Nicole Berger : Théresa, la femme d'Edouard

My favourite film.

'Shoot the Pianist' opens with the insides of a playing piano, the inner machinations of a musical instrument. This image points to the film's ambiguity. it says that this film will similarly uncover the insides (heart, soul) of a man who gives nothing away on the surface. it will suggest that his insides are like the piano's insides, the the only way he can express what's buried inside of him is through piano-playing - this is what gives the film its emotional pull. but it also suggests that Charlie Koller's fatal emotional timidity has warped or deadened that soul, made it a mere mechanism, alive only in a technical sense. More objectively, it amounts to a manifesto for Truffaut's intentions with the film, the way he will turn the gangster genre inside out, a genre he confessed to not really liking.

Although Truffaut would go on to make self-conscious and superficial tributes to his hero (e.g. 'La Peau Douce', 'The Bride Wore Black'), 'Shoot the Pianist' is his most Hitchcockian film. Most obviously, it is a reworking of 'Vertigo', the story of a homme fatal (Koller - black widower?) who kills two women because he couldn't say the right thing, because he behaved like a man should, rather than the way he really feels. Lena is in effect a reincarnation of his dead wife, a woman who wants to reinstate his 'original' identity. Like Scottie Ferguson, Charlie is a man paralysed by memory, shellshocked by his experiences with an elusive love that could so easily have been his.

But, again like 'Vertigo', 'Pianist' is the study of masculine identity and its dissolution. When we first see Charlie he is literally in a scrapheap, getting dressed in front of a mirror. This mirror motif recurs throughout, and with it the question: who is Charlie Koller? The farmboy sibling of gangsters; the renowned pianist; the back-room tinkler; the father to his young brother; the man who desires but cannot ask, who keeps destructively pulling back? Throughout the real 'man' is deluged by different names, images (posters, paintings), stories etc. about himself: his own personality is divided by the talks he conducts with himself. Even the heartbreaking flashback sequence about his past is related to him by someone else. In the fear of losing his identity, of giving himself in union, Charlie loses everything.

But 'Pianist' is also reminiscent of early, British Hitchcock films like 'The 39 Steps' and 'Young and Innocent', in its playful irreverence with genre. David Thomson has said it was a film Laurence Sterne might have made, and, like 'Tristam Shandy', like those Hitchcock movies, the main genre narrative is frequently broken off by digressions and bits of business. The film plunges us in media res in the gangster genre, a man being chased in the obscurity. He bangs into a lamppost, and is helped by a passer-by. They start talking about marriage.

This is emblematic of the film as a whole - a gangster film that keeps stopping to talk about love, women, family, music, the past etc. When the genre kicks in again - Chico (gangster name, yes, but Marx Brother too) rushes into his brother's bar, the tension is somewhat undermined by the comedy bar-room singer bouncing to the cymbals. When Charlie and Lena are kidnapped by the two hoods, a fraught situation turns into an hilarious banter about women and dirty old men. the most frightening sequence - the abduction of young Fido - provokes the funniest scene, where captor and captive debate the authenticity of the former's Japanese metal scarf.

But the film works the other way too, when the comic unexpectedly flashes into the tragic. In an early scene, Charlie agonises to himself about the proper etiquette to be used in handling Lena - this is a touching, sad scene, but full of the comedy of embarrassment. Suddenly, having dithered so long, Charlie realises she's gone. The scrunched pain on his face is devastating.

'Pianist' is my favourite film. For Charles Aznavour's performance, the embodiment of shy timidity leading to emotional paralysis, and my altar ego. For the Godardian style, mixing abrupt, immediate, hand-held location shooting, and natural sound excitement, with a grasp of mise-en-scene worthy of the great 1950s melodramatists (the framing, cutting characters off from one another, trapping them in their decor; or the elaborate, Ophulsian camerawork, such as the 'Le Plaisir' gliding outside the bar; the circular narrative that sees continuity tragically affirmed in the shape of the new waitress).

'Pianist' couldn't have been made without Melville's 'Bob le Flambeur', and its flippancy and humanising of genre, but the influence of this on Cassavetes, Penn, Scorcese etc. was immense, for its generosity to all its characters, showing, despite Eustache, that a good woman can be a maman and putain. For the comic chutzpah, the dazzling abduction scene, the triptych revealing the boss's betrayal, the clumsy murder, the wonderfully bumbling hoods, Fido's Hawksian little dance. For Truffaut's concern with time and decay and art. For the haunting scene with the cello girl. For the music, fulfilling Noel Coward's dictum about the potency of cheap music, giving this short, strange movie its generous soul, a film that so humanely departs from genre it makes the generic climax grotesque, a DW Griffith nightmare in blinding white.

