I found this film rather disappointing. Since the three other reviews currently posted at Epinions all rate the film at 5-stars, a dissenting epinion will add some balance to the perspectives.

Historical Background: As the sixties began, François Truffaut was fresh off the career-launching success of his debut feature film, The 400 Blows (1959), which had won the admiration of international audiences and critics with its sensitive evocation of the challenges of childhood. Though Truffaut would return intermittently to his alter ego character of The 400 Blows, Antoine Doinel, in such films as Stolen Kisses, he decided to shift gears for his second feature film, Shoot the Piano Player, and give vent to another part of his artistic temperament – his admiration for the style of some of Hollywood's films. He had a special fondness for film noir, but also wanted to put a distinctly French stamp on it. The result was Shoot the Piano Player (1960), which blends the French penchant for satire with a Hollywood-style gangster story. The screenplay for the film was adapted from a pulp novel by David Goodis, entitled Down There. Truffaut complemented the subject matter with a wonderful casting decision of songwriter and singer Charlie Aznavour as the down-and-out café pianist.

The Story: As the film opens, Chico Saroyan (Albert Rémy) is running for his life. In pursuit are two hoodlums, Momo (Claude Mansard) and Ernest (Daniel Boulanger), who Chico and his partner stiffed out of their share of the loot from a robbery. Chico finally makes his way to the honky-tonk café where his brother Edouard (Charles Aznavour) entertains the crowd at the piano along with a drummer and bass player. Edouard, we soon learn, keeps his real identity secret, for some unknown reason, and works under the alias Charlie Kohler. When the pursuing hoodlums suddenly arrive, Edouard helps his brother escape out the back entrance.

The proprietor of the café, Plyne (Serge Davri), takes Edouard aside and points out that the barmaid, Lena (Marie Dubois), is constantly eying him. Plyne would like to get it on with the barmaid himself, but has a face like a mutt and realizes that he's not going to get lucky. So, he encourages Edouard to take a try with her instead. Edouard, however, is something of an introvert and pathetically timid with the ladies. Outside, Lena is waiting for Edouard, ostensibly to borrow a few dollars from him, but then asks him to walk her home. As they walk along, we hear Edouard's inner thoughts, in voiceover narrative, as he implores himself to think of something clever to say and to take the risk of trying to hold her hand. As it happens, he makes her laugh unintentionally when his anxiety causes him to make a funny face. Later, they realize that they are being tailed by the two thugs who are after Chico. They make a dash into an alley and make their way to Lena's apartment.

Inside Lena's apartment, Edouard soon discovers that she knows all about his real identity. It seems that Edouard was once the toast of the town – a renowned concert pianist. Via an extended flashback, we learn that Edouard had been married, but his marriage had gradually fallen apart. His wife, Theresa (Nicole Berger), had been coerced by an impresario, Lars Schmeel (Claude Heymann), into sleeping with him in exchange for a contract for Edouard, which had become his big break, leading to stardom. Edouard hadn't known about the arrangement, but Theresa had been so ashamed of it that she could no longer sleep with her husband. As their marriage was on the verge of collapse, she had confessed the transgression to Edouard, just before jumping out the window to her death. Edouard had quit his profession and taken work as a janitor at the café, until he had been drawn to the piano in the back and began to play, again, for the customers. It had been great for business and Plyne had even been able to hire two other musicians as accompaniment. Edouard also takes care of his younger brother, Fido (Richard Kanayan), with the help of a friendly hooker, Clarisse (Michele Mercier), who lives next door.

Plyne betrays Edouard and Lena to the hoodlums, who are still after Chico, selling their addresses to the thugs. Edouard is forced into their car at gunpoint and later Lena is picked up as well. The thugs demand that Edouard lead them to his parent's farm, where they (correctly) believe Chico to be hiding out. The main humor in the film comes from the idiosyncrasies of the two hoodlums, who talk incessantly about such offhand topics as their views in relation to women, driving, and the odd assortment of possessions belonging to one of them, such as an air-conditioned hat. Edouard and Lena manage to make their escape when the car is pulled over by a policeman for running a red light.

