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To understand the realist movement, one must examine the thematic force propelling filmmakers to create these films. Four key films plainly reveal the prime mover of realist film: the battle for individual freedom. The French new wave movement contributes much to this genre; arguably, it is the origin of realist film, starting with Francois Truffaut's "400 Blows" in 1959 and quickly followed by Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" in 1960. The most iconic American realist films are Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) and Dennis Hopper's "Easy Rider" (1969).

In all of these four movies, the central theme is the same (that of freedom and all of its complications). All of them use cinematographic styles that create a documentary feel of realism, and so it is interesting, or perhaps only natural, that the first films of the realist movement would include freedom as a central theme. Each approaches freedom in a different way and makes different conclusions about it in the end, but one thing remains constant - sympathy for the free who are hunted, hated, and destroyed by those who aren't free. I've decided to tackle these four films in chonological order, as that also corresponds with how the theme of freedom evolves into a more apparent and articulated subject.

"400 Blows" (Les Quatre Cent Coups) is an interesting specimen when it comes to the theme of freedom for many reasons. Firstly, it is the only of the four films in which the main character, Antoine, lives. It is not explicit in conveying its ideas on freedom, but the viewer suspects it throughout the film, particularly because of the oppressive and ignorant natures of the authority figures around Antoine. His parents, his teachers, the police, and the boarding school officials are all supposedly acting in the boy's best interest, but they are blind to his plight and unwilling to come down to his level to help him. His very plague is their existence; they keep him from his freedom because they believe it is in his best interest. In this way, Francois Truffaut tackles this idea of how personal relationships relate to freedom. If the two parties do not understand each other, Antoine is kept from freedom. But in Antoine's relationships with the other boys, he can often find this freedom because the two parties are in a situation of mutual empathy. The idea of a "system" oppressing an individual is introduced here, and it will increase in presence as each of the remaining three films are examined.

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