It's of course ridicules to call this movie a bad one but as far as so called new wave French movies go, this isn't the best example of it, in my opinion.
Can't really see how people can call this one of the most powerful and emotional drama's ever made, unless you perhaps had a tough youth yourself and can identify yourself with its young main character. Perhaps it's also due to the fact that it is of course being placed in a totally different time period, at also a different country and culture but personally I couldn't really place myself in his shoes because throughout the movie he's doing some things that I can't see myself ever doing or saying to someone.
But this is perhaps also one of the powers of the movie, at the same time. It's not showing things and people as just black and white, good or bad but it more shows that nobody is truly a good or a bad person. Sometimes it are certain circumstances that force us to do things in order to 'survive' in this world. Whether or not you like it, you sometimes have to do things you know you're later going to regret.
In that regard this is a quite good random slice of life, or a coming of age movie. You could take the movie both these ways really, since it for a change is a movie that entirely focuses on its young main character and tells the entire story from his perspective. It's an original but also risky approach to the genre, that in this case did work out, also really thanks to Jean-Pierre Léaud, who plays the young boy.
So it all in all really remains a well put together movie, by François Truffaut, that just didn't really ever got to me at a more emotional level. Extra praise should be send Truffaut's way though, since this movie actually was his first full length movie and he made at a quite a young age as well. Definitely not a bad first movie by him, though thankfully still he and his movies grew better over the years.
7/10
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