The historical significance of The 400 Blows — one of the first films of the French New Wave — cannot be overstated. François Truffaut's feature-film debut follows a neglected and misunderstood French boy (Jean-Pierre Léaud, in the first of many incarnations of Antoine Doinel) who turns to petty crime as a means of attracting attention. The boy's intellectual curiosity, distracted parents and penchant for trouble contribute to the haunting final image of his unknowable future.