The 400 Blows ending explained

What happens

Antoine slips away from a football game at the juvenile centre and runs across the fields to the sea. At the water's edge he turns to face the camera, and the image freezes. His escape has led nowhere.

The last image

Antoine's face, turned straight to the camera and frozen at the edge of the sea.

Two readings

1 · Freedom, with no answerHe has finally escaped every institution, but the shore leaves him nowhere left to go.

2 · A look at youHis gaze makes you the adult who has to see him at last.

What it says

After a film of rooms, rules and bars, the sea is the first open space Antoine reaches, and it offers no way forward. Truffaut refuses a resolution, so his stare keeps asking the question the adults never answered.