Tirez Sur Le Pianiste - Shoot the Piano Player

"If someone knocks, assume it's a murderer. If it's just a robber, you'll be happy." Momo

☆☆☆☆☆ Masterpiece 


Tirez Sur Le Pianiste - Shoot the Piano Player (1957) a beautiful study of flawed humanity through Truffaut's love of American gangster films.


Directed by François Truffaut.


Starring Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Daniel Boulanger and Nicole Berger among others.

François was one of the founders of the French New Wave Cinema. Shoot the Piano Player is based on the novel Down There by David Goodis. Truffaut said that "In Shoot the Piano Player I wanted to break with the linear narrative and make a film where all the scenes would please me. I shot without any criteria." This was the key for me to understanding Shoot the Piano Player. Truffaut takes the gangster genre and turns it inside out with comedic scenes within violent moments, using offbeat camera angles, gangsters with humanity and a sense of the absurd, and a lead that is basically emotionally and physically comatose throughout his non-piano playing moments. Actually François camera, broken narrative and a lead character leading a double life reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest (1959).

In the scene below watch the close up and long shots from the mirror. The close-up of Charles face in the mirror reveals his feelings viewed from behind him. Then the long shot from the mirror allows you to see Nicole who is in the background arguing with Charles who is in front of the mirror. Truly an amazingly choreographed scene that sheds light on the characters subtext by using the mirror to show their faces and body language.

Film Scene

Trivia - François Truffaut could not get any funding so he and his production team shot the film on the streets of Paris, making up the scenes as they went along. The ending was decided on the basis of who was available at the time of filming.

Film Trailer

Film Photos - Posters

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Film Transcript

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