8.) The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, (1959) - The 400 Blows is considered the magnificent start of the French New Wave, a movement that put a powerful semicolon between classic cinema and new cinema. New meaning new wave. New meaning new Hollywood. I say semicolon, since the French New Wave doesn’t put a period on what came before. It’s an expansion, a dialogue, a new way of seeing what is or isn’t possible in moviemaking. Truffaut began breaking the rules by making a stylishly simple debut– the plot is unfettered by over plotting, and all that remains is the persevering beat of a heart. His influence can be most directly felt today through Wes Anderson, who has more homages to Truffaut (and Godard) in his films than I have Blu-rays. And I have a lot. The 400 Blows is a semi-autobiographical account of Truffaut’s childhood as a delinquent-to-be, and few films have shown better what it means to be a child misunderstood.