François Truffaut's second feature, Tirez sur le pianiste, is a deliberately wild and chaotic satire of the American gangster pictures of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Truffaut tried to make Tirez sur le pianiste, or Shoot the Pianist, the complete opposite of his first picture, The 400 Blows, doing away with the sentimentality of the predecessor and making his second feature far more vicious, nonlinear and, occasionally, quite funny.

Based off of a pulp novel by David Goodis, the movie is about a once-famous piano player (Charles Aznavour) who gives up looking for the reason his wife left him, and now plays piano in a run-down Paris bar where he falls for a waitress, and must overcome his natural shyness in order to express his love for her. Unfortunately his brother gets him involved in a gangland feud, which gives the story an unnecessary (but welcomed) edge to the romance.

There are some highly amusing scenes, such as when Charles and his soon-to-be-girlfriend walk down a Paris sidewalk and he contemplates what to say, do, and how to act, without offending her or making a fool out of himself. We hear Charles' neurotic thoughts in voice-over – an effect now overused in cinema but back in 1960, very new. It wasn't until the intrusion of Woody Allen comedies such as Annie Hall that sporadic first-person narratives became popular – in the noir movies of the earlier decades voice-overs were sometimes used by narrators (such as in the cult classic Detour) but never in such a way as Shoot the Pianist's. It's one of the best scenes in the movie, and a great way of expressing the inner-workings of Charles, the character.

Shoot the Pianist's chaotic structure confused and overwhelmed many audiences when the film was released in 1960. Its content (violence, nudity, etc.) was not as welcomed by audiences as it is now, and as a result the film was a financial and critical failure. The humor was not appreciated, the insightful look at a French Everyman was not even noticed – it was ruled out as a dud, and that's all that mattered to anyone.

Over the years it has picked up a rather small cult following and fans of Truffaut's films have declared it to be one of his best pictures. Looking back now in light of such recent gangster genre hybrids such as Reservoir Dogs and Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Truffaut's movie not only seems more understandable but far ahead of its time. In relation to Reservoir Dogs it contains the same sort of standard, everyday nonchalance in accordance with gangsters – while it contains the narrative flow of Guy Ritchie's British gangster cult hit.

Regardless of how brilliant Shoot the Pianist seems forty years later, Truffaut was scarred by the negative press surrounding his second feature and never made another movie as daring (so to speak) or, more likely, downright fun as Tirez sur le pianiste. It's a very amusing movie, and it is one of the few 1960s films that doesn't seem dated compared to the film-making standards of modern-day Hollywood. The performances are flawless, the characters likable and realistic, the movie overall highly enjoyable and worth seeing more than just once. It is sadly one of Truffaut's most underrated movies, although hopefully in another forty years it will only be all the more appreciated for its qualities.

5/5

Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
26 October 2004

Shoot the Pianist is Francois Truffaut's attempt at mirroring the greatness of the classic gangster films. And suffice to say; it is a very nice attempt indeed. The film follows Charlie Kohler, a simple bar-side piano player. Charlie's life takes a turn for the more exciting one day when his brother turns up at the bar, telling his brother that a couple of gangsters that he and his other brother cheated out of their side of the loot from a job that the four did together are after him. Charlie also has a secret admirer; Lena, a barmaid at the bar he works in. Now this once simple piano player has gone from a quiet life at a piano to having to deal with gangsters, his brothers and a new love interest. But wait...there's more; is Charlie all that he seems? Is he merely a simple piano player? That's what makes this film great; it's never black and white (if you'll excuse the pun), and it is always ready to throw in another plot turn to keep you guessing.

After the universally acclaimed "The 400 Blows", Francois Truffaut had his work cut out for his next movie. Many will disagree, but I actually think he surpassed it. The 400 Blows is undoubtedly a more important work; but this film hits more of the right notes and is very much more enjoyable. The cast is absolutely flawless throughout; Charles Aznavour stars in the lead role. He gets his characterization spot on; his melancholy comes naturally and is believable throughout. Marie Debois and Nicole Berger star alongside Aznavour, and although they are more in the background; they still manage to impress. There is also a role here for Michèle Mercier, whom you may remember from the Mario Bava masterpiece; Black Sabbath.

