Shoot the Piano Player

Shoot the Piano Player

Directed by François Truffaut • 1960 • France
Starring Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger

François Truffaut is drunk on the possibilities of cinema in this, his most playful film. Part thriller, part comedy, part tragedy, SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER relates the adventures of mild-mannered piano player Charlie (Charles Aznavour, in a triumph of hangdog deadpan) as he stumbles into the criminal underworld and a whirlwind love affair. Loaded with gags, guns, clowns, and thugs, this razor-sharp homage to the American gangster film is pure nouvelle vague.

Shoot the Piano Player
  • Shoot the Piano Player

    Directed by François Truffaut • 1960 • France
    Starring Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger

    François Truffaut is drunk on the possibilities of cinema in this, his most playful film. Part thriller, part comedy, part tragedy, SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER relates the adventures of mild-mannered ...

Extras

  • SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER Commentary

    Recorded in 2005, this commentary features Peter Brunette and Annette Insdorf. Brunette is the Reynolds Professor of Film Studies at Wake Forest University and the editor of a book on SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER. Insdorf is director of undergraduate film studies at Columbia University and the author o...

  • Cinéastes de notre temps: François Truffaut ou l’esprit critique

    Directed by Jean-Pierre Chartier, “François Truffaut ou l’esprit critique” was an episode of the French television series “Cinéastes de notre temps.” In this excerpt from that episode, originally broadcast in 1965, Truffaut reflects on SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER.

  • “Pour changer étoiles et toiles”: François Truffaut

    In this excerpt from a 1982 episode of the program “Pour changer étoiles et toiles,” François Truffaut discusses writer David Goodis and the process of adapting his novel “Down There” for the film SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER.

  • Raoul Coutard on SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER

    Legendary cinematographer Raoul Coutard began his career collaborating with some of the most celebrated directors of the French new wave and went on to shoot more than seventy feature films. In 2003, he was interviewed in Paris and discussed SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, his first film with director Fr...

  • Marie Dubois on SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER

    Marie Dubois had appeared in only one film when François Truffaut chose her to star as Léna in SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER. She went on to appear in films by Louis Malle and Luchino Visconti, among others. In August of 2005, she gave this exclusive interview in Paris.

  • Suzanne Schiffman on SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER

    This rare interview with Suzanne Schiffman, François Truffaut’s closest collaborator, was conducted in April 1986, in Paris. The interview was originally intended for Rainer Gansera’s documentary WORKING WITH TRUFFAUT. The Criterion Collection gained access to the complete interview and edited a ...

  • SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER Screen Test: Marie Dubois

  • Jeff Smith on Georges Delerue

    Award-winning composer Georges Delerue wrote scores for more than 200 films—in addition to composing operas, ballets, chamber pieces, and more. He is perhaps best known for the eleven films he scored for François Truffaut. This audio essay, written by music historian Jeff Smith, explores Delerue’...

  • Widescreen Composition in SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER

    Professor Jeff Smith explores how François Truffaut harnesses the 2.35:1 aspect ratio in his wildly playful gangster-movie pastiche, a giddy high point in the French New Wave’s assault on cinematic convention.