FRANçOIS TRUFFAUT

'François Roland Truffaut' (French IPA: ) (February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French New Wave in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. In a film career lasting just over a quarter of a century, he was screenwriter, director, producer or actor in over twenty-five films.

Contents

Life

Work

Filmography

Director

Screenwriter only

Actor

Bibliography

See also

References

External links

Life

François Truffaut was born on February 6, 1932, out of wedlock. His mother's future husband accepted him as an adopted son and gave him his surname. He was passed around to live with various nannies and his grandmother for a number of years. It was his grandmother that instilled him with her love of books and music. He lived with his grandmother until her death when Truffaut was ten years old. It was only after his grandmother's death that he lived with his parents for the first time.

His home life was not loving or supportive. He would often stay with friends and try to be out of the house as much as possible. It was the cinema that offered him the greatest escape from an unsatisfying home life. He was eight years old when he saw his first movie, Abel Gance's ''Paradis perdu'' from 1939. It was there that his obsession began. He truanted frequently and would often sneak into theaters because he didn't have enough money for admission. After being excluded from several schools, at the age of fourteen he decided to be self taught. Some of his academic "goals" were to watch three movies a day and read three books a week.

Truffaut frequented Henri Langlois' Cinémathèque Française where he was exposed to countless foreign films from around the world. It was here that he fell in love with American cinema with such directors as John Ford, Howard Hawks, and Alfred Hitchcock.

After starting his own film club in 1948, Truffaut met André Bazin who would have great impact on his professional and personal life. Bazin was a critic and the head of another film society at the time. He became a personal friend of Truffaut's and helped him out of various financial and criminal situations during his formative years.

Truffaut joined the French Army in 1950, but spent the next two years trying to escape. Truffaut was arrested for attempting to desert the army. Bazin used his various political contacts to get Truffaut released and set him up with a job at his newly formed film magazine ''Cahiers du cinema''.
Over the next few years Truffaut became a critic (and later editor) at Cahiers. He was notorious for being brutal and unforgiving in his reviews, especially his take on French cinema of the day. He was called "The Gravedigger of French Cinema" and was even banned from the Cannes Film Festival in 1958. It was during this time that he developed one of the most influential theories to cinema itself, the auteur theory.

