The semi-autobiographical film reflects events of Truffaut's life.[7] In style, it references other French works—most notably a scene borrowed wholesale from Jean Vigo's Zéro de conduite.[8] Truffaut dedicated the film to the man who became his spiritual father, André Bazin, who died just as the film was about to be shot.[8]
Besides being a character study, the film is an exposé of the injustices of the treatment of juvenile offenders in France at the time.[9]
According to Annette Insdorf writing for the Criterion Collection, the film is "rooted in Truffaut's childhood."[7] This includes how both Antoine and Truffaut "found a substitute home in the movie theater" and both did not know their biological fathers.[7]
