Shoot the Piano Player
Reviews
Steve
noiroftheweek.com : This isn't the golden age of film noir right now. Nearly every crime film released has critics noting their "noir look" or style. The latest crime films have more to do with comic books and video games than old classic noir. Having a young actor stand in the rain with a fedora looking all squinty and gloomy isn't noir. Bleak Nordic crime TV shows are probably the closest you're going to get now a days. But nothing from the left coast convinces me that film makers even watch old noir, never mind understand it. If you want to see a good tribute to noir you can go back to French films of the 1960s -- right as the style was dying in the US. None's better that François Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player). After the very French The 400 Blows, Truffaut wanted to show how he was influenced by American films. To make a film that would shock 400 Blows fans and "please the real film nuts and them alone." He adapted the David Goodis novel and created one of the best Valentine's to film noir ever. It would also help elevate pulp writer/screenwriter Goodis reputation as one of the best noir writers of his time. There are some significant changes from the book to the film. The books is American and the story plays it straight. The characters are more heroic. I remember reading the book a few years ago in a coffee shop during a rainy afternoon. In one sitting I devoured it. It's worth the effort to find yourself a copy. The paperback I had included a story in the introduction about the odd Goodis. Once he showed up on a movie set wearing an old worn suit. When one of the actors in the film he was working on made a comment about the writer's cloths, he flashed the designer label inside the jacket -- one that he clearly sewed on himself. Noir fans know that he wrote the screenplay for Dark Passage. In the early 50's Goodis moved from LA back to Philly. He continued to write mostly Gold Medal pulp books. He wrote the occasional screenplay too: the Philadelphia-produced heist film The Burglar; and the highly underrated Nightfall were penned after his stint in Hollywood. The film Shoot the Piano Player helped his reputation as a writer in the 60s. However, his time not writing was consumed in the courts when he sued ABC over The Fugitive -- a show he was convinced was a ripoff of Dark Passage. The fight wasn't over if the show was based on the book, but more to do with the question of whether his story was in the public domain. The courts eventually ruled in his favor year on appeal. He died in 1967-- 5 years prior to the decision. Back to the film. Charles Aznavour -- France's Frank Sinatra -- was cast in the lead. He's a piano player who bottoms out after his wife's suicide. He tries to live a low-profile life in an attempt to hide from his past. But it keeps catching up to him. Aznavour plays the part as a shy, unassuming guy which is a departure from the book. The film is shot in a sometimes non-linear style. It has a New Wave look -- jump cuts, occasional nudity, out-of-sequence shots, heavy with Jazz music and voice overs. It almost becomes a parody of noir at times. Some of the tone shifts and comments from the characters are jarring like it's an attempt to call attention to the silliness of pulp b-movies. One scene has Aznavour telling his topless mistress to hold the sheet over her chest like they do in Hollywood films. But ultimately it's clear that the director wanted to make a noir -- and it is one despite being shot in a New Wave style and on Cinemascope.
Movie Recommendation
A Story of Water1961-03-03A young woman tries to go to Paris, but her garden and the whole village is flooded with water.More...
The Heartbreakers1983-01-19Four teenagers in the German Ruhr region try to succeed as a rock band in 1966. A girl tries to join them as a singer but is rejected by them.More...
Love at Twenty1962-06-22Love at Twenty unites five directors from five different countries to present their different perspectives on what love really is at the age of 20. The episodes are united with the score of Georges Delerue and still photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson.More...
Seduction by the Sea1963-05-22A young women is hired by a woman to seduce her son and convince him to return to home from his self-induced exile.More...
Antoine and Colette1962-06-22Now aged 17, Antoine Doinel works in a factory which makes records. At a music concert, he meets a girl his own age, Colette, and falls in love with her. Later, Antoine goes to extraordinary lengths to please his new girlfriend and her parents, but Colette still only regards him as a casual friend. First segment of “Love at Twenty” (1962).More...
The Soft Skin1964-04-20Pierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married to Franca and father of Sabine. He starts a love affair with air hostess Nicole, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stay away from her.More...
Seven Days in May1964-02-01A U.S. Army colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.More...
Murmur of the Heart1971-04-27This loosely plotted coming-of-age tale follows the life of 15-year-old Laurent Chevalier as he stumbles his way over the burgeoning swell of adolescence in 1950s France. After having his first sexual experience with a prostitute and dodging the lips of a priest, Chevalier contracts a case of scarlet fever. When the fever leaves him with a heart murmur, Chevalier is placed in a sanatorium, along with his over-attentive and adulterous mother.More...
Guys and Dolls1955-12-23Gambler Nathan Detroit has few options for the location of his big craps game. Needing $1,000 to pay a garage owner to host the game, Nathan bets Sky Masterson that Sky cannot get virtuous Sarah Brown out on a date. Despite some resistance, Sky negotiates a date with her in exchange for bringing people into her mission. Meanwhile, Nathan's longtime fiancée, Adelaide, wants him to go legit and marry her.More...
