射杀钢琴师

The French New Wave, in general, was about both iconoclasm and reverence for the long-lasting film traditions. If the fragmentary editing epitomized by jarring jump cuts, and the extended long takes consisted of medley montages in New Wave films were a testimony against the institutionalized cinema, then, the adoption and references of antecedent film movements and genres were the most sincere accolade to early art-cinemas from the New Wave directors.

Shoot the Piano Player(Francois Truffaut, 1960), Truffaut’s second feature film may on the surface level may feel like a modest tale of crime thriller centering on pianist Charlie’s (Charles Aznavour) entanglement in a bizarre cat-and-mouse game. However, it is full of intimation and little eccentricities worthy of the viewers’ attention, crystalizing the spirit of the French New Wave.

It is often noted how many of the directors within the New Wave made references to classic film movements and genres; so did Truffaut. For instance, the claustrophobic atmosphere stemmed from the chiaroscuro lighting schemes, and the dramatic shadow patterning right at the opening of the film is his direct tribute to the classic American noir films (1:50). Yet, this 4-min sequence is full of Truffaut’s acute implementation of salient New Wave stylistic elements. The scene starts with a chase sequence displaying Chico (Albert Remy) running for life from the two gangsters (Daniel Boulanger, Claude Mansard) pursuing. The interposition of shots of Chico sprinting and the car following with disoriented camera movements are the distinct language of the New Wave directors who knowingly twist temporal and spatial continuity. At the same time, Truffaut adopts the nonlinear storyline from neorealist films to play with the narrative a bit. While the viewers are still fixated on the thrilling chase sequence, in the next second Chico is stunned by a streetlight and soon gets rescued by a stranger (Alex Joffe) just passing by (2:37). Rather than return to Chico’s escape, for the next two minutes, the narrative digresses instead to capture Chico and the stranger having a casual conversation about life, love, and marriage. It is not until the stranger disappears at the corner (and never reappears in the rest of the film), the chase again carries on.

Still, the innovative editing and the episodic narrative structure are just one snippet of cinematic elements that Truffaut utilizes inShoot the Piano Player. Followed by the wildly acclaimed debutThe 400 Blows(Francois Truffaut, 1959), Truffaut continued to masterfully maneuver the frame to draw audiences’ attention to a specific point in the scene. In the final snowbound shootout with the gangsters (79:00), Lena (Marie Dubois) gets accidentally shot at on her way looking for Charlie. When Charlie finally shows up, everything is too late as Lena, covered in snow, has lost her breath already. As Charlie holds Lena with remorse, rather conventionally cut to a close-up of Lena’s face, Truffaut employs a combination of zoom shot and freeze-frame to immortalize this poignant moment, magnifying Charlie’s anguish in losing the beloved one.

Truffaut takes the free-wheeling side of the French New Wave further by implementing gentle humor into his film even if the tone and subject matters can be quite intense. In the scene where Charlie and Lena have been kidnapped by the gangsters, for example, Truffaut turns a supposed agitated maneuver with the criminals into a waggish slapstick (25:30). Despite being kidnapped, Charlie and Lena keep having discussion apropos of driving, women, and sex with the two gangsters along the way, as if they have known each other for a long time. Then, noticing that the two gangsters have let down their guards, Lena pushes her foot on the drivers’s pedal in an attempt to get the car pulled over. The tactic is successful, allowing Charlie and Lena to walk away with ease while the gangsters have to end the kidnapping to deal with a passing traffic policeman. Interpolating these humorous aspects within the story again emphasizes the versatility and playfulness of this film alone. SometimesShoot the Piano Playerbecomes reflexive as Truffaut reflects on the making of the film and makes flippant remarks about it. In an erotic scene where Charlie is about to enjoy himself for the rest of the night as Clarisse (Michele Mercier), already naked, is lying next to him (20:58), Charlie takes the bedsheet to cover Clarisse’s breast, joking “This is how it’s done in the movies.” Just like that, Truffaut, in sleight of hand, integrates his jocular comment about the classic Hollywood’s finicky Production Code, evincing his attitude towards the need for modern movies to disregard any forms of restriction.

Besides, Truffaut did not apply all the cinematic elements of the French New Wave just for the sake of applying it; what really appeals to him in making the film is the sense of loneliness and alienation that is suggested for the protagonist. Charlie, a passe classical pianist, is portrayed as a diffident and reticent person who seems to be a little bit cut off from the rest of the world. In order to reflect such personality appropriately, Truffaut makes use of many New Wave stylistic devices, along with voiceovers and flashbacks, guiding the viewers into Charlie’s psyche. The voiceover is the most frequent and effective device that sheds light on Charlie’s subjective thoughts throughout the film. In particular, in the sequence where Charlie accompanies Lena back home right off the work (15:30), the close-ups of Charlie’s hand seeking to hold Lena’s is juxtaposed with shots of his restrained face. Such thoughtful editing is an apposite representation of Charlie’s lack of courage in taking initiatives, exemplifying his agitated state at the moment. The subsequent voiceover of Charlie searching for improvisations to break the silence once again directly demonstrates to the viewer Charlie's reserved character.

