From his debut feature, The 400 Blows, to his final film, Confidentially Yours, this series allows us to learn about French filmmaker François Truffaut (1932–1984) through the eyes of his daughter, Laura Truffaut, who will introduce and lead post-screening discussions.
Read full descriptionJean-Pierre Léaud plays François Truffaut’s alter ego, Antoine Doinel, in the quintessential coming-of-age film, a lyrical but unsentimental portrait of adolescence and of Paris.
Jean-Pierre Léaud as François Truffaut’s quintessential dreamer Antoine Doinel, flitting through 1968 Paris in search of love and livelihood. With short Antoine and Colette.
François Truffaut’s portrayal of an early twentieth-century love triangle with Jeanne Moreau at its apex is “full of wit and radiance” (Pauline Kael).
A mild-mannered, middle-aged married academic juggles his modern literature lectures with afternoon trysts with a stewardess in François Truffaut’s elegant, oft-overlooked critique of the philandering class, made with a Hitchcockian lightness of touch and pace. An “astute dissection of middle-class mores” (BFI).
This fact-based tale of a “wolf boy” and the teacher who sets out to tame him is François Truffaut’s “most thoughtful statement on his favorite subject: the way young people grow up, explore themselves, and attempt to function creatively in the world” (Roger Ebert).
Aided by the marvelous, impressionist-styled images of cinematographer Nestor Almendros and a swooning score by Georges Delerue, François Truffaut transforms his second adaptation of a novel by Henri-Pierre Roché (author of Jules and Jim) into an overwhelming sensory experience.
Imported 35mm Print
Jean-Pierre Léaud joins an ensemble cast for a behind-the-scenes romantic comedy in which the love interest is cinema itself. Day for Night is buoyed by robust performances and a sparkling score by the legendary Georges Delerue.
François Truffaut’s tribute to the resilience of children in the face of difficulties is one of cinema’s most moving, comedic looks at childhood. “Turns out to be that rarity—a poetic comedy that’s really funny” (Pauline Kael).
François Truffaut’s graceful last film pays tribute to screwball comedies, film noir, and the stylish thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock as it follows a real-estate agent and his secretary, who are thrown together to investigate a series of small-town murders. “A valentine disguised as a noir” (TCM).