Albert Remy, Alex Joffé, Boby Lapointe

A hapless pianist at a jazz club gets caught up with the mob, when his older brother who owes money to them comes to him for help. Eventually, the piano player and his girlfriend become pawns in middl...( read more  read more... )e of a dangerous game.

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88% liked it

5,149 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

18 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: François Truffaut

Release Date: January 1, 1960

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DVD Release Date: May 18, 1999

Stats: 317 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (317)


  • September 30, 2008
    My favorite Truffaut hands down.

    The camera and storytelling here are so playful, it's easy to see Truffaut's love of the Noir genre. The loose hand held style, rhythmic frequent cutting and the free form jazz soundtrack all bring this down and dirty character piece to life.

    Ex...( read more)tra kudos for the matricide by way of fibbing gag
  • November 20, 2007
    Inventive, sensible, witty and comical film-noir homage.
  • August 15, 2007
    9/10

    I fantastic well-rounded piece of entertainment, with suspense, genuine romance, and that never familiar enough, still edgy New Wave style. And much like the now-classic American thrillers Truffaut here pays homage to, the film has a strong moral point of view/social commen...( read more)tary mixed in with the thrills. It gave me chills while breaking my heart; the story of the titular pianist and his romantic past/present proves genuinely saddening.

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    It's the most experimental of Truffaut's films I've seen, besides maybe Jules and Jim. The film's style is certainly more Godard-esque than any other of his films I've been able to see. With that said, the cinematography is exquisite.

    I loved this, only Truffaut's second film. Should I have expected anything less from the film made between The 400 Blows and Jules and Jim?
  • November 19, 2006
    A great film. Almost like a French film noir.
  • November 6, 2007
    The Piano player doesn't get shot, though.
  • September 17, 2009
    Tirez sur le Pianiste is, perhaps, the most joyful and enjoyable Truffaut film talking about the entertainment value. It's obviously a superbly directed and shot film, and has the same typical cool (and somewhat dumb) characters we tend to find in the French New Wave cinema. Very...( read more) recommended.

    86/100
  • August 23, 2009
    I would have thought that I would have seen this a while back what with it being a François Truffaut film from the height of his career. I think the movie?s title is a big part of why it took so long to catch up, it just made the thing sound annoyingly madcap. It turned out not...( read more) to be what I thought it was, but there were reasons to be worried. This feels a lot more in tune with the new wave than a lot of the other Truffaut films I?ve seen, felt more like a Godard movie and not in a way that was of my liking. It lacked a lot of the more conventional depth of The 400 Blows and Jules and Jim. It certainly had charms of its own, but it just wasn?t as much to my liking.
  • July 18, 2009
    Sans atteindre d'autres de ses succès, Truffaut fait encore preuve d'un grand sens de la mise en scène.
  • June 30, 2009
    François Truffaut is drunk on the possibilities of cinema in this, his most playful film. Part thriller, part comedy, part tragedy, Shoot the Piano Player relates the adventures of mild-mannered piano player Charlie (Charles Aznavour, in a triumph of hangdog deadpan) as he stumbl...( read more)es into the criminal underworld and a whirlwind love affair. Loaded with gags, guns, clowns, and thugs, this razor-sharp homage to the American gangster film is pure nouvelle vague.
  • November 18, 2008
    The back of the box said that "Truffaut is drunk with the possibillties of cinema" in reference to this but in fact it just seems he was slightly buzzed. He should've been wasted.

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