The 400 Blows is a 1959 French
drama film, the debut by director
François Truffaut; it stars
Jean-Pierre Léaud,
Albert Rémy, and
Claire Maurier. One of the defining films of the
French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. Written by Truffaut and Marcel Moussy, the film is about
Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who is thought by his parents and teachers to be a troublemaker. Filmed on location in
Paris and
Honfleur, it is the first in a series of five films in which Léaud plays the semi-autobiographical character.