Seeing an excellent double bill of The Story of Adele H and Pocket Money (1975 and 1972-both also reviewed),I took a look at François Truffaut other credits. Finding that fellow auteur Robert Bresson had made his last movie (the very good L'Argent-also reviewed) in 1983,I was sad to find that Truffaut had also made his last production in the same year,which led to me paying my respects to both film makers.
View on the film:
Making his last ever image being children playing around/kicking a camera lens, (which could be seen as a metaphor of the New Wavers kicking cinema in whichever direction they wanted) film maker François Truffaut is joined by long-time co-writers Suzanne Schiffman & Jean Aurel,and cinematographer Néstor Almendros for a slick final return to Film Noir.
Displaying his love of Hitchcock, Truffaut and Aurel conclude their experimentation of tracking shots with elegant pans along Vercel's safe-house,and walls glazed in sharp black and white shadows building anticipation to brief glimpses of the killer.
Going for a much lighter mood than his past Film Noir's, Truffaut cross-stitches Noir with a "Caper" lightness, reeling in visits to the cinema, a cheeky elf outfit for Becker and Georges Delerue's score giving a jaunty swagger to Becker and Vercel.
Spreading photos of the crimes Vercel is accused of across the screen, the writers do extremely well in their adaptation of Charles "Dead Calm" Williams book never feeling heavy,with the dialogue having the sparkling quality of the Caper genre,which allows for the couples run to solve the case to have a cheeky playful mood.
Joining her husband for the second,and final time,Fanny Ardant gives an excellent performance as Becker,with Ardant injecting a wry sense of humour in Becker's exchanges with Jean-Louis Trintignant's stressed-out Vercel, and showing a real relish in wearing Truffaut's last Femme Fatale jacket.
View on the film:
Making his last ever image being children playing around/kicking a camera lens, (which could be seen as a metaphor of the New Wavers kicking cinema in whichever direction they wanted) film maker François Truffaut is joined by long-time co-writers Suzanne Schiffman & Jean Aurel,and cinematographer Néstor Almendros for a slick final return to Film Noir.
Displaying his love of Hitchcock, Truffaut and Aurel conclude their experimentation of tracking shots with elegant pans along Vercel's safe-house,and walls glazed in sharp black and white shadows building anticipation to brief glimpses of the killer.
Going for a much lighter mood than his past Film Noir's, Truffaut cross-stitches Noir with a "Caper" lightness, reeling in visits to the cinema, a cheeky elf outfit for Becker and Georges Delerue's score giving a jaunty swagger to Becker and Vercel.
Spreading photos of the crimes Vercel is accused of across the screen, the writers do extremely well in their adaptation of Charles "Dead Calm" Williams book never feeling heavy,with the dialogue having the sparkling quality of the Caper genre,which allows for the couples run to solve the case to have a cheeky playful mood.
Joining her husband for the second,and final time,Fanny Ardant gives an excellent performance as Becker,with Ardant injecting a wry sense of humour in Becker's exchanges with Jean-Louis Trintignant's stressed-out Vercel, and showing a real relish in wearing Truffaut's last Femme Fatale jacket.