By: Stephen Gott

Stephen Gott — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:25:44 +0000

I agree that “Tirez Sur Le Pianiste”(1960),is typical Nouvelle Vague and in my mind is one of the best.I like how Truffaut swings between comedy and tragedy and fragments the storyline by mixing genres.For example,in the opening scene,we have a man running down a dark street,typical Film Noir.Then we have the same man,talking to a complete stranger,about love and marriage,before running down another street and into a seedy looking bar.Truffaut also reminds us the audience,that we are watching a film,by inserting “Silent Movie” type images,into the film.However,after recently re-watching “Tirez Sur Le Pianiste”,the thing that stood out for me,was the prominence of mirrors and the reflections of the main characters in them.Infact,pairs and twos appear to be very important in the film.We have the two stories of Charlie,Charlie Koller the bar pianist and his past life as Edouard Saroyan,the concert pianist.In each story,he has a relationship with a waitress.Both of which end in tragedy,due to Charlie walking away,for different reasons.We even get two gangsters,who have been double-crossed,by Charles two criminal Brothers.Finally,some critics have suggested that the second film of Truffauts,could be his reaction to the fame and celebrity,created by the success of his first film “Les Quatre Cents Coups”(1959).This is because “Tirez Sur Le Pianiste”,tells the story of a shy man,as Truffaut himself stated.A characteristic of which,he apparently suffered from.A significant fact,I think,when you consider the similarity in appearance of Francois Truffaut to Charles Aznavour,who played Charlie Koller/Edouard Saroyan.

Comments on: Tirez sur le pianiste (Shoot the Pianist, France 1960)

By: Stephen Gott