Monday, August 19, 8:15 p.m. | When Truffaut made THE 400 BLOWS, he was in his mid-20s and for years had been churning out unforgiving reviews as a film critic (his critiques were devastating enough that he was not invited to the Cannes Film Festival in 1958). His audacious, autobiographical debut (which won him the Best Director at Cannes the very next year), following the young Antoine as he wanders the streets of Paris, is considered a defining film of the French New Wave and remains one of the most studied films of all time. In contrast, perhaps unfairly, his final film, in which a luminous Fanny Ardant plays an accidental private detective after her boss’s wife is murdered, is considered an unremarkable mystery that pales in comparison to his debut feature. If CONFIDENTIALLY YOURS had not been Truffaut’s final film (he died a year after it was released, with numerous films in pre-production), perhaps audiences would have recognized it for the thoroughly enjoyable homage to the director’s friend Alfred Hitchcock, instead of a film that could never live up to the significance of his debut work.

Related Event: THE 400 BLOWS Monday, August 19, 6:00 p.m.

Awards & Nominations

Nominee - Best Foreign Language Film, BAFTA Awards
Nominee - Best Director, Best Actress (Fanny Ardant), César Awards, France

Entrances and Exits: With Entrances and Exits, we showcase the first and last films from 10 beloved filmmakers. For this series, we abide by three rules: films included must not be posthumous releases, they must be feature films, and they must be solo directorial efforts. Some of these pairings seem to speak to one another, presenting a cinematic through-line that represents a consistent voice from cinematic cradle to grave. Others represent dramatic departures, reflecting a filmmaker’s leap from emerging artist to heavyweight player. What new elements do we see when we connect these entrances and exits, and how do the bodies of work between them transform when we consider the bookends of a career? Though these filmmakers are no longer with us, they sure did leave an impression. View Entrances and Exits Series. Tickets sold individually for each film.

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu