From the summer movie list: The 400 Blows

The 400 Blows, or Les Quatre Cents Coups, tells the story of French youth Antoine Doinel. The story is somewhat based on the childhood of the film's auteur, the writer/director/producer Francois Truffaut [other films | biographies]. Antoine isn't any worse than any other French teenager--he just gets caught more, like when a cheesecake pin up calendar girl pic is being passed around class and isn't noticed by the instructor until it is in Antoine's hands. He's punished with more homework, which he is unable to do at home as his mother sends him out to buy flour and tells him to put his work away for dinner. In stead of going to school to be punished for not doing his homework, he skips. He avoids other punishments at home by running away. He tries to do well only to be accused of lying or cheating. When he's trapped and everyone is against him, there is only one solution: escape.

The film's in French and has English subtitles. Watch it this summer and score points with your French teacher in the fall by noting that you've seen Truffaut's 400 Blows. The title, according to Wikipedia, " refers to the expression 'faire les quatre cents coups,' which means 'to raise hell'." Some argue this should have been the English title, and others think The Wild One would have been better. Antoine is wild and does raise hell, at least by the standards set by others.