Shoot the Pianist (1960)
"Tirez sur le pianiste" (original title)

Charlie Kohler is a piano player in a bar. The waitress Lena is in love with him. One of Charlie's brother, Chico, a crook, takes refuge in the bar because he is chased by two gangsters, ... See full summary »

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

David Goodis (novel), François Truffaut (adaptation),

Stars:

Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Aznavour	...	Charlie Kohler / Edouard Saroyan
Marie Dubois	...	Léna
Nicole Berger	...	Thérèse Saroyan
Michèle Mercier	...	Clarisse
Serge Davri	...	Plyne
Claude Mansard	...	Momo
Richard Kanayan	...	Fido Saroyan (as Le jeune Richard Kanayan)
Albert Rémy	...	Chico Saroyan
Jean-Jacques Aslanian	...	Richard Saroyan
Daniel Boulanger	...	Ernest
Claude Heymann	...	Lars Schmeel
Alex Joffé	...	Passerby
Boby Lapointe	...	Le chanteur
Catherine Lutz	...	Mammy

Storyline

Charlie Kohler is a piano player in a bar. The waitress Lena is in love with him. One of Charlie's brother, Chico, a crook, takes refuge in the bar because he is chased by two gangsters, Momo and Ernest. We will discover that Charlie's real name is Edouard Saroyan, once a virtuose who gives up after his wife's suicide. Charlie now has to deal wih Chico, Ernest, Momo, Fido (his youngest brother who lives with him), and Lena...

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Plot Keywords:

brother | gangster | bar | suicide | pianist | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

23 July 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Disparen sobre el pianista

Filming Locations:

Grenoble, Isère, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films de la Pléiade

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 82 min (1963)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (Dyaliscope)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As Charlie, Lena and the two kidnappers are driving down the road, a truck in front of them bears a large "Cahiers du Cinema" sign. Director François Truffaut wrote for "Cahiers" and dedicated The 400 blows, another one of his films, to its founder, Andre Bazin.

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Goofs

When Lena and Charlie walk home after work you can see the shadow of the camera on their coats.

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Quotes

Charlie Kohler: When my love turns to hate, I'll wear a cap as I go.

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Connections

References Lola Montès (1955)

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Soundtracks

"Dialogue d'Amoureux"
Written by Félix Leclerc
Performed by Félix Leclerc and Lucienne Vernay

User Reviews

9 out of 10

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.