Shoot the Piano Player

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Alain E Not a great film, but watchable with nicely restored black and white photography. In the beginning it is quite confusing as we are trying to figure out how the hero is carrying on with the different women. Things get more simple as they find premature deaths, but they keep getting replaced so Mr Aznavour will always have company. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/29/25 Full Review Will G A great Truffaut film. It was about a piano player who gets involved with gangsters. I liked the scenes of Paris and it was nice to practice my French. Also the scenes of the Jazz bar were neat. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/19/25 Full Review Leaburn O One of Truffaut’s best and most accessible. Nice crime drama with some French philosophy and comedy thrown in for good measure. A good, short film. Watched on DVD. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review Thomas V This is a bit of a jumble that doesn't quite hang together, and there's too much tragedy to make it as light and "playful" as reviewers like to call Truffaut. This contradiction also exists in The 400 Blows, but that film works better. Still, this film is enjoyable and seems fresh for its age, not unlike 400. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review dave s Shoot the Piano Player, an early effort from Francois Truffaut, is a New Wave nod to American film noir. Set primarily in the streets of Paris, a former concert painist (Charles Aznavour) has been reduced to playing dance tunes in a local bar. His life takes a significant turn when he reunites with one of his brothers, a two-bit criminal on the run from his crim partners. The doughy-eyed, charismatic Aznavour is excellent in the lead role, showing a vulnerability that contrasts the other male characters. Truffaut would go on to make better films, but few that were as entertaining as Shoot the Piano Player. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review William L One of Truffaut's less thematically clear films, and not necessarily easy to get into. With its background mention of a heist and a later kidnapping employed to negotiate for the score, this film feels like something of a parody of Rififi, in which the writer decided to focus on an ancillary character and explore details of his personality. Aznavour's Charlie is timid by nature and emotionally reclusive due to past trauma, an unusual set of features for a noir protagonist, and where Truffaut differentiates his story. To me, the grreatest care is provided in detailing Charlie's relationships with women, and the exploration of what constitutes masculinity, e.g., bravado, confidence, charm, as well as the role of music as a coping mechanism or shield from confronting the reality of those relationships. I can't call it one of Truffaut's greater films, but it is certainly interesting; I'll have to give it a rewatch at some point to get a better understanding of it. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/29/20 Full Review Read all reviews

Shoot the Piano Player

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