DVD Features:
- Audio Commentary by Film Scholars Peter Brunette and Annette Insdorf
- Theatrical Trailer
- Exclusive Interviews with Actors Charles Aznavour and Marie Dubois and Director of Photography Raoul Coutard
- Rare Interview with Truffaut Collaborator Suzanne Schiffman
- 28-Page Booklet with an Interview with Truffaut
- Number of Discs: 2
- Unrated
- Run Time: 1 hours, 21 minutes
- Video: Black & White
- Region 1; USA & Canada
- Released: December 6, 2005
- Originally Released: 1960
- Label: Janus Films
- Packaging: Keep Case
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen - 2.35
- Audio:
- Mono - French
- Subtitles - English - Optional
- Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary: Annette Insdorf, Peter Brunette - Film Scholars
- Trailers: Theatrical Trailer
- Interviews:
- Charles Aznavour & Marie Dubois - Stars
- Raoul Coutard - Cinematographer
- Suzanne Schiffman - Truffault collaborator
- Bonus Footage:
- French TV program, ETOILES ET TOILES
- 1965 episode of French TV program, CINEASTES DE NOTRE TEMPS
- Dubois' screen test
- Text/Photo Galleries:
- Essays:
- THE MUSIC OF GEORGES DELERUE, illustrated essay
- New Essay by film critic Kent Jones
Performers, Cast and Crew:
Entertainment Reviews:
Entertainment Weekly - 12/09/2005
"Sophomore outings by major directors don't get much riskier or more playful than this....He'd never again get so experimental..." -- Grade: A-
Premiere - 03/01/2006
"Truffaut suffuses the film with humor. Aznavour, in a career-defining role, is wonderful..."
Description by OLDIES.com:
Francois Truffaut is drunk on the possibilities of cinema in this, his most playful film.
Part thriller, part comedy, part tragedy, Shoot the Piano Player relates the adventures of mild-mannered piano player Charlie (Charles Aznavour) as he stumbles into the criminal underworld and a whirlwind love affair.
Loaded with gags, guns, clowns, and thugs, this razor-sharp homage to the American gangster film is pure nouvelle vague.
Product Description:
A former concert pianist, now the piano player in a seedy Parisian bar, is surrouned by gansters and hoodlums. He is befriended by a woman who tries in vain to restore him to his former glory, but his own timidity and inability to act lead to tragic consequences for both.
Plot Synopsis:
Francois Truffaut's second feature is a tender, playful but ultimately tragic story of a man who has never recovered from a past betrayal.
Charlie, once a renowned concert pianist, now plays background music in a run-down bar. A sympathetic waitress there loves him, but Charlie can neither forgive nor forget his former wife's infidelity. His simple life takes a turn for the violent, however, when his brother comes into the bar one day with two gangsters in tow -- gangsters bent on getting even with Charlie for a past offense.
Plot Keywords:
Classic |
Crime |
Essential Cinema |
New Wave (Film) |
Organized Crime |
Psychodrama |
Recommended |
Suspense |
Theatrical Release |
Thriller
Production Notes:
- The print used for the Home Vision Cinema VHS version is from the Janus Collection.
It is fully restored, with new translation and subtitles.
