Francois Truffaut
Francois Truffaut
RANKED:
10. Two English Girls (1971)
Although it is adapted from a novel by Henri-Pierre Roche, "Two English Girls" has all the makings of a Francois Truffaut film. Think Antoine Doniel with a dash of "Jules and Jim." Centering on a young French man who juggles the love and affections of two English sisters during his stay abroad, Truffaut's 1971 film has all the dramatics that one would surmise from a typical love triangle story, made especially complex with the element of sisterhood. "Two English Girls" may not be at the top of Truffaut's iconic filmography, but it certainly exudes every flavor and aesthetic he typically has to offer.
9. The Bride Wore Black (1968)
A year before his death in 1984, Francois Truffaut was asked which of his films he would change if he could. His response was his 1968 film "The Bride Wore Black." It not quite sure why he feels this negatively towards this film, but his feelings wavered after it received hostile negativity by the public and critics after its release. Despite this, the film has gained in immense popularity since then and is now even considered one of Truffaut's most notable films. The film centers on a woman on a revenge tour as she kills the men responsible for the death of her husband. Although its one of Truffaut's more pulpier films, it remains a steadfast watch amongst his filmography and of 1960s French cinema.
8. The Soft Skin (1964)
With his 1964 film "The Soft Skin," Francois Truffaut had left behind the fast-and-loose experimentation of the New Wave movement and traded it in for a more straightforward formalist piece. Unfortunately, it also happened snap the streak of box office hits for the iconic director. Centering on a celebrated literary scholar, "The Soft Skin" follows Pierre as he navigates a newfound love affair and attempts to hide this infidelity from his wife. The film is a modernist lens of the stagnant and dissatisfaction with domesticity found within the bourgeois upper class. Sounds a lot like 'first world problems,' but boy, Truffaut manages to make it dramatic and tantalizing.
7. Bed and Board (1970)
Francois Truffaut's 1970 film "Bed and Board" is the third feature-length installment in the series of films centering on Antoine Doniel - a character made famous in Truffaut's debut, 1959's "The 400 Blows." In "Bed and Board," Antoine is now married to Christine and the two of them share a tiny, cozy life together. However, as the viewer has seen in previous films, Antoine is restless and fickle - qualities that rear their ugly head once again in this film. Antoine's foils are what makes him such an engaging and realistic character. This is precisely why it is so easy to slip back into his continued adventures, despite them being so akin to the domestic lives of any viewer watching. "Bed and Board" is an observation on domesticity, with all its romantic joys and complicated lows.
6. The Wild Child (1970)
Despite not being a highly regarding work in the oeuvre of Francois Truffaut, 1970's "The Wild Child" manages to impress and engage all the same. The film is based on the true events regarding Victor of Aveyron, a late 18th century French child who spent the first eleven or twelve years of his life with little or no human contact. Dr. Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, a physician, takes the boy in, in an attempt to educate the boy. Dr. Itard, along with his caring housekeeper, is patient and cares for the boy, eventually teaching him the fundamentals of language. Despite being controversial for its perceived stance on the 'noble savage,' the film's compassion for its subjects shines through. The education of the young boy is an attempt, not to behaviorally condition him, but to instill intelligence, justice, and individuality. "The Wild Child" is an emotional experience if you allow it to be, and demonstrates the social need for empathy, patience, and education.
5. Stolen Kisses (1968)
Nine years after the release of his debut masterpiece, "The 400 Blows," Francois Truffaut released a follow-up in 1968's "Stolen Kisses." Centering on Antoine Doinel, now out of military academy and searching for work, "Stolen Kisses" operates with different cinematic themes to its predecessor. Ultimately, the film is much more of a meditation on the nature of relationships and the varying ways in which we selfishly pursue our own needs and desires. Antoine is fickle with his life, constantly bouncing from job to job and constantly pulling his interests from Charlotte, the woman he's pursued for years, and a new older woman. "Stolen Kisses" enters into a new post-'New Wave' era for Truffaut, who is becoming much more subtler in his visual style, storytelling, and filmmaking.
4. Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
A pastiche of classical Hollywood films from Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut's 1960 film "Shoot the Piano Player" completely takes classical Hollywood B-movie styles and completely stretches and plays with them. Truffaut had an improvisational style with both the script and shooting, creating a messy, chaotic, and unpredictable thriller about a pianist caught in the middle of his brothers' scuffle with a local gang. As narratives converge and diverge, time skips, edits create abrupt halts, interactive narration, as well as many other creative employs by Truffaut, the film is an engaging and bountiful film full of twists and turns. As the French Nouvelle Vague movement came in full force in 1960 after the release of Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless," Francois Truffaut's "Shoot the Piano Player" should be considered a classic and memorable addition to the movement.
3. Jules and Jim (1962)
By 1962, Francois Truffaut has already made a name for himself with films like "The 400 Blows" and "Shoot the Piano Player." With his 1962 film "Jules and Jim," he elevated himself into the pantheon of masterclass directors. He had even won the praise of personal heroes like Jean Renoir and Jean Cocteau. However, he lost favor with the French government, who felt that "Jules and Jim" was immoral. The film depicts the dynamic and complex relationship between Jules, Jim, and their mutual romantic partner Catherine. Through the rapid editing and creative camerawork that Truffaut employs, the audiences dives headfirst in the realms of human relationships and all its confounding complexities. In the beginning, the characters exhibit a true sense of freedom and liberty, spending their life on every joyous whim. By the end, these acts of impulse become a reaction to stagnation and emptiness rather than the sheer joy of living freely. "Jules and Jim" is quite confounding and the film itself refuses to be categorized, refuses emotional interpretation, and lives and breathes the very essence of free thought and being.
2. Day for Night (1973)
To call Francois Truffaut's 1973 film "Day for Night" a film 'about filmmaking' would be a bit of an understatement. Sure, those who have been on a film set, whether a student film or a Hollywood production, can point to the screen with glee in the same way a Marvel fan notices Easter eggs, it doesn't quite do the film a service by categorizing it in such simplistic ways. While the plot of a director attempting to wrangle a cast and crew for a film production might call Fellini's "8 1/2" to many a mind, its main source of radiance stems from the vignettes happening on the periphery of the actual production. Life happens and little dramas are exposed, drawing viewers' attentions away from the film production and towards the real substance of what film is all about: life. The interlocking between life and art is as convoluted as one can imagine, and Truffaut makes no effort to understand it, he simply places this thematic tapestry into the hands of the observer. One observer, his former friend and professional partner Jean-Luc Godard, was so disgusted by "Day for Night" that he called Truffaut a 'liar' and the two never spoke again. Regardless of Godard's reconciliation between the films Truffaut was making and his own agitprop, "Day for Night" manages to explore the incurable divide between art and artist, along with the social subtleties of life getting in the way (and vise versa).
1. The 400 Blows (1959)
Many film historians often question where France's nouvelle vague film movement started. Many point to Jean Luc Goddard's 1960 masterpiece "Breathless." Others consider Agnes Varda's 1955 "La Pointe Courte" to be the earliest ignition point. And then there are a majority who consider Francois Tuffaut's 1959 film "The 400 Blows" to be where it all started. The film takes us into the life of a 12-year-old boy named Antoine as he navigates the oppressive and authoritative adults around him. His reaction to his authority is one rebellion and delinquency. To be fair, as the viewer continues to watch the film and the utter hypocrisy of the adults around Antoine, they too will be filled with this defiant and disobedient attitude. Truffaut's anamorphic camera glides through the textured realism of Antoine's frustrating experiences and in the end, reveals to the viewer that there's nothing we can do to save the poor boy from his depressing fate.
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