The opening of Shoot the Piano Player, François Truffaut's second feature film, is one of the signal moments of the French New Wave--an inspired intersection of grim fatality and happy accident, location shooting and lurid melodrama, movie convention and frowzy, uncontainable life. A man runs through deserted night streets, .. Read more
| Starring | Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicola Berger, Albert Remy |
|---|---|
| Director | Francois Truffaut |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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The opening of Shoot the Piano Player, François Truffaut's second feature film, is one of the signal moments of the French New Wave--an inspired intersection of grim fatality and happy accident, location shooting and lurid melodrama, movie convention and frowzy, uncontainable life. A man runs through deserted night streets, stalked by the lights of a car. It's a definitive film noir situation, promptly sidetracked--yet curiously not undercut--by real-life slapstick: watching over his shoulder for pursuers, the running man charges smack into a lamppost. The figure that helps him to his feet is not one of the pursuers (they've oddly disappeared) but an anonymous passer-by, who proceeds to escort him for a block or two, genially schmoozing about the mundane, slow-blooming glories of marriage. The Good Samaritan departs at the next turning, never to be identified and never to be seen again. And the first man--who, despite this evocative introduction, is not even destined to be the main character of the movie--immediately resumes his helter-skelter flight from an as-yet-unspecified and unseen menace.
At this point in his career--right after The 400 Blows, just before his great Jules and Jim--the world seemed wide for Truffaut, as wide as the Dyaliscope screen that he and cinematographer Raoul Coutard deployed with unprecedented spontaneity and lyricism. Anything might wander into frame and become part of the flow: an oddball digression, an unexpected change of mood, a small miracle of poetic insight. The official agenda of the movie is adapting a noir-ish story by American writer David Goodis, about a celebrated concert musician (Charles Aznavour) hiding out as a piano player in a saloon. He's on the run as much as the guy--his older brother--in the first scene. But whereas the brother is worried about a couple of buffoonish gangsters, Charlie Koller is ducking out on life, love and the possibility that he might be hurt, or cause hurt, again. Decades after its original release, Shoot the Piano Player remains as fresh, exhilarating, and heartbreaking--as open to the magic of movies and life--as ever. --Richard T Jameson
| Starring | Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicola Berger, Albert Remy |
|---|---|
| Director | Francois Truffaut |
| Studio | CINEMA CLUB |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 18 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 1960 To Rent: DVD: 25 Sep 2006 |
Often overlooked, Truffautâs wonderful second filmâ"sandwiched between art-house evergreens The Four Hundred Blows... read more on Time Out
- 8
- 4
I love french new wave
it's so great how they use documentary camera's and whizz around the streets of france, if you watch this and singing in the rain you can really ponder... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
- 1
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Aznavour for Sure
Shoot the Piano Player was interesting but flawed, and didn’t compare favourably with Truffaut’s first full length feature 400 Blows.
The ... read more »
- 0
- 0
Class Act
This is a sublimely acted and directed film, with Charles Aznavour in superbly laconic form as the pianist who has fallen on hard times. The filming is perfect... read more »
- 2
- 0
New Life with shooting
A fascinating, flawed film. iconoclastic and acclaimed. ... no; not 'flawed', but with that acceptance of imperfections which is the daring vital ... read more »
by:
Tolis
from Kent
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