A Companion to François Truffaut

Although the New Wave, one of the most influential aesthetic revolutions in the history of cinema, might not have existed without him, François Truffaut has largely been ignored by film scholars since his death almost thirty years ago. As an innovative theoretician, an influential critic and a celebrated filmmaker, Truffaut formulated, disseminated and illustrated the ideals of the New Wave with exceptional energy and distinction. Yet no book in recent years has focused on Truffaut’s value, and his overall contribution to cinema deserves to be redefined not only to reinstate him in his proper place but to let us rethink how cinema developed during his lifetime. In this new Companion , 34 original essays by leading film scholars offer new readings of individual films, and original perspectives on the filmmaker’s background, influences, and consequence. Hugely influential around the globe, Truffaut is assessed by international contributors who delve into the unique quality of his narratives and establish the depth of his distinctively styled work. An extended interview with French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin concerning Truffaut’s shifting stature in French film culture, and his manner of thought and work as a director, adds an irreplaceable perspective to this essential volume.

Acknowledgments viii Notes on Contributors ix Preface xv Filmography xxiii Part I La Planète Truffaut 1 1. Interview with Arnaud Desplechin, Part I: Truffaut and His Position 3 Anne Gillain and Dudley Andrew 2. Truffaut and His “Doubles” 23 Martin Lefebvre 3. Aesthetic Affinities: François Truffaut, Patrick Modiano, Douglas Sirk 71 Anne Gillain 4. Interview with Arnaud Desplechin, Part II: Truffaut and His Methods 105 Anne Gillain and Dudley Andrew Part II Style and Sensibility 125 5. Flashes of Happiness 127 Alain Bergala 6. Truffaut and the Photographic: Cinema, Fetishism, Death 137 Junji Hori 7. The Impasse of Intimacy: Romance and Tragedy in Truffaut’s Cinema 153 John Orr 8. A Fine Madness: Digressions on Pathologies in Truffaut’s Films 173 Francis Vanoye 9. The Ecstatic Pan 184 Phil Powrie 10. The Untimely Moment and the Correct Distance 205 Adrian Martin Part III The Making of a Filmmaker 219 11. Every Teacher Needs a Truant: Bazin and L’Enfant sauvage 221 Dudley Andrew 12. Certain Tendencies of Truffaut’s Film Criticism 242 Richard Neupert 13. Truffaut–Hitchcock 265 Jonathan Everett Haynes 14. The Paradox of “Familiarity”: Truffaut, Heir of Renoir 283 Ludovic Cortade 15. Cain and Abel: Godard and Truffaut 300 Michel Marie 16. Friction, Failure, and Fire: Truffaut as Adaptive Auteur 317 Timothy Corrigan Part IV Truffaut and His Time 333 17. Growing Up with the French New Wave 335 James Tweedie 18. Bad Objects: Truffaut’s Radicalism 356 Sam Di Iorio 19. Between Renoir and Hitchcock: The Paradox of Truffaut’s Women 375 Ginette Vincendeau 20. Truffaut in the Mirror of Japan 388 Kan Nozaki Part V Films 401 21. Directing Children: The Double Meaning of Self–Consciousness 403 Angela Dalle Vacche 22. Jules et Jim … et Walter Benjamin 420 Dudley Andrew 23. Digging Up the Past: Jules et Jim 434 Elizabeth Ezra 24. The Elevator and the Telephone: On Urgency in La Peau douce 448 Michel Chion 25. La Peau douce: A Psychogeography of Silky Cinephilia 454 Tom Conley 26. La Peau douce: François Truffaut’s Passionate Object 469 Hilary Radner 27. An Unsettling Passage: From Les Deux Anglaises et le continent to La Chambre verte 489 Carlos Losilla 28. The Structural Role of Intervals in L’Argent de poche 507 Alain Bergala 29. To Die or to Love: Modern Don Juans in Truffaut and Oliveira 517 Luiza Jatobá 30. Film as Literature: or the Truffaldian Malaise (L’Homme qui aimait les femmes) 530 Lúcia Nagib 31. The Elegist: François Truffaut inside La Chambre verte 546 Philip Watts 32. La Chambre verte and the Beating Heart of Truffaut’s Oeuvre 561 Françoise Zamour 33. Le Dernier Métro: An Underground Golden Coach 571 Jean–Michel Frodon 34. Disillusionment and Magic in La Nuit américaine and Le Dernier Métro 584 Marc Vernet Index 594

Dudley Andrew is the R. Selden Rose Professor of Film and Comparative Literature at Yale. He is the author or editor of nine books, including The Major Film Theories, Popular Front Paris and the Poetics of Culture (2005), What Cinema Is! (2010), and Opening Bazin (2011), which won the SCMS Best Anthology Award for 2011.  Anne Gillain is a Professor Emeritus at Wellesley College. She is known for her work on French cinema, particularly Francois Truffaut, in books that include Le Cinéma selon François Truffaut (1988), Les 400 Coups (1991) and François Truffaut: The Lost Secret (2013).

"A superb compendium of 34 critical essays on the late French film director ... Truffaut′s deeply human and penetrating films come alive for the reader. A splendid ′companion′ offering fresh insight and thoughtful analysis on every page. Summing Up : Highly recommended. Lower–level undergraduates and above."  ( Choice , 1 September 2013)