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Shoot the Piano Player (The Criterion Collection)

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Truffaut said he realised, when filming 'Shoot the Pianist', a gangster film, that he hated gangster films. He shows his contempt most by consistently emphasising human truth over generic convention, but finally allowing generic convention to win brutally through. For Truffaut, genre is incompatible with humanity and its messiness.

Like many of my favourite films (and it is my favourite), 'Shoot' is a reworking of 'Vertigo', the story of a man who lets two women die because of his own emotional cowardice, leaving him in emotional shellshock. Aznavour's performance - and this isn't sufficiently realised - is one of the towering achievements of cinema, a complete, physical embodiment of diffidence, guilt, solitude and emotional paralysis, a man more lethal in his dithering passivity than murderous gangsters are in their violence.

Like all the best art, 'Shoot' is a tragicomedy, moving bewilderingly between the two moods, creating a devastating emotional texture - the hilarious scene where Charlie debates the best way to hold Lena only to tragically realise she's gone, or the frightening abduction scene that sees captor and juvenile captive argue comically over scarves.

As the title suggests, music is this film's soul, the only thing that can transcend genre for Charlie, the only way an emotionally dead man can feel.

Truffaut's restlessly inventive mise-en-scene, switching between studied artifice and breathless open air filming, is full of Hitchcock, Godard, Ophuls, Ray, Renoir - all the best of cinema; but in truth, there is no other film like it.

Truffaut's "Shoot The Piano Player" is a remarkable thing: a funny and light-on-its-feet movie about despair. The director combines the grittiness of David Goodis' noir novel "Down There" with his own more optimistic humanism and the full stylistic arsenal of the French "New Wave" to create a film that manages to say as much about Art and Life as any really good, satisfying book. Charles Aznavour plays the timid Edouard, aka Charlie, a piano player in a cheap bar who is really a classical concert pianist hiding from a catastrophic, tragic history. A pretty new waitress knows who he is and encourages him to live again. But as in most American gangster movies, you can't run away from your past. Truffaut includes an amazing amount of philosophy about women, Fate, success, failure, marriage; all couched in a runaway style that is familiar to us today, but must have been shocking and exhilirating back in 1960. (The famous cut to the "old woman dropping dead" could have come directly from MAD magazine.) And who hasn't sometimes felt bedeviled by fortune and shyness: we greatly identify with Charlie. The comically incompetent yet sinister villains are also a great touch. This movie feels as fresh as it must have 40 years ago.

Truffaut's second film after THE 400 BLOWS, and it finds him experimenting all over the place. Charles Aznavour plays Charlie Kohler, once a very prominent concert pianist, but now playing honky-tonk in a back alley joint. Once he thought only of his great career, but in the process lost his wife to suicide (she slept with his promoter to help advance his career and he could never forgive her); now he wants only obscurity. But he inadvertently gets mixed up with a couple of thugs who are after his two brothers, and he falls in love with another woman (Marie Dubois). The thugs end up kidnapping Aznavour and Dubois, and although the two lovers had made plans that Aznavour would pursue his "career" again, fate seems to be against them: she is killed in a shoot-out at the end.

Truffaut said this movie was "a grab bag." And it does seem to have everything in it but the kitchen sink: it's rooted in "B" Hollywood gangster movies, is a wonderful mixture of comedy and tragedy, and has almost no storyline. In fact, Truffaut throws the storyline to the wind: it's a picture of touches, of quick, fleeting moments, rather than narrative continuity. Its juxtapositions are wonderful: fame and obsurity, love and hate, gangsters with a sense of humor, lots of action and the desire to go and do nothing. It's a great movie - funny and sad - and one filled with many memorable moments. Definitely worth a watch.

Diverging is the first word that comes into mind after having seen François Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player. The word in itself often brings to mind confusion and bewilderment, but this is not the case with Truffaut's film even though it is refreshingly surprising and innovative. The story presents one idea that delivers a new concept that becomes the parent of another fresh notion. A continual flow of new impressions allows the viewer to reflect for a brief second on the current state while awaiting the next sensation. Nothing is constant, as the story continuously provides new information, which after awhile begins to support itself in order to help generate different a thought altogether, as two different ideas converge where a third and unlikely concept emerges. Eventually the massive amount of thoughts delivers a complete and exhaustive idea - the show must go on.

Truffaut opens with the inside of a piano clinking away on a joyful tune. The massive number of keystrokes on the piano ultimately delivers the upbeat melody from the inside, which serves like a reminder to the audience about the complexity of a melody that rests in a large number of basic sounds. It could also analogously direct the viewer in to the concept of how basic elements in a series could present a rather complex idea, which the film also does in multiple levels. The inside of the piano could also symbolize the inside of a person, as people can talk about how they feel inside, and on occasion, the feelings emerge through actions. In either case, the complete truth might never appear, as a person has the power to decide what they say, or show through their actions. There are also moments when the spoken words conflict with the actions, yet life continues to run its course towards its unavoidable doom.

