SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (Francois Truffaut, Cocinor, 1960)

There exists a sublime quality to the films of the French New Wave that allows these films to be layered and complex yet when viewing them you see them as simple and straightforward. SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (Francois Truffaut, Cocinor, 1960) is a definitive example of just such a film. The film has so much going on within its text as to be almost impossible to decipher everything yet when you break the film down you are left simply with a film dealing with love and loss. The film is a great juxtaposition of tonal shifts, thematic dealings with sexuality and sexual roles in society, it is autobiographical to it's auteur like many of his films and ultimately is a blueprint for postmodern films many years prior to the concept of postmodern films was to take root. Putting so much into a film often makes it confusing to it's audience and this film is no exception. It is a film which requires multiple viewings but with each viewing the film becomes more full and rich and so much more satisfactory.

Watching it multiple times leaves the many diversions in tone easily displayed for the viewer. At the very start of the film the audience sees a darkened street with a man being chased. The immediate thought is that you are being introduced into a traditional gangster film. The score and pace are frenetic and quick. Yet seemingly out of nowhere this man Chico (Albert Remy) runs into a light post and the tone immediately shifts. Helped by a stranger, the two men peacefully go into a discourse on women and love. This shift in tone allows the viewer to get a glimpse of the entire film which will shift elusively throughout between this seemingly important crime story and the real focus of the narrative, love and loss. Just a quickly as Chico runs into the light post his new friend is gone and back we go to the frenetic pace as Chico runs to a local bar. It is at this bar that we are introduced to our protagonist Charlie (Charles Aznavour).

Much like Antoine (Jean Pierre Leaud) in The 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959) the character of Charlie in this film is an extension of Truffaut himself. Charlie we learn, is really Edouard, and he has a checkered past as a successful classical pianist. When he was working as such, his wife Theresa (Nicole Berger) throws herself from their apartment, guilty over her role in Edouard's rise to success and fame. Also adding to their problems is Edouard's (Truffaut) trouble in dealing with his fame and success as a talented and celebrated artist. Obviously Truffaut never had anything as traumatic as this occur but to be able to self analyze yourself within your work takes not only great ability but tremendous courage. This self analysis is evident throughout Truffaut's work, much like his ability to deal with sexuality in so many ways.

And here is what the film is entirely about, sexuality and the roles we play in defining that sexuality. Throughout the film we see numerous images of male fascination with a woman's sexuality. In the bar as crowds dance, the camera lingers on the feminine form again and again. During the kidnapping sequence, the kidnappers discuss their beliefs on woman, crude though they may be, these men give us a bare bones look at the basest form of male desire. To them, woman "want it" so therefore they deserve to "get it".

Charlie/Edouard himself cannot deal with women on any level. His two real relationships within the film both end tragically, and he could have prevented both deaths had he been able to deal with those relationships on an advanced level. A poignant moment in the film is when Charlie walks Lena (Marie Dubois) home from work on their first evening together. Through voice over, we hear Charlie's internal struggle with just how to act. Should he hold her hand, what does he say? These questions raised in his mind show that Charlie cannot be more than an adolescent when it comes dealing with the women he loves. The scene becomes even more poignant later in the film as Lena tells Charlie how much she desired that he would have just grabbed and held her hand.

Charlie's desire between loves is sated by his relationship with the prostitute that lives next door to him, Clarisse (Michele Mercier). This relationship gives us two simple things to digest as a viewer. First, it pushes the point home that Charlie cannot maturely deal with an adult relationship. To him, woman are objects, there only to satisfy desire. But can you blame him? Every time he attempts a real relationship he is utterly out of his depth and of course they end badly. This analyzation of relationships is striking if you compare them to contemporary problems within relationships.

The second thing we see as viewers is a different tone (much like the entire film) when it comes to sexual attitudes between Americans and those of Europeans. Their exists a frankness, an openness to sexual attitudes for Europeans. It is evident both in this film and The 400 Blows. The casual feel to Charlie's relationship to Clarisse, the cavalier attitude towards woman displayed by the men. American films to this day cannot deal with sexuality in the same manner, and it has been fifty years since this film was released. The film is ahead of itself compared to the American films the French New Wave directors revered and emulated.

This emulation of American films by men such as Truffaut is a potent forerunner to what would later be recognized as traits of postmodern films. Postmodern films operate using a wide array of techniques among them a pastiche of many previous films and genres, a self reflexive quality which resides within the film and the ultimate tribute, a direct homage to the films they loved. Truffaut brilliantly pastiched together different genres within this film, crafting a melodrama with a gangster film. He places elements of a noir styled film next to comic moments. The film becomes self reflexive at various moments, particularly when Charlie covers Clarisse's naked breasts because"that's they way they do it in the movies". And the film is Truffaut's tribute to the many B level American films he loved so much.

As I slowly work my way through Truffaut's work, I get more fascinated with the depths to which his films reside themselves in. I highly recommend this film, as long as you know to watch the film knowing the film will leave you guessing. And asking more questions after each viewing.