Cine- A05 The End

Assignment 05 – The End of The 400 Blows

Closure in film has generally been understood to be the opposite of open-endedness. For example, Bordwell and Thompson write:

In a mystery film, if we learn who the criminal is, the film has closure, but if it leaves a doubt about that person’s guilt, it remains relatively open (p 74).

Note that closure and open-endedness are viewed here as mutually limiting options, so that the more (or stronger the) closure a film is given, the less open-ended it will be. A film left open-ended is likewise assumed to have weak closure. Again, Bordwell and Thompson suggest that

most classical narrative film displays strong degrees of closure at the end. Leaving no loose ends unresolved, these films seek to end their causal chains with a final effect. We usually learn the fate of each character, the answer to each mystery, and the outcome of each conflict (p. 83).

As an example of an open-ended film, they cite Truffaut’s Les 400 Coups:

The boy Antoine Doinel has escaped from a reformatory and runs along the seashore. The camera zooms in on his face and the frame freezes. The plot does not reveal whether he is captured and brought back, leaving us to speculate on what might happen next (70).

An ending can be relatively “open” as our example from The 400 Blows suggest. In other words, the plot presents story events that leave us uncertain as to the nature of the final consequence (74).

Bordwell and Thompsen’s argument could be taken one step further, since not only are we in the dark as to Antoine’s immediate future, but we are even left uncertain as to how to interpret the look on his face as the film ends.

Prompt

Now think about the ending of the film and what was your emotional response. Was the ending haunting, sad, happy, ambiguous or what? Take a position and argue how you believe the film ended.

How did the Long Takes of Antoine running and the Freeze Frame at the end add to the narrative? Analyzes the end of The 400 Blows. Assess the feeling of the ending and successfully argues their conclusion. Discusses the how the long take and the freeze frame added to the narrative.