François Truffaut: Difference between revisions

| birth_name = François Roland Truffaut

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1932|2|6}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1984|10|21|1932|2|6}}

| death_place = [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]], France

'''François Roland Truffaut''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|t|r|uː|f|oʊ|,_|ˈ|t|r|ʊ|-}} {{respell|TROO|foh|,_|TRUU-}}, {{IPAc-en|US|t|r|uː|ˈ|f|oʊ}} {{respell|troo|FOH}};<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref> {{IPA-fr|fʁɑ̃swa ʁɔlɑ̃ tʁyfo|lang}}; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the [[French New Wave]].<ref>Obituary ''[[Variety Obituaries|Variety]]'', 24 October 1984.</ref> With a career of more than 25 years, he is an icon of the [[Cinema of France|French film]] industry. <!--Along with [[Jean-Luc Godard]], Truffaut was one of the most influential figures of the French New Wave, inspiring directors such as [[Steven Spielberg]], [[Quentin Tarantino]], [[Brian De Palma]], [[Martin Scorsese]], and [[Wes Anderson]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}.-->

 

 

Truffaut wrote the book ''[[Hitchcock/Truffaut]]'' (1966), based on his interviews with film director [[Alfred Hitchcock]] during the 1960s.

 

== Early life ==

Over the next few years, Truffaut became a critic (and later editor) at ''Cahiers'', where he became notorious for his brutal, unforgiving reviews. He was called "The Gravedigger of French Cinema"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/film/2009/04/quatre-cents-truffaut-cinema |title=Film as an act of love|author = Sukhdev Sandhu |magazine= [[New Statesman]] |date=2 April 2009}}</ref> and was the only French critic not invited to the 1958 [[Cannes Film Festival]]. He supported Bazin in developing one of the most influential theories of cinema, the [[auteur theory]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/auteur-theory|title=Auteur theory Filmmaking |author = ((The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica))|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Britannica |date=20 July 1998}}</ref>

 

 

Truffaut later devised the [[auteur theory]], according to which the director was the "author" of his work and great directors such as Renoir or Hitchcock have distinct styles and themes that permeate their films. Although his theory was not widely accepted then, it gained some support in the 1960s from American critic [[Andrew Sarris]]. In 1967, Truffaut published his book-length interview of Hitchcock, ''[[Hitchcock/Truffaut]]'' (New York: [[Simon and Schuster]]).

''[[Two English Girls]]'' (1971) is the female reflection of the same love story as "Jules et Jim". It is based on a story by [[Henri-Pierre Roché]], who wrote ''Jules and Jim'', about a man who falls equally in love with two sisters, and their love affair over a period of years.

 

 

===''Day for Night''===

Truffaut's other films were from original screenplays, often co-written by the screenwriters [[Suzanne Schiffman]] or [[Jean Gruault]]. They featured diverse subjects, the sombre ''[[The Story of Adèle H.]]'' inspired by the life of the daughter of [[Victor Hugo]], with [[Isabelle Adjani]]; ''[[Day for Night (film)|Day for Night]]'', shot at the [[Victorine Studios]], depicting the ups and downs of filmmaking; and ''[[The Last Metro]]'', set during the [[German occupation of France during World War II]], a film rewarded by ten [[César Award]]s.

 

 

Many filmmakers admire Truffaut, and tributes to his work have appeared in films such as ''[[Almost Famous]]'', ''[[Face (2009 film)|Face]]'' and ''[[The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (film)|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly]]'', as well as novelist [[Haruki Murakami]]'s ''[[Kafka on the Shore]]''. In conversation with [[Michael Ondaatje]], film editor [[Walter Murch]] mentions the influence Truffaut had on him as a young man, saying he was "electrified" by the freeze-frame at the end of ''[[The 400 Blows]]'', and that Godard's ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|Breathless]]'' and Truffaut's ''[[Shoot the Piano Player]]'' reinforced the idea that he could make films.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ondaatje |first=Michael |title=The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Editing of Film |year=2002 |pages=24–25}}</ref>

