Voice-overs allow the audience to understand what Antoine thinks and what he wants to accomplish.

Ambiguity also plays a large role in the development of art cinema. Bordwell claims that classical narrative deviations -- ambiguity -- "are placed, resituated as realism (in life things happen this way) or authorial commentary (the ambiguity is symbolic)" (Bordwell 721). The 400 Blows has an open-ended conclusion that forces the audience to contemplate what will happen to Antoine when he is caught.

The 400 Blows appears to have influenced Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde as both films share similar art cinema characteristics, and demonstrate narrative and character parallels. The protagonist in Loves of a Blonde, Andula, appears to want to escape her life, which is set against a realistic background. She is expected to perform the same tasks day in and day out and she is not given many opportunities to escape the...
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