The 400 Blows by François Truffaut was truly a film that opened my eyes to French New Wave and foreign films in general. I had happened upon it while flipping channels years back and it was on television, possibly on Turner Classic Movies, late at night.

The film is amazing, truly a bright star amid the constellation of films. Although set in France, the character Antoine is easy to relate to in his rebelliousness and disinterest in school. He isn't a bad kid, per se, but perhaps all too human, with the faults and foibles that come with being one. The same could be said for many of the film's characters, and in showing the human struggles of ordinary people, Truffaut helped spawn a film movement we continue to talk about today.