1960 · drama · crime · romance
Shoot the Piano Player
Directed by François Truffaut1h 25m1960
Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.
Our read: Shoot the Piano Player (1960) reads as a sombre, steady, inventive drama · crime · romance entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.
Sombre, steady, measured drama / crime, inventive in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, measured.
- sombre
- signature
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Availability in the US · via JustWatch
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How Shoot the Piano Player feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want playful French New Wave noir mixing jazz, heartbreak, and crime tension.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if black-and-white subtitles or meandering Truffaut pacing frustrates you tonight.
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