Another brilliant example of Truffaut’s keen link of visual style with the story’s idea and characterizations is the audition scene. Truffaut deliberately utilizes montage to call attention to Charlie’s psychology. As Charlie walks across the corridor and about to enter the audition room (33:53), first a medium close-up of Charlie playing with the door key is shown. Forthwith, we get three different close-ups of his finger teasing the door bell within different scales, and then a long shot from the end of the hall which completely jolts us back out again. The montage of Charlie’s hesitant actions plus the elongated corridor scene reinforce the idea of hollowness, as his ambivalent behavior keeps haunting him. What’s more scintillating is that, in the next shot, the door is opened by a young lady who has just finished her audition. In most cases, we would expect the camera to follow Charlie entering the audition room and watching him performing in front of the judges. However, the camera instead stays with this young lady, tracking back with her as she walks through the corridor and out of the building. Such an open-ended sequence epitomizes Truffaut’s mastery of the incidental narrative structure, and makes us wonder about his ulterior motif in creating it. Is he showing the lady because she might just be another victim of the sexual harassment just like Charlie’s dead wife, or because he simply wants to? By constantly incorporating stylistic features from the New Wave, meanwhile, blending his uptake of the modern cinema, Truffaut in harmony, creates an idiosyncratic film language that is distinct from any other coeval peers.

可能不属于最动人的电影，但绝对是最有活力的电影，无愧“新浪潮”的奠基之作。传统犯罪故事为壳，爱情悲剧为骨（所以有评论结合二者，亦归为黑色电影范畴），“悬念”一直留到了最后十分钟，但散漫直接、跳跃多变的镜头记录下的情感世界却无疑是现代的（几处镜头甚至做出了默片的效果）。闷骚男主的口不对心一次次酿成了爱人的悲剧，除了一段床戏，他的状态总是平静的，观众很难进入其内心与其共情，从而被迫去思考背后的原因。开头的追踪、中间的绑架&脱困、结尾的枪战，印证着本片具有“对犯罪情节即兴的、充满深情的戏仿式处理”的倾向的论断。仔细想想，犯罪元素似乎隐隐将男主的困境指向出身与阶级，而不时出现的（透过人物）关于婚姻与爱情的评论和流行乐（酒吧歌手真人献唱那首Framboise很好听）传递出对爱情的怀疑这一社会性讯息。

如果是美式黑色电影，绝不会这样零散琐碎，不会拍着一条线索突然又跟着某个人物展开去了，只有在特吕弗的电影世界里，才能这样无拘无束、突破所有常规的枷锁。经过精心修饰的电影，不会将任何不辅助于叙事的内容遗留下来，特吕弗不同，他要拍的是人、是环境，而不仅仅是故事。

反传统的另一面体现在每一个人物都是非典型的。

主角钢琴家优柔寡断，面对心仪的女孩会手足无措，在心魔的驱使下说谎自保，怀揣着过去的痛苦企图开启新的生活，又陷入重复的轮回。在一次又一次的重击下，他的身心已如破碎的镜面，再无法复原，只能无限向下分裂开去。

劫匪的非典型是喜剧式的，他们看似凶狠，用枪要挟人质以达到目的，却又热切地与人质交谈，分享自己得意的物件，甚至因超速被警方扣下后，还乖乖的停车，放走了人质。这在传统意义上的黑色电影中，不可能见到。

同样是劫匪的哥哥，在逃跑过程中还撞到柱子，并与陌生人热切攀谈。弟弟身负杀人案再回到老家，也丝毫不惊讶。女友面对主角突然的分别要求泰然自若，也干脆利落地扬长而去，毫不为此犹豫挂念。

这些在传统黑色电影中不会出现的人物特征，在特吕弗的电影中，成为构成鲜活的人的必要条件。也正是这样一个个有趣的灵魂彼此碰撞，使影片多了几分趣味性。特吕弗从不吝啬在电影中展示自己的幽默，再描述店主出卖情报时并峙的三个圆形画幅，劫匪夸夸其谈时其母亲到地的蒙太奇等等，片中不乏迷影情结，主角与店主在酒馆打斗的片段，不难窥见希区柯克的影响。主角的念白也是一个巧妙的设置，搭配上他随后的行动，形成了有趣的画面。

但在这样的幽默背后，特吕弗依然难掩他略带忧郁的气质。他让主角循环了自己的经历：企图躲到酒馆中逃避曾经的钢琴家身份及失去妻子伤痛的主角，又难耐音乐的吸引，重新回到与琴键共舞的生活，甚至又爱上了一个和亡妻一般的女侍者。在再次经历一次爱人的逝去后的他再次回到酒馆，再次结识新的女侍者，再次弹起片头出现过的钢琴。

生活像一个无穷无尽的怪圈，主角始终在原地打转。

孩子气的特吕弗，自有自的哀愁。