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How do the school and court system treat Antoine Doinel in The 400 Blows?

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French director Francois Truffaut stands at right speaking with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve during filming of La Sirene du Mississippi on a city street. — François Truffaut François Truffaut (far right) with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve during the filming of *La Sirène du Mississipi* (1969; *Mississippi Mermaid*).

In François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, the school and court systems are depicted as institutions that do more harm than good for Antoine Doinel, a troubled youth who is not inherently bad.1

Rather than providing support, these systems respond to Doinel’s drift into petty crime with increasingly stern measures. These interventions fail to address the underlying causes of his behavior and instead serve to aggravate his worst impulses. Ultimately, the film portrays these authorities as part of an unjust system that victimizes young people, reflecting Truffaut’s critical view of the rigid, conformist adult world that fails to understand or nurture the adolescent experience.12