In 1954 he wrote an article called "La Politique Des Auteurs" (The Policy of the Auteurs) in which he stated that the director was the "author" of his work, that great directors such as Renoir, or Hitchcock, have a distinct style and themes that permeate all of their films. Although his theory was not widely accepted at the time, it gained some support in the '60s from American critic Andrew Sarris.
After being a critic for so long Truffaut decided that it was time to put his money where his mouth was, and make films of his own. He started out with the short film ''Une Visite'' in 1955 and followed that up with ''Les Mistons'' in 1957. After seeing Orson Welles' ''Touch of Evil'' at the Expo 58, he was inspired to make his feature film debut ''The 400 Blows''.
''The 400 Blows'' was released in 1959 to much critical and commercial acclaim. Truffaut received a Best Director award from the Cannes Film Festival, the same festival that had banned him only one year earlier. The film follows the character of Antoine Doinel through his perilous misadventures in school, an unhappy home life and later military school. The film is highly autobiographical, based on Truffaut's own upbringing. They are both only children of loveless marriages; they both commit petty crimes of theft and truancy from the military. Truffaut cast Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel. Léaud was an unknown who auditioned for the role after seeing a flyer. Léaud and Truffaut would end up collaborating on several films over the years. Their most noteworthy collaboration was the continuation of the Antoine Doinel character in a series of films called "The Antoine Doinel Cycle".
''The 400 Blows'' marked the beginning of the French New Wave Movement and gave directors such as Godard and Rivette a wider audience. The New Wave dealt with a self conscious rejection of traditional cinema structure which was something that Truffaut had been writing about as a critic for years.
Following the success of ''The 400 Blows'', Truffaut’s next film ''Shoot the Piano Player'' (1960) is the most “New Wave” and experimental of all of his films. It featured disjunctive editing and seemingly random voice-overs. Truffaut has stated that in the middle of filming he realized that he hated gangsters. But since gangsters were a main part of the story he toned up the comical aspect of the characters and made the movie more attuned to his liking. Even though ''Shoot the Piano Player'' was much appreciated by critics, it performed poorly at the box office. Even though this film focused on two of the French New Wave’s favorite things, American Film Noir and themselves, Truffaut never again experimented as heavily as he did with this picture.
In 1962 Truffaut directed what some would call his masterpiece (even though it was only his third movie). ''Jules and Jim'' is the story of a woman who falls in love with two friends and begins a love triangle that lasts for many years. It is an almost fairy tale like story in which almost anything is possible. In the context of this film you believe a woman can love two men equally. You easily believe that she is so beautiful that the two men would be willing to do anything for her. ''Jules and Jim'' has influenced many directors of current cinema. It is featured very prominently in Cameron Crowe’s ''Vanilla Sky'' with various visual references, but in Crow’s film two male friends fall in love with the same woman. If ''Shoot The Piano Player'' is a prime example of the French New Wave Gangster B-Movie, then ''Jules and Jim'' surely is an example of youthful free-spirited love that is found throughout New Wave Cinema.
Over the next decade Truffaut had varying degrees of success and failure with his films. In 1965 he directed the American production of Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi novel ''Fahrenheit 451'', which showcased Truffaut’s love of books. His only English speaking film was a great challenge for Truffaut, because he barely spoke English himself. It was also his first film shot in color. The larger scale production was very overwhelming for Truffaut who up until then worked with small crews and budget.
Truffaut then worked on numerous projects with completely varying subject matter. The Bride Wore Black (1968) is a brutal tale of revenge, Mississippi Mermaid (1969) is an identity bending romantic thriller, Stolen Kisses (1968) and Bed and Board (1970) are continuations of the Antoine Doinel Cycle, The Wild Child (1970) is Truffaut’s first attempt at acting in a film and Two English Girls (1971) is the yin to the Jules and Jim yang. It is based on a story written by Henri-Pierre Roche who also wrote Jules and Jim. It is about a man who falls equally in love with two sisters and their love affair over a period of years.
It was his film Day for Night that won him a Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1973. The film is probably his most reflective work. It is the story of a film crew trying to finish their film while dealing with all of the personal and professional problems that come along with making a movie. Truffaut plays the director in the fictional film that is being made. This film features scenes shown in his previous films. It is considered to be his best film since his earliest work. ''Time'' magazine placed it on their list of 100 Best Films of the Century (along with ''The 400 Blows'').
In 1975, he gained more notoriety with ''The Story of Adele H.'' which earned the title role played by Isabelle Adjani a Best Actress Oscar nomination. In 1976 his film ''Small Change'' gained a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Foreign Film. But it was one of his final films that gave him an international revival. In 1980, his film ''The Last Metro'' garnered him twelve Cesar Award nominations with ten wins, including Best Director.
It is almost fitting though that Truffaut’s final movie was shot in black and white. It gives his career almost a sense of having bookends. In 1983 ''Confidentially Yours'' is Truffaut’s tribute to his favorite director, Alfred Hitchcock. It deals with numerous Hitchcockian themes such as private guilt vs. public innocence, a woman investigating a murder, anonymous locations, etc.
François Truffaut was diagnosed with having a brain tumor in 1983. He died on October 21, 1984. Even at the time of his death he still had numerous films in preparation. His goal was to make thirty films and then retire to write books for his remaining days. He was five films short of his personal goal.

Work

Among Truffaut's films one can discern a series featuring the character Antoine Doinel, played by the actor Jean-Pierre Léaud who began his career in ''The 400 Blows'' at the age of fourteen, continuing as the favourite actor and "double" of Truffaut himself. The series would continue with ''Antoine and Colette'' (a short film in the anthology ''Love at Twenty''), ''Stolen Kisses'', ''Bed and Board'' and finally ''Love on the Run''
In most of these movies, Léaud's partner is Truffaut's favourite actress Claude Jade as his girlfriend (and then wife), "Christine Darbon".
A keen reader, Truffaut adapted many literary works:

★ American detective novels:

★
★ ''The Bride Wore Black'' by William Irish

★
★ ''Mississippi Mermaid'' by William Irish

★
★ ''The Long Saturday Night'' (filmed as ''Confidentially Yours'') by Charles Williams

★
★ ''Down There'' (filmed as ''Shoot the Piano Player'') by David Goodis

★
★ ''Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me'' by Henry Farrell

★ Novels by Henri-Pierre Roché:

★
★ ''Jules and Jim''

★
★ ''Two English Girls''

★ A science fiction novel:

★
★ Ray Bradbury's ''Fahrenheit 451''

★ A short story:

★
★ Henry James' "The Altar of the Dead", filmed as ''The Green Room'', considered by some to be his deepest and most serious film
Truffaut's other films result from original screenplays, often co-written by the screenwriters Suzanne Schiffman or Jean Gruault, films on very diverse subjects, the sombre ''The Story of Adele H.'', inspired by the life of the daughter of Victor Hugo, with Isabelle Adjani, or ''Day for Night'', shot at the Studio La Victorine describing the ups and downs of film-making, or ''The Last Metro'', set during the German occupation of France, a film rewarded by ten César Awards.

