's ecstasy toward freedom. Truffau broke the audience's habit and forced the audience's thinking ability to mobilize, so this lens is a classic lens that can be recorded in the annals of history. Another long shot is more interesting. The audience often smiles knowingly. In this shot, the teacher took the students to the streets of Paris, and the children slipped away quietly in twos and threes. This scene has little to do with the plot trend of the protagonist. It can be called a single scene, but it declares a state of life and has the effect of objectively reproducing the environment. The film's lens application seems to have reached a harsh point. For example, when expressing the relationship between father and son, always use one picture to include all the characters, and when expressing the relationship between mother and child, always use the opposite shot. The mother and child never appear in the same picture. In this way, the emotional relationship between the characters is fully revealed. Many scenes in a film have deep meanings about the plot, instead of simply seeking narratives, this is the true essence of film art.
In short, the film "Four Hundreds" is a classic in terms of content and shooting techniques. Even after forty years have passed, this film is still a very avant-garde work, enough to accompany it. Truffaut's name is recorded in history together.
At the Summer Palace in 2000
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