Truffaut's cinematography is clean and crisp and the film is an aesthetic treat throughout. Despite being nearly 45 years old, the film also manages to retain a feeling of freshness, and that's something that not all crime thrillers of today can do after 4 years, let alone 45. Truffaut has also very obviously got an astute sense of humour - there's one part of the film involving one of the gangster's mother's dropping dead that made me laugh out loud. Let it never be said that the French can't be funny

The film features many anecdotes that ring true. My personal favourite is when Lena says that what you do today becomes a part of you tomorrow. It's simple, but very astute. Another good one is when one of the gangsters talks about all the lovely gadgets he has, and after listing them all he finishes with; "I'm bored". Truffaut obviously knows that material goods aren't what make people happy, and this film presents a rather amusing way of showing that. However, despite these and several other anecdotes; the film doesn't appear to have a defining point, which lessens its impact somewhat. Overall, however, Shoot the Pianist is a lovely little film that shouldn't be missed by anyone that professes to like gangster movies. It's amusing, has some points to make and its flawlessly acted and directed. Highest recommendations for this one.

Author: wooodenelephant from Spain
30 July 2007

Francois Truffaut was a film critic for the magazine Cahiers du cinéma. He was disenchanted with what he saw as a lack of originality and honesty in contemporary cinema. He developed the theory of the auteur in cinema - an idiosyncratic force such as his hero Hitchcock rather than a 'civil servant of the cinema'.

His motivation for entering the cinema was to make films which he, and others like him, wanted to see and which then didn't exist. Cinema with breadth and imagination, which took risks and broke rules. The zest and vitality of his vision is still evident so many years on.

After his impeccable full -length debut, Les Quatre Cents Coups (aka The 400 Blows), which was a slice of life / coming of age tale, Truffaut took a completely different subject matter for this second feature. The source novel is 'Down There', typical US pulp fiction by the little known David Goodis. Its a tale of crime set in seedy locations with a graceless linear plot. Obviously its the way the filmmakers use this source that makes Tirez Sur Le Pianiste the film it is.

Charles Aznavour, a mainstream celebrity in France, is the bizarre but perfect choice for the lead role of Charlie Kohler. His passive, indifferent demeanour makes him an anti-hero of a different kind to Cagney or Brando - one who is ineffective in either solving or preventing crime. This minor cinematic tradition I see as continuing with John Klute in Klute (1971), Marlowe in The Long Goodbye (1973), reaching its comical apex with The Dude in The Big Lebowski (1998).

Not, in fact, that Charlie has to solve any crimes. He is simply out to save his skin - and those of his brothers. His life is in danger throughout the film yet he is more preoccupied with whether or not he should take the arm of the attractive waitress Lena (Marie Dubois) from the dive where he plays the piano, as he walks her home in a scene that is a perfect marriage of its imagery and internal monologue. It is this kind of juxtaposition of themes (threat to life and romantic shyness) which makes this film such compelling and unpredictable viewing.

The film opens with a charming conversation about the secrets of a happy marriage, spoken by a character we never see again who simply runs into Charlie's brother Chico (Albert Rémy) - who is the catalyst for the 'plot'. The throwaway conversations are really more important to the creative spirit of the film than any of the plot's major concerns. This trend continues with the characters of Ernest and Momo, the pursuing heavies. Though evidently dangerous men, they speak tangentially on a range of subjects (mostly women, though) which cannot help but remind a modern audience of Tarantino's hit men in Pulp Fiction. Indeed much of what I said about Truffaut - how he was compelled to make rule-changing cinema that he and others wanted to see - could of course equally be applied to Tarantino.

The centrepiece of the film goes back to Charlie' past where he was a classical concert pianist. This beautiful vignette explains to us why Charlie is in the pits now. Nicole Berger as Thérèse Saroyan, Charlie's wife absolutely owns this part of the film. This section also features the celebrated and beautiful sequence where the camera chooses to follow a female violinist from the door of an apartment and out into the courtyard. Why? Just for the sake of artistic freedom, it seems.

