Udaan & The 400 Blows

Two directorial debuts that shook the world of film-making out of its mainstream slumber in the two respective countries they were released. Francois Truffaut arrived in 1959 with his 'Les Quatre Cents Coups' in France- popularly known as 'The 400 Blows' worldwide. Vikramaditya Motwane brought to the screen his first feature 'Udaan' in 2010 in India. Both the films are right at the level of 'Holy Grail' classics in France and India respectively when it comes to the theme of 'coming-of-age.' 

Motwane's heart wrenching hat tip to Truffaut's elements is what makes Udaan not only a worthy tribute to The 400 Blows but a 21st century re-imagination of the post-war idea of an everyday boyhood struggle. They are film siblings. Each of them extremely unique, yet sharing a similar gene sequence. Their protagonists have uncannily resembling innocence as well as delinquency. They suffer from similar malaise. Alienation, loneliness, confusion, rebelliousness. A deep down tendency of non-conformity drives them forward.

Starting from the classroom scenes that depict a typical all-boys mischievous school environment, Antoine and Rohan are presented as mirror images of each other. 

They both look at the outside world with a caged perspective.

 

Their parents are a pre-existing inconvenience and source of subsistence to them. The apathy of Antoine's mother is matched by Rohan's father. The dinner table is a common setting of confrontation.

The factory presents itself as a metaphor for a progressing capital intensive world in both Jamshedpur and Paris that forces young minds to conform towards becoming 'productive' cogs in the mode of production. 

To take away with free will what delivers them happiness is another common thread. Antoine's theft of the Typewriter and Rohan's midnight car escapades relate to this. Their smiles in the car become rare occasions throughout the runtime. 

Their infatuation for writing is a common thread. We aren't acquainted with Rohan's version of Balzac though.

And then there is the climactic escape. The SPRINT! The long shots of a flight from the clutches of a mundane mediocre life that ran on the fuel of mere inheritance and genetic continuity. A clipping of the streak of expectations. The declaration of a new beginning!

The two works went on to represent film movements within India and France and oh how beautifully they have aged! 

- Vikram Grewal

15-09-2020