When motion pictures first started being made near the turn of the 20th Century the camera was fixed in position, and actors entered and exited the field of view of the camera as in a play (stage left, stage right). One of the ways that film was transformed into a new art form was with the realization that the camera could move (pan, tilt, change focal distance, etc). Earlier directors had begun to experiment with the effects of physically moving the camera in various ways, but this experimentation was put into hyperdrive by the French New Wave directors in the late 1950s and 1960s. From the opening scenes of 400 Blows there is a sense of not just watching a movie, but being in a movie. This film classic is a must see for any serious cineaste.
I gave this movie a rating of 4 stars.
Ron Boothe