As well as Aznavour and Berger, the casting is uniformly perfect. Claude Mansard and Daniel Boulanger as the waffling heavies, Marie Dubois as the sweet, maternal young waitress Léna, Michèle Mercier as a tart with a heart with a body to die for (bringing the total of female 'leads' to three!), Serge Davri and Catherine Lutz as Charlie's antagonistic and ultimately tragic employers. The obscure threesome (the latter two brothers have their only major film roles here) of Albert Rémy, Jean-Jacques Aslanian and the young Richard Kanayan are brilliantly effective as Charlie's brothers, all of whom display varying degrees of the criminal element - the 'curse' of Charlie and his family. Early on in the film there is also a terrifically amusing song (complete with karaoke-style lyrics) performed by Boby Lapointe, a real-life Parisian entertainer.

For all its wealth of ideas, though, this is generally not a pacey movie. Its pace is as laidback as Charlie himself at times. But with patience this will reward the audience with all kinds of unexpected delights.

Author: Jules-96 from Cologne, Germany
18 September 1999

Masterful French director François Truffaut followed up his hard-hitting, absorbing, highly acclaimed drama LES QUATRE CENTS COUPS (1959) with a original film noir comedy, which is also considered one of his masterpieces and one of the most important movies of the Nouvelle Vague. Based on the US crime novel "Down There" by David Goods his visually fascinating, humanistic, clever and inventive comedy drama uses the story of a lonely, melancholic cafe piano man who through his criminal brothers gets into trouble with

 some gangsters and at the same time falls in love with a beautiful servant who discovers his past as a famous classic pianist only as a frame to make his own statements about relationships between men and women, success, glory, downfall and failure and at the same time paying a affectionate and ironic homage to the clichéd, low-budget Hollywood gangster films of the 40s and 50s. Though one could argue about the confuse narrative, this is a unique film experience with a virtuous cinematic style and many wonderful moments.

Vanilla and Raspberry. One of the funniest, most memorable, though also narrative-wise most unnecessary scenes has the real-life Parisian club singer Boby Lapointe delivering a vulgar, fast-paced song named "Vanilla and Raspberry" about the breasts of a woman. Add to this a handful of other plot-ignoring sequences that are masterfully directed, outstandingly acted and very well-written and you have seen the best parts of the movie. The main plot only holds together what usually wouldn't click together. There's a lot of comedy, a lot of melancholy, a lot of tragedy, a lot of pathos, some funny songs, strange locations, interesting characters and so on. It's really a work of a free-spirited artist trying everything to surprise his audience instead of boring it with a conventional plot.

That's why the viewer is never sure what's going to happen next and so it's despite some lengthy dialogue and calm scenes pretty suspenseful. Another element that turns this patchwork into a near-masterpiece of cinematic history is Truffaut's use of awesomely beautiful cinematography, rough, unexpected cutting, unusual visuals composed in rhythm with the excellent score by Georges Delerue and a scene-setting voice-over by the hero. François plays with the visual concept of the story (it's a ironic comedy about melancholia with optimistic views on life and love set in a dark, nihilistic world!) and pretty much forgets about it in favour for hilarious moments like when one of the characters swears to tell the truth and if he doesn't his mother shall die immediately, Truffaut cuts to a old woman falling down in her room and back.

Or when the scene of the cafe owner telling the bad guys where the piano player lives is split into three singular takes sharing the screen. There are plenty of other memorable moments like these and they're also magnificent. The perfect cast also delivers the goods. The sad-faced, but ultimately likeable Charles Aznavour, who was a popular singer in France, excels in the lead combining the elegance of a shy artist playing the tunes of Chopin and the coolness of a everyday piano player doing his job in a little cafe. The supporting actors are also fine, especially Jacques Aslanian has some scene-stealing moments as the bully and rude brother of Aznavour and the two women (the magnificent Nicole Berger and the wonderful Marie Dubois) playing the pianist's love interests are tremendously good.

Author: kyle_c from United States
19 December 2002

Truffaut's homage to the American gangster film stars Charles Aznavour as a smalltime piano player in a bar who has a secret past that he keeps hidden. The film almost falls into the trap of not being an homage to the gangster film, but rather being one itself. What saves it is the film's unique wit and charm - it's a blend of humor, romance, and gangster film. The gangsters themselves are quite funny, casually discussing everyday matters in a way that certainly had to influence Quentin Tarantino when he was writing Pulp Fiction. Some of the jokes are funny just because they are so silly (i.e., the gangster swearing his truth on his mother's grave). It's this sense of humor and the fact that the movie doesn't take itself seriously that sets it apart from other gangster movies of the day.

