Francois Truffaut's first feature is also his most personal. Told through the eyes of Truffaut's cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), The 400 Blows (Les quatre cents coups) sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut's own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, opressive teachers, and petty crime. The film marks Truffaut's passage from leading critic of the French new wave to his emergence as one of Europe's most brilliant auteurs.