Sometimes you watch a classic for the first time and you don't understand the hype. This time I was more than pleasantly surprised. Wonderful, whimsical and sad little film noir. This movie completely plays with the audience, but in a loving way. The actors and actresses are almost uniformly great. Some incredible faces. Aznavour in particular has an amazingly distinctive look. Be warned, it takes about ten minutes to have an idea of what is going on. Just hang in there and go with it. Highly recommend.
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 [FRENCH]
Crime / Drama / Thriller
Plot summary
Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
July 20, 2023 at 11:13 AM
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Remarkably enjoyable and fresh
Brothers in Arms...
You're a humble pianist inside a bar, when your brother barges in to pay regards, he's pursued by two tough villains, but your able to contain them, give him time to make escape, and go afar. But these rogues have found a way to track you down, and they know where you reside, which part of town, so they'll take something that's close, means your brother is exposed, and the place where he's escaped, is now well known.
The tale of how Charlie Koller went from obscurity to fame and back again, before all hell breaks loose when his brother, under pursuit, walks back into his life. Great performances, original in its presentation for the time, by a truly great, visionary director.
Maybe I Just Don't Get It.....But I'll Try Again
This is a movie I hope gets better with multiple viewings because I was disappointed on the first look. I bought it sight-unseen because I am a film noir fan and I read several reviews absolutely raving about this film. So, I expected a lot.
This was too much of a talky, off-beat noir with stupid dialog in too many parts. The French certainly have a different way of viewing things than I do. This more of a melodrama than a crime story, although a crime does take place. When it occurs, it's a short but shocking scene.
Charles Aznavour has an interesting face and the women in here are pretty but the cops and other characters in general are just too dopey for me. Why film noir "experts" all like this movie is beyond me. Maybe I just "don't get it." Well.....I do like the title, at least.