Author: David Austin from NYC
17 December 2000

Sometimes you watch a classic for the first time and you don't understand the hype. This time I was more than pleasantly surprised. Wonderful, whimsical and sad little film noir. This movie completely plays with the audience, but in a loving way. The actors and actresses are almost uniformly great. Some incredible faces. Aznavour in particular has an amazingly distinctive look. Be warned, it takes about ten minutes to have an idea of what is going on. Just hang in there and go with it. Highly recommend.

Author: daniel charchuk
2 December 2007

It doesn't feel like a typical Truffaut film - though I've only seen two others from his filmography - in that it's as stylish and self-reflexive as a Godard film. I had got the sense that Truffaut was more 'conventional' in his films, and this one certainly went against it. Not that I'm complaining, though - it's probably the funniest New Wave flick that I've seen. There are loads of little comic moments that reminded me of the modern British comedies - stuff like Snatch and Shaun of the Dead - that I love. But it's also got a dark edge, and not in the black comedy sense. It's pretty depressing, and that's where it fits in line with Truffaut's other films. It's not the relatively light-hearted depression of Godard's films, it's full-fledged tragedy. However, the combination of drama and comedy doesn't always mesh well, as it rarely does for me, and the characters seem too short-changed to justify such an ending. Still, it's very witty and fairly entertaining.

With singer/actor Charles Aznavour in the lead (his expressive face is priceless), "Shoot the Piano Player" is one of Truffaut's most charming and inventive works. Aznavour plays Charlie/Edouard -- a former concert pianist who becomes an anonymous piano player in a dive bar in order to escape his past. After his brother (Remy, who Truffaut also used wonderfully in "The 400 Blows") gets in trouble with some borderline inept gangsters, chaos ensues.

Truffaut's winsome camera and editing techniques blend perfectly with Aznavour's performance. A must for fans of the French New Wave.

Author: bob stafford from United Kingdom
29 November 2007

The opening scene is of a man running in dark streets. We only hear his steps and the menacing mechanical sound of traffic which we assume to be made by the pursuer. He collides with a post and is stunned. A man carrying a bouquet of flowers, helps him to his feet. As they walk, the man is expansive and briefly describes the course of his relationship with his wife, from simple selfish lust leading to marriage and only later, leading to true love. The man excuses himself, turning towards his home, and in an instant the original victim returns to his role as prey to some all-pervasive, inhuman, pursuer.

For me, this is Truffaut, the viewer identifying with the victim for a few moments, being safe in the domestic harmony of the man, only to be launched anew into the role of the hopeless quarry. The talkative man's recognition of his dependence on his wife contrasts with a later scene, in a car, where the two gangsters reveal highly cynical attitudes towards women. The irony is that their cynicism is capped by Charlie (Edward), who quotes his father as saying "when you've seen one woman, you've seen them all". It is significant how timid and respectful he is when daring to interrupt the macho diatribe of the two hoods. With this one statement, we have the background to the whole story.

Big brother, Chico, the "prey", needs help from Eddy, who is very reluctant to be drawn in, but family ties prove too strong. We see Chico as being a demanding,selfish, brute and can guess he takes after his father. We also guess where Eddy's timidity originates.

In the dialogue between Eddy and the brutish bar-owner, who is jealous of Eddy's attractiveness to the waitress, Lena, Eddy even offers to leave. When the bar-owner tells Eddy he is scared, Eddy repeats the phrase, playing with it as if it were a new flavour. This seems to be the ultimate in humility or humiliation, yet Eddy respectfully almost accepts it as advice. This short conversation suggests a life of victimisation, from father and big brother. Yet, most touching of all, is that his submission does not mask underlying contempt; Eddy still cares for the bar-owner as he does for his brother. Later, when the two are collapsed in the alley after a struggle, Eddy tosses aside his advantage of the knife and is then tricked by the bar-owner, who appears to be offering to make peace with a manly hug, but then attempts to strangle Eddy.

