SHOOT THE PIANIST 

Review: While Charlie Kohler is playing piano in a bar, he is approached by his crook brother Chico Saroyan, who is being chased by two gangsters named Momo and Ernest. Chico decides to take refuge in the bar. Charlie decides to help him escape, but a problem occurs when he upsets two of the criminals. The waitress Lena is in love with Charlie. The shy Charlie tells his past to Lena, Charlie has to take an attitude with tragic consequences. We later on discover that Charlie’s real name is Edouard Saroyan, who give everything up after his wife’s suicide. Charlie now has big decisions to make and has to deal with Chico, Ernest, Momo, Fido (his youngest brother who lives with him), and also Lena…
Director: Francois Truffaut
Actors: Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, Michele Mercier, Albert Remy and Catherine Lutz
Year: 1960
Genre: Art House, Comedy, Crime, Drama, International, Mystery, Romance and Thriller
Conclusion: 5/5
The original title for this film is Tirez sur le pianiste. As much as I enjoyed this I didn’t think it was as good as 400 Blows, 1959. There was no funding available from any of the studios, so Francois Truffaut and his crew shot the film on the fly on the streets of Paris, as they went along they often just made the script up. The ending was not planned but just decided on the basis of who was available at the time of shooting. When this film came out it was a huge hit with critics, but bombed at the box office. This is often considered a masterpiece of the film noir genre. According to the BBFC one or more versions of this work have been cut but the details are no longer available.