Filmography

Director

Year	Title	Original title	Notes
1955	''Une Visite''	''Une Visite''
1957	''Les Mistons'' aka ''The Mischief Makers'', aka ''The Misfits''	''Les Mistons''
1958	''Une Histoire d'eau'' aka ''A Story of Water''	''Une Histoire d'eau''	Co-directed with Jean-Luc Godard
1959	''The 400 Blows''	''Les Quatre cents coups''	Antoine Doinel series
1960	''Shoot the Piano Player'' aka ''Shoot the Pianist''	''Tirez sur le pianiste''
1962	''Jules and Jim''	''Jules et Jim''
1962	''Antoine and Colette''	''Antoine et Colette''	Antoine Doinel series, segment from ''Love at Twenty''
1964	''The Soft Skin''	''La Peau douce''
1965	''Fahrenheit 451''	n/a	Filmed in English
1968	''The Bride Wore Black''	''La Mariée était en noir''
1968	''Stolen Kisses''	''Baisers volés''	Antoine Doinel series
1969	''Mississippi Mermaid''	''La Sirène du Mississippi''
1970	''The Wild Child'' aka ''The Wild Boy''	''L'Enfant sauvage''
1970	''Bed and Board''	''Domicile conjugal''	Antoine Doinel series
1971	''Two English Girls''	''Les Deux anglaises et le continent''
1972	''Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me'' aka ''A Gorgeous Bird Like Me''	''Une belle fille comme moi''
1973	''Day for Night''	''La Nuit américaine''	Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1975	''The Story of Adele H.''	''L'Histoire d'Adèle H.''
1976	''Small Change''	''L'Argent de poche''
1977	''The Man Who Loved Women''	''L'Homme qui aimait les femmes''
1978	''The Green Room''	''La Chambre verte''
1979	''Love on the Run''	''L'Amour en fuite''	Antoine Doinel series
1980	''The Last Metro''	''Le Dernier métro''
1981	''The Woman Next Door''	''La Femme d'à côté''
1983	''Confidentially Yours''	''Vivement dimanche!''

Screenwriter only

Year	Title	Original title	Notes
1960	''Breathless''	''À bout de souffle''	Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
1988	''The Little Thief''	''La Petite voleuse''	Directed by Claude Miller
1995	''Belle Époque''	''Belle Époque''	Miniseries, with Jean Gruault; directed by Gavin Millar

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''	Claude Lacombe	Directed by Steven Spielberg

Bibliography

★ ''Les 400 Coups'' (1960) with M. Moussy (English translation: ''400 Blows'')

★ ''Le Cinéma selon Alfred Hitchcock'' (1967, second edition 1983) (English translation: ''Hitchcock'' and ''Hitchcock/Truffaut'' with the collaboration of Helen G. Scott)

★ ''Les Aventures d'Antoine Doinel'' (1970) (English translation: ''Adventures of Antoine Doinel''; translated by Helen G. Scott)

★ ''Jules et Jim'' (film script) (1971) (English translation: ''Jules and Jim''; translated by Nicholas Fry)

★ ''La Nuit américaine et le Journal de Fahrenheit 451'' (1974)

★ ''Le Plaisir des yeux'' (1975)

★ ''L'Argent de poche'' (1976) (English title: ''Small change: a film novel''; translated by Anselm Hollo)

★ ''L'Homme qui aimait les femmes'' (1977)

★ ''Les Films de ma vie'' (1981) (English translation: ''Films in my life''; translated by Leonard Mayhew)

★ ''Correspondance'' (1988) (English translation: ''Correspondence, 1945-1984''; translated by Gilbert Adair)

★ ''Le Cinéma selon François Truffaut'' (1988) edited by Anne Gillain

★ ''Belle époque'' (1996) with Jean Gruault

See also

★ List of notable brain tumor patients

References

★ Eric Pace. "Francois Truffaut, New Wave Director, Dies." ''The New York Times.'' October 22, 1984. A1.

External links

★

★ Senses Of Cinema: François Truffaut

★ Legendary interview with Truffaut from 1970

★ An article on Truffaut and his influence by director Martin Scorsese as he commemorates him as one of the 60 greatest heroes from Europe as selected by Time magazine