THE MILK SCENE IN FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT’S THE 400 BLOWS: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF HUNGER, DEPRIVED CARE, AND TRANSGRESSION

Abstract

The study examines the milk scene in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups, 1959) through semiotic film analysis. Unlike previous studies on the subject, it focuses on the position and cinematic construction of a single scene within the narrative rather than claiming that milk is a recurring motif throughout the film. Accordingly, the main research question explores how the milk bottle transforms from an object representing a physical need into a signifier of deprivation of care and social exclusion. The theoretical framework combines Roland Barthes’s distinction between denotation and connotation with Christian Metz’s approach, according to which cinematic meaning is produced through the sequencing of images. Semiotic analysis was adopted as the methodological approach. From this perspective, the scene was examined in terms of its sequence of actions, framing, lighting, setting, objects, and narrative context. The study demonstrates that the milk sign, which is given particular prominence in the film, does not independently or universally signify “innocence.” Rather, its meaning is constructed through the protagonist’s solitude in the city at night, his taking the bottle without paying for it, drinking the milk rapidly, and disposing of the empty bottle. In this context, the milk bottle functions as a cinematic sign that intensifies the tensions between nourishment and deprivation, care and abandonment, and need and crime.

Keywords: The 400 Blows, François Truffaut, semiotics, milk, denotation–connotation.