Tirez sur le pianiste - François Truffaut (1960)

I like Truffaut's work.I enjoyed the Antoine Doinel series and Jules et Jim. This is a little masterpiece. It does take a lot of genre elements but it is also an author film and very innovative. 

Simplicity is something I like in films. This is just casual and natural yet very creative. The night walks are great... you can even see the camera shadow, but it doesn't matter as the narrative flows so well.

There are things like inserting subtitles... you do wonder what was that about, as it's not repeated anywhere else. I wasn't too bothered by the non-related stories added in the middle.. I didn't really think it wasn't related. 

Charles Aznavour is just great. His performance is just perfect, he was such a good actor he should have been in better known films in his youth. I should probably see more of his films.

Tirez sur le pianiste

Baisers volés - François Truffaut (1968)

I expected this to be a drama... I was surprised it was a lighthearted comedy! Instead of feeling sorry for his character he makes fun of him, taking the best out of his funny nature.

I was also surprised it was colour, it looks nice. The camera is nice. The editing... has strange things, but I liked it. Maybe the cuts are a little bold but I like it that way (I am really not sure who else notices cuts).

Antoine Doinel is older, he's not the rebel boy any more. He tries to be as normal as everyone else is... though he's a little dodgy. I think Jean-Pierre Léaud does a great job: he's comic without exaggerating, Antoine is a little confused and out of place but it doesn't really matter to him.As I saw the film I couldn't help but think about Truffaut himself, and really he couldn't have found an actor who looked more like him (even the hair!)

Baisers Volés

Antoine et Colette - François Truffaut (1962)

This is a short film, part of a collection called L'amour à vingt ans. One shouldn't expect more from it than what you would of any other short film (somehow I think it's a format not considered entirely seriously). Anyway, I think it works well for all 27 minutes of it - I have a very personal theory that an average short film can be 8-10 minutes and it won't be damaged, only very good short films can last 10-15 minutes and they will keep you engaged for so long... and there are very few excellent short films that can last more than that and still remain interesting and not bore you. You can say in those terms that Antoine et Colette does that.

It's not a big story or very innovative but it's really well narrated. It's also an incredibly modern storytelling, it's the kind of narrative that's still used these days.. it fools you so much that you forget it was actually done fifty years ago. 50! 



Antoine et Colette