Shoot The Piano Player

Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez Sur Le Pianiste) (1960)

Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: Francois Truffaut

Starring: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, Michele Mercier, Serge Davri

From: Les Films De La Pleiade

More movies should have had bawdy tunes sung by Boby Lapointe.

A little less than two weeks ago this was recorded on the DVR when it played on Turner Classic Movies. Last night I finally watched this heavily improvised picture where Truffaut was inspired by film noir and also loosely adapted a crime novel from David Goodis. On the surface it sounds simple-piano-playing man known as Charlie who works at a ramshackle bar in Gay Paree is roped into a dispute between two gangsters and one of his two criminal brothers after they show up at his job-but it is more complicated than that. Charlie is quite shy/introverted so he's unlucky at love; eventually you see that something horrible happened w/ a former partner. He had an unusual relationship with a prostitute (it involves her assisting in taking care of his youngest brother, still a child) and another gal is interested in him. Only then you get to discover he was a formerly famous pianist.

A director's second movie that was quite different from the first, not that structured and containing such contrasting themes... it could have crashed & burned but Truffaut was such a great director he pulled it off. A talented cast and nice music (always a must in a picture involving at least one musician) also helped. It was a rewarding journey and as someone who is the opposite of outgoing-for a variety of reasons-it was easy for me to sympathize with Charlie. Of course, I don't have criminal siblings but if only I could know ladies like Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, and Michele Mercier! It was interesting that while the villains bellow on and on some horribly stereotypical beliefs concerning the fairer sex, Charlie is happy to be dominated by them/respects women and even his brother is happy to shove some A-hole to the ground when he backhands a lady.

Between this, Jules & Jim and The 400 Blows, exploring more of Truffaut's filmography should be one of my film tasks; as he only made 21 feature films before passing away at a way too young age of 52, it would not be a difficult task to watch all of those plus the short subjects he created. Shoot the Piano Player is a film and a title that has inspired others. It was mentioned in the liner notes of Dylan's album The Times They Are-a-Changin' and Elton John had his album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. As this was a rather downbeat tale, I was happy for the greatest moment of light levity: in the first act out of nowhere a random gentleman in the bar played by Boby Lapointe jumps up and sings a catchy ditty where you only realize halfway through is a vulgar tale about a woman who is known as Framboise. To be frank, the mirth I derived from this club and that song may have caused me to rate this a little higher than I would have normally!