Shoot The Piano Player

Shoot The Piano Player
1960 - France
Directed By Francoise Truffaut



SYNOPSIS

Charlie (Charles Aznavour) is a piano player in a bar. His estranged brother shows up, followed by two gangsters because he stole money. The brother escapes but the gangsters target Charlie. They got Charlies address from his boss. When confronting his boss, Charlie accidentally kills him and is forced into hiding and forced to rejoin his family.... all the while as his relationship with Lena (Marie Dubois,) the waitress at the bar, develops into love.



MY THOUGHTS

The French coined the term "film noir" soon after that wholly American film style started to fade from prominence. That style was influenced by the gangster films of the 1930's. Noir was the primary influence on the French New Wave films of the very late 50's and early 60's. Francois Truffaut was one of the primary directors of this new wave.
Here, in Shoot The Piano Player, noir takes center stage from the outset of the film and remains for much of the film. A man on the run amongst the shadows that could have been outtakes from the end of The Third Man... but then the man comes face to face with a lamppost.

This is a great example of the film's great sense of humor. It occasionally drifts into the very silly variety but that does balance much of the tragedy in the tale.

This is Truffaut's second film and couldn't be further from his first, The 400 Blows. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, even though Blows is a masterpiece.
Shoot the Piano Player uses a jumbled narrative, skipping around in time, which could have been a bit jarring at the time, but it's and other film's influence have made it commonplace these days.

All the actors deliver stellar performances, especially Aznavour, who nails his character perfectly.

The film bombed on initial release, but has gained respect in the years since and is definitely recommended for fans of French New Wave and/or film noir.