Shoot the Piano PlayerFrance
1960, 84min.
Dir. Francois Truffaut, Scr. F.Truffaut, M.Moussy, Dir. of Phot. R.Coutard, Compos. G.Delerue, Art Dir. J.Mely.
Cast: Charles Aznavour (Edouard Saroyan/Charlie Kohler), Nicole Berger (Theresa), Marie Dubois (Lena), Michele Mercier (Clarisse), Albert Remy (Chico Saroyan ), Jean-Jacques Aslanian (Richard Saroyan), Richard Kanayan (Fido Saroyan).
Charlie, once a renowned concert pianist, now plays background music in a run-down bar. A sympathetic waitress there loves him, but Charlie can neither forgive nor forget his former wife's infidelity. His simple life takes a turn for the violent, however, when his brother comes into the bar one day with two gangsters in tow -- gangsters bent on getting even with Charlie for a past offense. | Truffaut, François François Truffaut
Born 06.02.1932, Paris, France, died 21.10.1984, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France
In 1947, aged 15, he founded a film club and met André Bazin, a French critic, who becomes his protector. In 1953, he published his first movie critiques in "Les Cahiers du Cinema." In this magazine, Truffaut and some of his friends as passionate as he is became defender of what they call the "author policy". In 1954, as a test, Truffaut directed his first short film. Two years afterwords, in 1956, he assisted Roberto Rossellini with some later abandoned projects.
In 1957 Truffaut founded his own production company "Les Films du Carrosse". He also directed The Brats (1957), considered as the real first step of his cinematographic work. The other big year was 1959: the huge success of his first full-length film The 400 blows (1959) was the beginning of the New Wave, a new way of making movies in France.
From 1959 until his death, François Truffaut's life and films are mixed up. Truffaut was the most popular and successful French film director ever. His main themes were passion, women, childhood and faithfulness.
Filmography
Une visite (1955), The Brats (1957), The Four Hundred Blows (1959), Shoot the Pianist (1960), The Sad Sack (1960), A Story of Water (1961), Antoine and Colette (1962), Jules and Jim (1962), Love at Twenty (1962), The Soft Skin (1964), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), The Bride Wore Black (1968), Stolen Kisses (1968), Mississippi Mermaid (1969), The Wild Boy (1970), Bed and Board (1970), Two English Girls (1971), A Gorgeous Bird Like Me (1972), The American Night (1973), The Story of Adele H (1975), Pocket Money (1976), The Man Who Loved Women (1977), The Green Room (1978), Love on the Run (1979), The Last Metro (1980), The Woman Next Door (1981), Finally, Sunday (1983).
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