A jump cut, much used by Godard in his brilliant Breathless (1960) to save money, moves the audience from the piano to a man escaping something in the middle of the Parisian night. The scene provides a sense of urgency together through a number of intriguing camera angles that accentuate the stress until the man slams into a streetlight. The sudden stop provides an inspirational flash, as it surprises the audience while the question lingers in the air - from what is the man running. Consequently, a stranger appears and helps him up. Again, Truffaut astonishes the audience, as the stranger and the man begin an amusingly interesting conversation about relationships with women. However, the chase is not over, as the man continues his running escape until he arrives to a local bar where his brother Charlie Kohler (Charles Aznavour) works as a piano player.

Besides the scurrying getaway, the audience quickly learns that there is something mischievous in the works, as the man addresses his brother Edouard. However, for the viewer to guess will only get the audience in the wrong direction, as Truffaut intentionally uses visual syntax and signs in a deceptive manner. Everything that Truffaut does in the film breaks against the traditional visual narrative, which helps bring out the original experience that rests within the story. For example, Charlie, or should we call him Edouard, refuses to help his brother who is in deep trouble with a couple of pipe smoking gangsters. It also should be noted that the pipe is often one of the tools to symbolize the law enforcement such as Sherlock Holmes. Nonetheless, Charlie aids his brother in his escape, as his words also conflict with his actions.

In the process of helping his brother, Charlie ends up in trouble himself and he brings his neighbor Clarisse (Michèle Mercier) into the mess, as he sleeps with Clarisse almost every night. During the days, she takes care of his much younger brother Fido while she finds time in-between to make a living as a prostitute. Truffaut also provides a positive view of the oldest profession in the world, which also conflicts the cinematic norm of the time. At the same time, Charlie desires to approach Lena (Marie Dubois) who works as a barmaid at the same bar he plays the piano. While courting Lena more of Charlie's past surfaces, especially information in regards to his ex-wife Therese (Nicole Berger) comes forward in an extended flashback. After countless unexpected turns the film eventually will draw towards its end, as the story has many times circled the important aspects of life while never truly stated what is significant in life.

It is evident that Truffaut had a soft spot for film noir and gangster films, as he was also an expert on Hitchcock. He even published a book on Hitchcock. The gangster element is prevalent in Shoot the Piano Player, but it is far from the only important aspect in the film. Truffaut also touches on several issues that were important to him such as relationships and freedom. However, he does not continue in the same light, as filmmakers before him, as he bends and purposely breaks the many indoctrinated rules of cinema from before the 1950s. It is within the cinematic rebelliousness much of the diverging characteristics emerge, as Truffaut prompts a large number of ideas that at times seem to go wandering aimlessly. This directionless impression converges into new ideas that help strengthen the artistic perspective of the film. Ultimately, it allows the viewer to enter an utterly unique visual experience that will play with the audience's preconceived notions and assumptions, which will both intrigue and entertain those who desire something beyond the ordinary even though the film is over 50-years old.

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"Shoot the Piano Player" known in France as "Tirez sur le pianiste" is one of Fran?ois Truffaut's earlies works and is quite popular.

It is about a pianist working at a bar in Paris. Depressed over the suicide of his wife, he begins to fall in love witha waitress at the bar. The pianist's brothers have gotten into trouble with some mobsters and seek his help.

The Criterion edition is a double disc set with many extra features.

Disc 1 contains the film with optional audio commentary by film scholars, Annette Insdorf and Peter Brunette and a theatrical trailer.

Disc 2 contains interviews with Charles Aznavour and Marie Dubois, director of photography Raoul Coutard, and Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, Marie Dubois' screen test, excerpts from 2 documantaries on the film and the novel which the film is based on, and an audio essay on the film's music.

In addition the liner notes have 28 bages of other material.

This is the best edition of the film to get.

This luminous little movie contains 2 of the greatest scenes ever put on film. Charlie, a piano player in a seedy Paris bar, has locked away his heart so even he can't get to it. A young woman who works at the same bar is determined to crash through the wall he has constructed around himself. Through her, his painful past is discovered and the promise of the present ends in the disolution of hope. Truffaut is constantly surprising us with the unexpected. There are car chases & kidnappings & excapes and even oaths acted out; and all with an air of the inevitable. There's never been another film like it. The scene where the barmaid takes him home & they sleep together consists of 360 degree pans around the room with cuts of the couple settling into each others' arms as they sleep. It is one of the most poignant & beautiful scenes ever filmed. (The pans with goldfish feeding at the top of their aquarium are expecially touching.) And there is a scene of the hero Charlie, going to his piano audition, that is done with such economy of style that the mixture of clashing feelings comes flooding out. 'Don't shoot the piano player; he's doing the best he can.' Not to be missed.