In his relations with Lena, Therese and Clarisse we witness tenderness, spontaneity, playfulness and trust. I don't know if it's my imagination, but these scenes seem to have brighter lighting. With each woman, there is a different mood. For instance, those involving Therese are all flashbacks and seem to involve more classical, static camera-work, lending an appropriate quality of distance. With Clarisse, the prostitute, there is bawdy, but innocent humour and no physical embarrassment, while with Lena there is adolescent awkwardness, reminiscent of Woody Allen, followed by such delicate, romantic scenes of physical discovery.

There are unexpected cameos, such as Boby Lapointe, in the bar singing "Framboises" and Fido, Eddy's kid brother being fascinated by the two gangsters who have kidnapped him. The final moment of the film, ignores the outcome of the feud between gangsters and brothers. We are only concerned with Lena.

Entertaining, Comical & Touching

Author: seymourblack-1 from United Kingdom
8 August 2012
 

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Shoot The Piano Player" is an enormously entertaining movie that utilises a variety of different styles, moods and sudden changes of pace to tell the story of a piano player whose attempts to achieve contentment in obscurity are thwarted by the actions of his criminal brother. This was Francois Truffaut's second movie and at the time of its making, he was clearly on a creative high, as what's seen on screen looks like the delirious outpourings of a mind that was totally passionate about filmmaking and also brimming over with ideas.

Truffaut's love of movies started at an early age and provided him with some respite from his very troubled childhood. As a young man he, like most of the well known New Wave directors, became a contributor to the film journal "Cahiers du Cinema" and together, they advocated a more informal approach to filmmaking with greater use being made of footage that was shot outside of the studios. The type of films that had captivated the young Truffaut were predominantly American B-movies and it was because of his great respect and affection for them that he made "Shoot The Piano Player".

Charlie Kohler (Charles Aznavour) is a pianist in a small but lively Parisian bar who finds that his regular routine is thrown into chaos when his older brother Chico (Albert Remy) seeks his help because he's being pursued by a couple of gangsters. It transpires that Chico and another brother, Richard (Jean-Jacques Aslanian), had worked together with Momo (Claude Mansard) and Ernest (Daniel Boulanger) on a heist but had double crossed them when they took off with most of the loot.

Charlie leads a quiet life looking after his youngest brother Fido (Richard Kanayan) and is helped in this by his good natured neighbour Clarisse (Michelle Mercier) who's a prostitute and also occasionally, his mistress. Helping Chico leads to trouble for Charlie when he and his girlfriend Lena (Marie Dubois) get kidnapped at gunpoint by Momo and Ernest, but fortunately, they manage to escape when Ernest's bad driving leads to him being stopped by the police.

Lena is a waitress at the bar where Charlie works and tells him that she knows about his past. Charlie had been a very successful concert pianist (known by his real name, Edouard Saroyan) but had given up his career after his wife Therese (Nicole Berger) had committed suicide. Tragically, she had taken her own life because she'd confessed to Charlie that the first big break in his career had come as a result of her agreeing to sleep with his impresario. Charlie's inability to come to terms with what she'd done had been more than she could bear.

After Charlie kills his boss in self-defence, trouble continues to follow him until events ultimately reach a climax during a shoot-out in a countryside location.

Charlie is a tragic and sensitive character who's a victim of fate. Not only had his career, which had elevated him to a new level of success, ended suddenly with the result that he'd ended up back in the type of environment that he'd originally emerged from, but also his love affairs with Therese and Lena both ended in tragedy and heartbreak.

There's a great deal that's melancholic and poignant about Charlie's story but the way in which it's told is often comical, irreverent and disconcerting because of the use of unorthodox styles of editing and pacing. This juxtaposition of humour and pathos could be regarded as a reflection of the normal balance of life which often leads to humorous things happening at times of great sadness or it could simply be what happens when someone who's so intoxicated by the possibilities of his art form gives his creativity free rein.

The quality of the acting in this movie is consistently good but Charles Aznavour's performance is positively exceptional. His facial expressions and body language are perfect and convey Charlie's vulnerability and innate sadness so well that it would be hard to imagine anyone else being able to improve on what he achieved in this role.

Author: bts1984 from Portugal
6 March 2012

Truffaut introduced himself with 'The 400 Blows', a film of very good taste. His 2nd effort, 'Tirez sur le pianiste', isn't as good but it isn't a let down, quite the contrary, it's a generally quite enjoyable film that tells the story of a piano player in trouble.