Of [[Jean Renoir]], he said: "I think Renoir is the only filmmaker who's practically infallible, who has never made a mistake on film. And I think if he never made mistakes, it's because he always found solutions based on simplicity—human solutions. He's one film director who never pretended. He never tried to have a style, and if you know his work—which is very comprehensive, since he dealt with all sorts of subjects—when you get stuck, especially as a young filmmaker, you can think of how Renoir would have handled the situation, and you generally find a solution".<ref>On Jean Renoir [http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2010/08/francois-truffaut-last-interview.html Truffaut's Last Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821124346/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/truffauts-last-interview |date=21 August 2023 }}</ref>

 

 

Truffaut and [[Jean-Luc Godard]], his colleague from ''Les Cahiers du Cinéma'', worked together closely during their start as film directors although they had different working methods. Tensions came to the surface after [[May 68]]: Godard wanted a more political, specifically Marxist cinema, Truffaut was critical of creating films for primarily political purposes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/63d8203c-24e3-11e0-895d-00144feab49a |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/63d8203c-24e3-11e0-895d-00144feab49a |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-status=live|title=When Truffaut met Godard |website=[[Financial Times]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 1973, Godard wrote Truffaut a lengthy and raucous private letter peppered with accusations and insinuations, several times stating that as a filmmaker "you're a liar" and that his latest film (''Day for Night'') had been unsatisfying, lying and evasive: "You're a liar, because the scene between you and [[Jacqueline Bisset]] last week at ''Francis'' [a Paris restaurant] isn't included in your movie, and one also can't help wondering why the director is the only guy who isn't sleeping around in ''Day for Night''" (Truffaut directed the film, wrote it and played the director on the film set in the film). Godard also implied that Truffaut had gone commercial and easy.<ref>Truffaut, ''Correspondance'', ed. Godard.</ref>

Truffaut was married to Madeleine Morgenstern from 1957 to 1965, and they had two daughters, Laura (born 1959) and Eva (born 1961). Madeleine was the daughter of [[Ignace Morgenstern]], managing director of one of France's largest film distribution companies, [[Cocinor]], and was largely responsible for securing funding for Truffaut's first films.

 

 

Truffaut was an [[Atheism|atheist]], but had great respect for the Catholic Church and requested a [[Requiem|Requiem Mass]] for his funeral.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Film|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediareli00mazu|url-access=limited|author=Eric Michael Mazur|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|isbn=9780313330728|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediareli00mazu/page/n458 438]|quote=Yet Truffaut, an atheist, was not stumping for God with these conservative attacks.}}<!--|access-date=30 September 2012--></ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Films of Jean-Luc Godard: Seeing the Invisible|url=https://archive.org/details/filmsjeanlucgoda00ster|url-access=limited|author=David Sterritt|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=9780521589710|page=[https://archive.org/details/filmsjeanlucgoda00ster/page/n32 17]|quote=One way of understanding Godard's approach is to contrast it with that of François Truffaut, one of his most respected New Wave colleagues. As a self-described atheist, Truffaut took special pleasure in the materiality of cinema, noting that no photographic image can be obtained without real, physical light making direct contact with a real, physical object in the immediate presence of the camera.}}<!--|access-date=11 September 2012--></ref>

== Death ==

[[File:Montmartre-Truffaut.JPG|thumb|Truffaut's grave in [[Montmartre Cemetery]], Paris]]

 

At the time of his death, he was said to have numerous further films in preparation. He is buried in [[Montmartre Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2011/09/14/03013-20110914ARTFIG00815-journees-du-patrimoine-2011-paris-18eme-le-programme.php|title=Journées du patrimoine 2011 Paris 18ème, le programme|date=14 September 2011|newspaper=[[Le Figaro]]|access-date=29 December 2016|archive-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230000451/http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2011/09/14/03013-20110914ARTFIG00815-journees-du-patrimoine-2011-paris-18eme-le-programme.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

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| 1981

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|1978 || ''[[The Green Room (film)|The Green Room]]'' || Julien Davenne || Lead role

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|}

 

[[Category:Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners]]

[[Category:Burials at Montmartre Cemetery]]

[[Category:Film theorists]]

[[Category:French atheists]]

[[Category:20th-century French historians]]

[[Category:20th-century French screenwriters]]