“Les Quatre Cents Coups / The 400 Blows” (大人は判ってくれない / Les Quatre Cents Coups), Original Re-Release Japanese Movie Poster 1989, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) A109

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 1989 for the re-release of Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows), François Truffaut’s landmark 1959 debut feature and one of the foundational works of the French New Wave. Issued to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the film’s original release, this Japanese poster is especially desirable because it features the celebrated hand-drawn artwork of Hisamitsu Noguchi, whose unforgettable portrait of the young Antoine Doinel has become one of the most iconic poster images in world cinema.

Film background
Originally released in 1959, The 400 Blows is one of the great coming-of-age films in cinema history. Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel, it follows a troubled Parisian boy drifting through school, family tensions, petty rebellion, and emotional isolation. At once intimate and unsentimental, the film helped announce the arrival of the Nouvelle Vague and established Truffaut immediately as one of the major voices in post-war cinema. Its influence has been enormous, both within France and internationally, and it remains one of the most beloved films of the 20th century.

Poster design
This 1989 Japanese re-release design is distinguished by the extraordinary artwork of Hisamitsu Noguchi, whose painterly portrait of Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel is widely regarded as one of the finest film-poster images ever created. The design is so admired that Truffaut himself famously hung this exact poster artwork on the wall of Doinel’s room in his 1962 follow-up Love at Twenty—a remarkable gesture that makes the image not just promotional art, but part of the Doinel world itself. That connection gives this poster a special status among Truffaut collectors. It is elegant, highly recognisable, and far more evocative than a standard photographic campaign image.

Condition
Very Good / Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.

It is over 35 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.