This was one of the movies that made me a fan of foreign cinema. I first saw it in college at a small art house theater that had been owned by Pauline Kael in Berkeley, before she moved to New York. Each film was accompanied by notes she had prepared. What a great way to start one's education in great movies.

This was also the perfect film for a young college student. Charles Aznavour plays an alienated pianist who is working on a honky tonk piano in a bar. We learn as the film unfolds that he is excruciatingly shy - a problem that afflicted him in his earlier career as a concert pianist, and that also keeps him from responding to the overtures of a beautiful young woman who takes an interest in him. They do finally get together and have an idyllic rendezvous in the country, but things unfold to a shocking and tragic end. The film closes with Aznavour back in the bar retreating into his honky tonk piano.

Truffaut gives us a black and white film in which verite and surreal elements weave together. The sense of alienation is palpable. The role of fate and how it pursues us is presented with black humor and some funny concrete sight gags. All in all it combines to form a masterpiece. Not easy to watch for those not familiar with French cinema, but very well worth it. Highly recommended.

How on earth can I be the first reviewer of this movie -- one of the greatest "film noir" of all time -- in the same overall style as Grifters. It stars the enigmatic Charles Aznavour, one of France's legendary Tony Bennett singers and the lover of Edith Piaf in the late years of her melodramatic and tragic life.

Its story is sad and elegiac; the withdrawal from human interaction by Aznavour after the tragedy of -- well, watch the movie -- and his gradual reconnection, not of his choice, with the world of feelins. It is partly a thriller, sort of. It is funny. It is filmed in black and white and stylistically one of the finest films of all time. It has Truffaut's extraordinary gentleness and laconic casual style that can rise to an intensity of emotion that is devastating. There is a death scene that captures all his strengths in his handling of actors/actresses and mis-en-scene.

Truffaut seems somewhat out of fashion today. He is in the great tradition of the French humanists, most obviously Jean Renoir.

I hope a few film lovers come across my review. If you like Seventh Seal (Bergman), Les Enfants du Paradis (Carne), Jules et Jim (Truffaut) or Regle du Jeu (RenoirO then this is for you.

A great film for anyone who wish to start watching Truffaut's works. Sandwiched between "The 400 Blows" and "Jules and Jim," this film is often overlooked and underrated. I've watched almost all of his works, and I'm amazed how "Shoot the Piano Player" still stands out and charms me.

The plot becomes purely an "exterior" after a couple times of viewing. Of course, one of the magic of this movie is that it refueses to be any genre you think it would be: All of the film noir/thriller/chase type of scenes turn out to be really humourous and light hearted; it's a comedy but also undeniably sad.

What remains in my head is Charles Aznavour's pianist himself. Here is a man who is beaten up by life with no career future; he's shy but would kill a man if he has to; he treats women well and they like him; and he always seems to make the slight wrong mistakes that changed his life. But he has his piano and that's all he needs. The expression when he plays tells you that he has dreamed of something bigger but has no complain about where he is.

This is the most freely structured Truffaut with some of his most lovable characters. And the DVD with it's widescreen transfer has amazing image quality for a black and white film in 1960. Although nothing extra in the disc, this one worth the money!

I am a great fan of the late, great French director, Francois Truffaut. I must confess that I haven't seen nearly enough of his films. It was so great to add SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER to the list of his films that I have watched, and it is definitely a great one. PIANO PLAYER is a cross between French new wave, film noir, slapstick comedy and a tribute to American gangster movies. Based on DOWN THERE, a novel by David Goodis, this 1960 film features a piano player with a past (Charles Aznavour). Though, he plays nightly at a honky tonk, this man once packed concert halls and had a classical repertoire. We find about that later. Taking the name "Charles," he has started his life over with a new, adopted identity. What's more, he has tried to turn his back on the shadey dealings of his brothers. This doesn't go according to plan, of course. What's more, he finds romance with the beautiful Lena (Marie Dubois), a waitress at the honky tonk. Then, the plot continues to thicken.

I really don't want to spoil this for you, so, no more plot details will be revealed here. However, there is a very good reason that this masterpiece was added to the Criterion Collection of classic cinema, worthy of being preserved as part of their DVD collection. Though, initially, Parisian audiences didn't take so well to this film, it went on to earn a cult following, of sorts. The film noir (black film) inspired cinematography, that boldly deceives us with shadow, light, and obscure, angular shots, paired with broad, self-effacing humor, makes this story truly distinctive. Charlie, the piano player, is neither hero nor villain. He is a man put in the middle of a series of absurd and (ultimately) violent incidents he must make his way through. Does it help that the man must battle his timidity, as well as his lack of courage? No. Ample references are made to other films in this movie, and you can definitely see that Truffaut was paying tribute to films that had inspired him, as well as creating his own vision (he adapted the screenplay from the novel himself).