The Butcher1970-02-27An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.More...
Floating Weeds1959-11-17When a theater troupe's master visits his old flame, he unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.More...
The Last Metro1980-09-17In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.More...
Touchez Pas au Grisbi1954-03-17Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.More...
Safe1995-06-23Carol White, a Los Angeles housewife in the late 1980s, comes down with a debilitating illness with no clear diagnosis.More...
The Bride Wore Black1968-03-22Julie Kohler is prevented from suicide by her mother. She leaves the town. She will track down, charm and kill five men who do not know her. What is her goal? What is her purpose?More...
The Wild Child1970-02-26In 1798, a feral boy is discovered outside the town of Aveyron, France. Diagnosed as mentally impaired, he is relegated to an asylum. A young doctor named Jean Itard becomes convinced that the boy has normal mental capacity, but that his development was hindered by lack of contact with society. He brings the boy home and begins an arduous attempt at education over several years.More...
Man with a Movie Camera1929-05-12A cameraman wanders around with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling inventiveness.More...
We the Poor1948-03-25Carpenter Pepe El Toro lives peacefully with his daughter Chachita in an impoverished Mexico City neighborhood. He pursues a romance with the pretty Celia, but tragedy comes knocking on his door when he is falsely accused of having perpetrated a felony.More...
In China They Eat Dogs1999-09-10Arvid is an ordinary bank clerk who lives a rather unassuming life with his dear girlfriend. But his life is turned completely upside down when he bravely manages to avert a robbery against the bank where he works.More...
Jules and Jim1962-01-23In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.More...
Similar Movies
Shooter
2007-03-22A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.Earth
1998-09-16It's 1947 and the borderlines between India and Pakistan are being drawn. A young girl bears witnesses to tragedy as her ayah is caught between the love of two men and the rising tide of political and religious violence.Running with Scissors...
2006-10-27Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.Fun with Dick and Jan...
2005-12-21After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.Youth Without Youth
2007-10-26Professor of language and philosophy Dominic Matei is struck by lightning and ages backwards from 70 to 40 in a week, attracting the world and the Nazis. While on the run, the professor meets a young woman who has her own experience with a lightning storm. Not only does Dominic find love again, but her new abilities hold the key to his research.Shine
1996-08-15Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.The Lovely Bones
2009-12-26After being brutally murdered, 14-year-old Susie Salmon watches from heaven over her grief-stricken family -- and her killer. As she observes their daily lives, she must balance her thirst for revenge with her desire for her family to heal.Haruta & Chika
2017-03-04Haruta is handsome and smart, Chika is bright and naive. When they were children, they were friends until Haruta's family moved away while he was in the 3rd grade. They meet again during a high school entrance ceremony. After all of these years, Chika is eager to join the wind instrument club. Due to an incident, the wind instrument club is about to be disbanded. Chika can't give up the flute so she attracts Haruta to her side and tries to recruit members from the wind instrument club. The group attempts to solve various cases taking place at their school while they plan to take part in a contest.Keys to the Heart
2018-01-17An older brother is a washed-up boxer. His younger brother is a genius pianist with physical disability. The brothers make up through their mother who is full of stories of her past.The King's Avatar: Fo...
2019-08-16In this prequel to the animated series The King's Avatar, Ye Xiu enters into the pro gaming world of Glory, and competes in the first Pro League series tournament.The Dimension Travele...
1998-12-26A teenage girl makes a new friend at her school who tells her that she has the ability to travel between worlds.Spring Night
2025-07-09Middle-aged Yeong-gyeong and Su-hwan meet at the wedding party of a common friend. She passes out drunk, and he carries her home on his back. Soon this becomes a daily ritual, as the two broken beings – one’s spirit consumed by alcohol and the other’s body sapped by arthritis – begin to find strength and solace in each other. Their gentle, platonic bond – outside society, outside history – offers a chance at salvation, but is severely stressed by Yeong-gyeong’s repeated relapses.Carrie
2002-11-04An awkward, telekinetic teenage girl's lonely life is dominated by relentless bullying at school and an oppressive religious fanatic mother at home. When her tormentors pull a humiliating prank at the senior prom, she unleashes a horrifying chaos on everyone, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake.There Will Be Blood
2007-12-26Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.Sahara
2005-04-06Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.After We Collided
2020-09-02Tessa finds herself struggling with her complicated relationship with Hardin; she faces a dilemma that could change their lives forever.Gorky Park
1983-12-15Police Inspector Renko tries to solve the case of three bodies found in Moscow's Gorky Park but finds his attempts to solve the crime impeded by his superiors. Working on his own, Renko seeks out more information and stumbles across a conspiracy involving the highest levels of the government.Howards End
1992-03-13A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.Holes
2003-04-18A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he must dig holes in order to build character. What he doesn't know is that he is digging holes in order to search for a lost treasure hidden somewhere in the camp.Blindness
2008-05-14When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.