This interesting french film is a clever combination of comedy, drama, crime, thriller and suspense. It approaches the policial genre, as well as the atmosphere sometimes approaches darkness, even the noir genre. Nevertheless, the levels of action are very modest. But I'm not the hungry for action type, so that fact doesn't bother me. Another thing is that there isn't one truly tense scene, even in the scenes which are supposed to be tense. Even the bad guys are not intrinsically evil enough to be much of a problem and therefore they're not really scary or intimidating.

It wouldn't be far from the truth claiming that another achievement is how this displays humor in less than good circumstances. For example, there is a scene when Charlie and Léna are being kidnapped by the bad guys and Charlie says a funny line about women: «If you've seen one, you've seen them all» - and they all erupt into laughter. Even I laugh out loud with that line, even more so considering it is so true.

The piano music by the talented musician Georges Delerue is relaxing to hear, it's like poetry for the soul. Cinematography is great and obeys to the principles of liberty so characteristic of Monsieur Truffaut.
Frankly speaking, I think all of the actors are great in this. And I mean all. Charles Aznavour, a talented singer, is just as interesting as an actor, as his performance proves. Albert Rémy is, again, great.

Richard Kanayan has a bigger role here as Fido Saroyan but still far from being a big role. Nevertheless, he is hilarious. That kid had charisma and talent. His big, floppy hair; his weird, raspy voice; his dance-walk style; his lips's movement; the fact that the actor was quirky and hyperactive... all of that made him unique and hilarious.The bad guys are funny and pretty cool for bad guys and they're well played by the actors: Claude Mansard as Momo and Daniel Boulanger as Ernest.The beautiful women (Marie Dubois as Léna and Michèle Mercier as Clarisse) aren't there just to "make it pretty" but act for real.

All in all, great movie. Only its ending is somewhat rushed and ambiguous, although satisfying aside the fact that the girl gets shot.

Title in Portugal: 'Disparem Sobre o Pianista'.

Author: Junker-2 from Wisconsin
4 November 2001

When is a low-budget gangster movie not a low-budget gangster movie? When it's Francois Truffaut's "Shoot the Piano Player."

Truffaut had given himself a tough act to follow. His first feature film, "The 400 Blows," was one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. So it's not surprising that critics were at first somewhat disappointed by this, his second film. Most initially dismissed it as a failure. But "Shoot" is looking better and better as the years go by.

Charles Aznavour is perfect as Charlie Kohler, the piano player at a run down Paris cafe. The barmaid, Lena (Marie Dubois) is secretly in love with Charlie. She knows the secret of his past and that Charlie is not just another two-bit piano player.

But Charlie has more than one secret in his past, and even Lena doesn't know them all. He is one of the most famous men in Paris and, at the same time, an anonymous, penniless bum. His past is a million miles behind him and, at the same time, walking through his back door.

"Shoot the Piano Player" is an excellent movie made by one of the greatest film directors of all time. It is also one of those rare movies that seems to get better and better upon successive viewings. This is certainly one low-budget gangster movie that is not to be missed.
 

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1 August 2006

While playing piano in a bar, the pianist Charlie Kohler (Charles Aznavour) is approached by his crook brother Chico Saroyan (Albert Rémy), who has been chased by two gangsters. Charlie helps him to escape, but he upsets the two criminals, and they stalk Charlie and the waitress Lena (Marie Dubois), who is in love with him. The shy Charlie tells his past to Lena, when he was the former famous pianist Edouard Saroyan, and he quitted his successful career after the suicide of his wife, the also waitress Thérèse Saroyan (Nicole Berger). When his brother Fido Saroyan (Richard Kanayan), who is raised by Charlie, is kidnapped by the gangsters that want to know where Chico is, Charlie has to take an attitude with tragic consequences.

The film-noir "Tirez Sur le Pianiste" is a weird movie about a timid man that has difficulties to express and to have the correct timing with the words. He seems to communicate only through the piano keys playing music, causing the death of his beloved wife and girlfriend for not saying the right words in the right time. The story is original, and it is difficult to label a genre for this movie: is it a film-noir, a drama, a romance, a thriller, a dark comedy? I believe all the answers are correct. The result is an enjoyable movie, mostly recommended for fans of Truffault. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Tiro no Pianista" ("The Shot in the Piano Player")

Note: On 02 October 2011, I saw this film again.

