IMDb RATING
7.4/10
21K
YOUR RATING
A pianist helps his brother escape from two gangsters, who retaliate by abducting their kid brother.A pianist helps his brother escape from two gangsters, who retaliate by abducting their kid brother.A pianist helps his brother escape from two gangsters, who retaliate by abducting their kid brother.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBecause no funding was available from any of the studios, François Truffaut and his crew shot the film on the fly on the streets of Paris, often making up the script as they went along. The ending was decided on the basis of who was available at the time of shooting.
- GoofsWhen Lena and Charlie walk home after work, the shadow of the camera can be seen on their coats.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sunday Night: Don't Shoot the Composer (1966)
Featured review
Accept the Vacuum?
Goodness me. I tend to "load" movies beyond what the casual viewer would. And I am the perfect candidate for films that have lots of blank placards here and there, areas of vacuum where you are supposed to place your cinematic references and thus remind yourself of the vacuity of your own life.
But after a couple movies, that gets uninteresting. Godard evolved and took chances. Resnais targeted the structure of the vacuum and not the vacuum itself. Truffault, well, you have to make your own choices in life.
To an amazing extent, you are what you digest artistically. Your soul sees with the spectacles you allow.
So you'll have to make a choice about this movie. The character reaches out twice, to two women. Each time, they die because they care for him. Once, he himself kills for one. So he retreats. It is all about the retreat and why.
He is a consummate artist and his retreat is into pop music. There's a terrific long song about falsies that he accompanies, sort of a minishow within the show. So it is clever, this notion of showing a character and his relationship to 3 women that reflects Truffault's choices about a relationship to us. And there is a lovingly edited sequence where he and the third woman are languidly lolling in postcoital linens.
But if you choose to accept this movie on its own terms, you'll be acting just like the piano player. Is that what you want?
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
But after a couple movies, that gets uninteresting. Godard evolved and took chances. Resnais targeted the structure of the vacuum and not the vacuum itself. Truffault, well, you have to make your own choices in life.
To an amazing extent, you are what you digest artistically. Your soul sees with the spectacles you allow.
So you'll have to make a choice about this movie. The character reaches out twice, to two women. Each time, they die because they care for him. Once, he himself kills for one. So he retreats. It is all about the retreat and why.
He is a consummate artist and his retreat is into pop music. There's a terrific long song about falsies that he accompanies, sort of a minishow within the show. So it is clever, this notion of showing a character and his relationship to 3 women that reflects Truffault's choices about a relationship to us. And there is a lovingly edited sequence where he and the third woman are languidly lolling in postcoital linens.
But if you choose to accept this movie on its own terms, you'll be acting just like the piano player. Is that what you want?
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
helpful•118
- tedg
- Feb 23, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Schießen Sie auf den Pianisten
- Filming locations
- Garage du Dauphiné, 53 route de Lyon, Grenoble, Isère, France(Ernest and Momo push the broken down car to a gas station, now disused)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- FRF 890,063 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $21,124
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,206
- Apr 25, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $21,124
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was Shoot the Piano Player (1960) officially released in India in English?
Answer