{"id":12168,"date":"2010-08-27T12:05:27","date_gmt":"2010-08-27T19:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12168"},"modified":"2021-01-03T12:18:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-03T19:18:41","slug":"shoot-the-piano-player-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12168","title":{"rendered":"Shoot the Piano Player (1960)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Lost in the night, you can&#8217;t stop the shadows from moving in.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2-224x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-61399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2-224x300.png 224w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2-765x1024.png 765w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2-96x128.png 96w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2-768x1027.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2-202x270.png 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Shoot-the-Piano-Player-Poster2.png 829w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA pianist (Charles Aznavour) with a troubled family and a tragic past falls for a waitress (Marie Dubois) and begins a tentative romance.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Francois Truffaut Films<\/li>\n<li>French Films<\/li>\n<li>Gangsters<\/li>\n<li>Musicians<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary is an enormous fan of this second feature by Francois Truffaut, which was adapted &#8220;from a melodramatic [American] crime novel&#8221; by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.davidgoodis.com\/\">David Goodis<\/a>, and &#8220;borrow[s] from such diverse sources as American &#8216;B&#8217; gangster pictures &#8230; [and] fatalistic <em>noir<\/em> films made in America and France.&#8221; He argues that &#8220;it is one of [Truffaut&#8217;s] finest achievements, a picture that still seems excitingly original&#8221;, &#8220;still deeply affects the true movie lover&#8221;, and is &#8220;full of unforgettable moments&#8221;. He claims that &#8220;no film better juxtaposes comedy and dark tragedy&#8221;, and that &#8220;no film is more romantic&#8221; despite making &#8220;a strong case for not falling in love&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>While I&#8217;m not sure I would agree with Peary that NO other film does any of these things better (!), his overall sentiment is well-taken &#8212; and it&#8217;s true that this remains one of Truffaut&#8217;s most cinematically innovative and provocative films. In his insightful analysis of the film&#8217;s thematic arc, Peary notes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;In one sense the film is a comical look at a timid man trying to sneak through life in a loud, dangerous world and, if he can muster up the courage, buy a drink for or hold hands with a pretty girl&#8230; But on a sadder level it&#8217;s about the destructiveness of love, how men treat women as sexual objects, how men&#8217;s actions contradict their thoughts, and&#8230; how the continuous passivity of men like Aznavour can keep them &#8216;alive&#8217; but result in [death all around them].&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Adding to the film&#8217;s enduring enjoyment is <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aznavour\">Aznavour&#8217;s<\/a> &#8220;oddly moving performance&#8221; in the title role; an enormously popular French singer in real life, here he plays a &#8220;meek pianist who works in a bar&#8221;, a former &#8220;successful concert pianist&#8221; who has &#8220;withdrawn into anonymity&#8221; after the suicide of his wife (Nicole Berger). While nursing his considerable emotional wounds, he&#8217;s faced with life-threatening trouble on the homefront, given that &#8220;gangsters [are] trying to get revenge on [his] two adult brothers for double-crossing them after a robbery&#8221;. He gains temporary comfort from a friendly neighborhood hooker (Michele Mercier), and attempts a tentative romance with barmaid Marie Dubois (lovely in her first credited film debut) &#8212; but it&#8217;s clear that more trouble than joy is in store for our &#8220;timid&#8221; protagonist, whose desire for a life of simple contentment continues to elude him.   <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Peary gives away major spoilers in his review, so be forewarned. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charles Aznavour as &#8220;Charlie&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-aznavour.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-aznavour.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12175\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Marie Dubois as Lena<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-dubois.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-dubois.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12176\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Creative direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-creative.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-creative.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12177\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Raoul Coutard&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-coutard.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/shoot-the-piano-player-coutard.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12178\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as one of Truffaut&#8217;s most celebrated films. <\/p>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0054389\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1962\/07\/24\/archives\/screen-scrambled-satiretruffauts-shoot-the-piano-player-opens.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/index.php?page=review&#038;id=1593\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1836pian.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/89987\/shoot-the-piano-player#articles-reviews?articleId=614547\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/tirez-sur-le-pianiste\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Lost in the night, you can&#8217;t stop the shadows from moving in.&#8221; Synopsis: A pianist (Charles Aznavour) with a troubled family and a tragic past falls for a waitress (Marie Dubois) and begins a tentative romance. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Francois Truffaut Films French Films Gangsters Musicians Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Peary is an enormous fan of this second feature by Francois Truffaut, which was adapted &#8220;from a melodramatic [American] crime novel&#8221; by David Goodis, and &#8220;borrow[s] from such&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12168\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12168"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61400,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168\/revisions\/61400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}