Author: msroz from United States
8 October 2014

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The false name of the main character that Charles Aznavour plays is Charlie Kohler, and he's a pianist. In real life, Charles Kohler co-founded one of the most successful piano companies of the last century. Aznavour deadpans his way through this movie, much like another Charlie, Charlie Chaplin. His brother's name is Chico, the faux Italian Marx brother. Aznavour attracts trouble in this movie the way that honey attracts bears. People near him and very close to him even die. He tries to help his crooked brothers who are being pursued by two gangsters because they took all the loot from a job.

He's more loyal to his brothers than he is to his lovers, who suffer as a result. Meanwhile Aznavour, who is shy, still manages to attract women. All he has is his job and piano playing, but we get no strong indication from the music he plays that it gives him or his listeners much pleasure. He ends up where he starts, but a waitress who loved him has fallen in the crossfire and so has the bar owner. This is a noir story told with noir photography, but containing so many asides and commentaries on other matters -- mostly love and male/female relationships -- that it becomes a mixed genre picture. That's not bad in this case.

The character of the content (the actual events) of this picture is distant, dour and the viewer has to take what joy he or she can from the humor, the cinematography and the asides. Truffaut is enjoying himself, but less so are we. Charlie Chaplin often was at the center of chaos too but here it's tragic and we do not feel the emotion. Aznavour's expression stays the same, rather sad and hopeless, as if he knows that it all will come to grief or nought. And yet there is a ray of hopefulness that comes through in spite of the message that tragedy and comedy are inseparably intertwined. The medium is the message, namely, that some of us can make a film out of it that provides some relief to others and to its maker.

The film's content is not happy, but the passage through its characters and their experiences still provides moments of joy and beauty.This movie is not a full-fledged noir, but so what? It's more than that. It's innovative and well constructed, although sometimes I wondered where it was going. Its characters are interesting, even if we do not get a handle on their motivations. However, I do not find Aznavour to be particularly attractive in the role. I can tolerate his character but that's about it.

Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom
16 April 2014

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

From director François Truffaut (The 400 Blows, Jules et Jim), whether the title is Pianist or Piano Player, it doesn't matter, it wasn't a French film I would have heard of without the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, but one I looked forward to watching. Basically Charlie Kohler (Charles Aznavour) plays piano in a dive bar, following his wife's suicide he has become somewhat washed up, the waitress Léna (Marie Dubois) who works in the bar as well and is in love with him, but he may not be all he appears.

One evening while playing he is approached by his brother Chico Saroyan (Albert Rémy), a crook who takes refuge as he is being chased by two gangsters, Momo (Claude Mansard) and Ernest (Daniel Boulanger), Charlie is becoming inadvertently dragged into the situation and rejoin his family he no longer wanted to be a part of. Charlie confesses his past to Léna, his real name is Edouard Saroyan, he used to be a famous pianist, but quit his successful career after his wife Thérèse Saroyan (Nicole Berger) killed herself, she was also a waitress.

The situation gets more complicated when Charlie's other younger brother Fido Saroyan (Richard Kanayan), who lives with him, is kidnapped by the gangsters, forcing him to take drastic actions, but consequences will comes and it ends in tragedy. Also starring Charles Aznavour as Charlie Kohler, Michèle Mercier as Clarisse, Jean-Jacques Aslanian as Richard Saroyan and Serge Davri as Plyne. I will confess having to read subtitles can be annoying so I perhaps didn't see why critics give it five out of five stars, but apparently this is a forgotten gem, it does well to pay homage to classic film noirs, the melancholic romance is relatively interesting, and there are the right thrilling moments, it is a watchable crime drama. Very good!

Author: JasparLamarCrabb from Boston, MA
23 February 2013

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

In François Truffaut's 1960 masterpiece, Charles Aznavour plays a classic pianist working at a Parisian juke joint who gets in over his head with three shifty dames and two not so bright gangsters. Though clearly inspired by the works of Siodmak, Preminger & other noir masters, Truffaut creates his own film...a starkly photographed (in b&w by Raoul Coutard), decidedly unromantic (despite the lovelorn lead character) thriller. Aznavour is outstanding and the supporting cast, which includes Marie Dubois and Albert Rémy (as Aznavour's ne'er do well brother) is first rate. The movie is as much a tribute to Hollywood film making of the '40s as it is a classic example of the French New Wave. Truffaut was on a roll, sandwiching this film between his debut THE 400 BLOWS and the landmark JULES & JIM.