Shoot the Pianist (1960)
(Tirez sur le pianiste)
Country: FR
Technical: bw/scope 80m
Director: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Aznavour, Nicole Berger, Marie Dubois, Michèle Mercier
Synopsis:
The blighted career of a concert pianist turned bar musician takes a another turn for the worse when his brother gets him involved with gangsters.
Review:
The director's second feature is an unusual mix of 'polar' homage and nouvelle vague manifesto, complete with flashbacks and downbeat settings for the one and visual tricks and humour for the other. It also inaugurates the trademark loquacity and voice-over narration, making it quite a talk-heavy experience with which subtitles cannot hope to keep up. Undeniably rough-edged (the direct sound recording is far from perfect), this is also part of its charm and it breathes a love of cinema through every frame, as well as of American pop culture. (Is there another kind?)
(Tirez sur le pianiste)
Country: FR
Technical: bw/scope 80m
Director: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Aznavour, Nicole Berger, Marie Dubois, Michèle Mercier
Synopsis:
The blighted career of a concert pianist turned bar musician takes a another turn for the worse when his brother gets him involved with gangsters.
Review:
The director's second feature is an unusual mix of 'polar' homage and nouvelle vague manifesto, complete with flashbacks and downbeat settings for the one and visual tricks and humour for the other. It also inaugurates the trademark loquacity and voice-over narration, making it quite a talk-heavy experience with which subtitles cannot hope to keep up. Undeniably rough-edged (the direct sound recording is far from perfect), this is also part of its charm and it breathes a love of cinema through every frame, as well as of American pop culture. (Is there another kind?)
(Tirez sur le pianiste)
Country: FR
Technical: bw/scope 80m
Director: François Truffaut
Cast: Charles Aznavour, Nicole Berger, Marie Dubois, Michèle Mercier
Synopsis:
The blighted career of a concert pianist turned bar musician takes a another turn for the worse when his brother gets him involved with gangsters.
Review:
The director's second feature is an unusual mix of 'polar' homage and nouvelle vague manifesto, complete with flashbacks and downbeat settings for the one and visual tricks and humour for the other. It also inaugurates the trademark loquacity and voice-over narration, making it quite a talk-heavy experience with which subtitles cannot hope to keep up. Undeniably rough-edged (the direct sound recording is far from perfect), this is also part of its charm and it breathes a love of cinema through every frame, as well as of American pop culture. (Is there another kind?)