I was charmed by this film when i saw it about 15 years ago.
A gangster movie with Charles Aznavour that isn’t really a gangster movie.
It still had the charm.
There’s the funny plinkety-plunk song at the beginning, “Quelle avanie… Ah! Ah! Ah!…” sung by a bloke bobbing up and down like a loony.
A cuddly Dudley (Moore) is Charlie. All the girls like Charlie. Cus he plays the piano so beautifully. Cus he’s tiny. A sad little boy.
Apparently Truffuat realised about half way thro making this film that he didn’t like gangsters much – so he softened them up.
He threw bits of everything into the mix. Which kind of makes it an odd hybrid.
Self-consciously stylised.
“You can’t help (fat pig) Plyne or anyone, you’re not concerned with anything” says Charlie in one of his internal voice-overs.
Which gets at the sadly comic detachment that seems to run underneath this film. Arrange those tears. Fluff up those smiles.
Just rinky dink that plinky plunk piano.
Dir: Francois Truffuat, France
7/10