This is not the end of Edouard's difficulties, however. Lena has talked him into getting back on his feet and making another go at the life of a concert pianist. They go to the café to confront Plyne about his betrayal and to give notice. Plyne doesn't take kindly to any of what they have to say and soon he and Edouard are in a brawl, which spills out into an alley. Plyne is about to strangle Edouard, but Edouard manages to reach for the knife on the ground and stabs Plyne in self-defense. Lena helps Edouard hide but they soon discover that Edouard's little brother Fido has been kidnapped by Momo and Ernest. The hoodlums are headed to the family farm with Fido and Edouard and Lena have to get there to warn the brothers, Chico and Richard (Jacques Aslanian). All of this leads to the final, dramatic showdown at the farm.

Themes: This is a film about despondency and the way it saps a person's energy and deadens the spirit. The protagonist provides as thorough a depiction of a man whose innards have been hollowed out by the sharp edge of pain as you'll ever come across in film. Truffaut establishes his intent to dissect Edouard from the beginning, through two main motifs. First are the recurrent mirror shots to suggest a reflection of the protagonist's inner being. Second is a sequence illuminating the inner mechanism of the piano, symbolic of revealing the inner workings of the pianist. The pain that poor Edouard has encountered in his life has resulted in debilitating emotional timidity. In one wonderful scene, for example, Edouard internally debates how to try to extend the walk home with Marie into a date but by the time he's finished fretting, she's disappeared.

Production Values: By Truffaut's own account, "The idea behind Shoot the Piano Player was to make a film without a subject, to express all I wanted to say about glory, success, downfall, failure, women, and love by means of a detective story. It's a grab bag." That's about it. There are some brilliant individual moments that allow Truffaut to extemporize on various issues, but it just doesn't add up to an engaging or satisfying narrative. This is a poorly focused film that is neither suspenseful enough to be a good gangster film nor funny enough to be a good comedy (or black comedy). There is an excess of expository dialog, though some of it is entertaining enough taken by itself. The funniest part of the film is when the two gangsters, Momo and Ernest, chat casually to those they have kidnapped about such mundane subjects as gawking at women, music, and family.

I give Truffaut credit for a lot of comic chutzpah in this film. There's a whimsical irreverence to his primary genre – gangster films – which is cute, but which, in the end, negates the virtues of both film noir and comedy. It all feels like it was rather casually thrown together.

Visually, the film looks pretty good, except for an excess of underlit scenes. The editing is interesting at times. To add credence to a point, one of the gangster says, "May my old mother drop dead if I'm lying," and Truffaut inserts a brief cameo of the man's mother keeling over, wherever she might happen to be. There is also an occasional use of an iris technique to highlight some shots.

The strength of the film is the performances, especially that of Charles Aznavour, whose expressive face subtly reveals his inner turmoil and timidity. He later appeared in The Tin Drum (1979) and The Truth about Charlie (2002). Marie Dubois was lovely and convincing as Marie. She is otherwise best known for appearances in A Woman is a Woman (1960), Jules and Jim (1962), and Mon Oncle d’Amerique (1980). Nicole Berger, who played Theresa, later appeared in The Story of a Three Day Pass (1967). Michèle Mercier was very sexy as Clarisse, the proverbial hooker with the golden heart.

Bottom-Line: Truffaut was faced with a formidable sophomore jinx as he set out to make Shoot the Piano Player after his brilliant debut with The 400 Blows. When Shoot the Piano Player was initially released, it was pretty much both a financial and a critical failure. Critics panned it and audiences stayed away in droves! Although the film's stature has been elevated in the years since by the trumpeting of Truffaut enthusiasts, who claim it to be among his best works, my opinion is that the original theatergoers got it right. As a French version of American gangster films, it is a poor imitation of the real thing. As an example of French satire, it lacks real satirical bite. It's a good-looking film, but way too talky, which is all the more problematic for those watching the film with subtitles. There are many instances throughout the film where there is just too little time to read the lines. Shoot the Piano Player is just 84 minutes long, but, even so, seemed interminable to me, at certain points. It lacks real suspense and the humor is limited to some amusement provoking moments.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older