Subscription
François Truffaut
Our online tribute to a leading figure of the nouvelle vague.
A leading light of the nouvelle vague, François Truffaut made films that were innovative and personal yet highly accessible, writes season programmer Geoff Andrew
Though Truffaut (like Chabrol and early Godard) flirted with genre, he was essentially (like Rohmer) a humanist. For all his cinephilia and abiding interest – whether playful or allusive – in film form, his movies were primarily about people, particularly their emotional lives and their relationships with one another. Love, loss, loneliness; desire, doubt, disappointment; trust, betrayal, guilt: these preoccupations permeate his work. A former critic who felt his life had been transformed by the arts, he imbued his films with personal passions.
Bed and BoardBed and Board
Drama197097 minsDirector: François Truffaut
In this typically ambivalent comedy from Truffaut, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) becomes a father... But is he mature enough for parenthood?
The 400 BlowsThe 400 Blows
Drama1959100 minsDirector: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence.
Love on the RunLove on the Run
Drama197894 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Separated from Christine and uncertain about his latest relationship, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) has finally written a novel inspired by his own experiences in this final chapter of François Truffaut’s series.
Jules et JimJules et Jim
Drama1962106 minsDirector: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s hugely popular classic depicts one of cinema’s most captivating love triangles
Une belle fille comme moiUne belle fille comme moi
Drama197598 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Truffaut is at his most atypical with this black comedy about a young woman (a gleefully raucous Bernardette Lafont) rising from rural rags to richly ironic celebrity by means of murder.
Anne and Muriel [aka Two English Girls]Anne and Muriel [aka Two English Girls]
Drama1971130 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Truffaut adopts a detached, delicate tone in treating the troubled ménage-à-trois that develops between a young French writer (Léaud) and two English sisters in the early 1900s.
Antoine et ColetteAntoine et Colette
Drama196230 minsDirector: François Truffaut
François Truffaut’s wry, perceptive look at an inexperienced teenager’s first clumsy attempts at establishing a relationship with a more sophisticated young woman.
The Last MetroThe Last Metro
Romance1979132 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Catherine Deneuve shines as the director and lead actor of a Parisian theatre struggling to survive under the Nazi occupation in Truffaut's wartime drama.
Stolen KissesStolen Kisses
Comedy196891 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Naively idealistic and largely inept both in his dealings with women and in any job, Antoine clumsily courts Christine while working for a private detective agency.
La Peau DouceLa Peau Douce
Drama1964118 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Truffaut’s Palme d'Or-nominated account of an ill-starred adulterous affair boasts Hitchcockian precision and pitch-perfect performances.
Finally, Sunday!Finally, Sunday!
Comedy1983111 minsDirector: François Truffaut
A man suspected of a crime enlists a woman to prove his innocence in Truffaut’s Hitchcockian inspired serio-comic romantic thriller.
Les MistonsLes Mistons
Drama195718 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Shot in and around Nîmes, Truffaut cast locals as adolescents spying on their crush, a girl called Bernadette, and her lover, Gérard.
The Woman Next DoorThe Woman Next Door
Drama1981105 minsDirector: François Truffaut
Happily married Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) has his life is thrown into turmoil when Mathilde (Fanny Ardant) - an old flame - moves into the house opposite.
Shoot the PianistShoot the Pianist
Crime196081 minsDirector: François Truffaut
A nightclub pianist conceals a secret past in Truffaut’s second feature - a breezy New Wave concoction of genre pastiche, playful stylistic tricks and romantic reverie.
Follow one of Truffaut's greatest characters from impish youth to eventful adult life