Les Quatre Cents Coups seems to presage the cultural revolution of 1968. In fact, its secondary school protagonists will be in their twenties a decade later so the time scale is about right. ‘Elle va être un peu belle, la France dans 10 ans!’ says prophetically the teacher.
The film revolves around the idea of centrifugal versus centripetal forces, sometimes in the most literal sense. Antoine’s rebellious attraction to the outside and the feeling of being chased, trapped, cornered—again, not just figuratively—is given shape by a series of near metaphorical images. The Tour Eiffel in the opening sequence, imposing totem of daring, fights to be seen behind obstructing curtains of buildings. At the fair, in the spinning cylinder thing—whatever that is, I’d love to try it— he is pushed away and yet almost squashed on the curved wall of the exotic contraption. The epic final scene—that long run on the shore toward the sea he’s never seen—is so full of an exhilarating sense of freedom, air, future. But then again, is the long dreamt open horizon the answer, or another boundary in itself?