A Companion to Franois Truffaut

ISBN: 1405198478

Author: Andrew, Dudley

Condition: New

A Companion to Franois TruffautAn unprecedented critical tribute to the director who, in France, wound up becoming the most controversial figure of the New Wave he helped found.Raymond Bellour, Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueThis exciting collection breaks through the widely held critical view that Truffaut abandoned the iconoclasm of his early work for an academicism he had consistently railed against in his own film criticism. Indeed, if fever and fire were Truffauts most consistent motifs, the essays in this collection live up to his lifelong, burning passion for the cinema. Written by world-famous scholars, the essays exhaustively explore the themes and styles of the films, as well as Truffauts relationships to André Bazin, Alfred Hitchcock, and the directors of the New Wave, his ground-breaking and controversial film criticism, and his position in the complex politics of French cultural life from the Popular Front to 1968 and after.Angelo Restivo, Georgia State UniversityAlthough the New Wave, one of the most influential aesthetic revolutions in the history of cinema, might not have existed without him, Franois 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 Truffauts 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, thirty-four original essays by leading film scholars offer new readings of individual films and original perspectives on the filmmakers 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 tracks Truffauts controversial stature within French cinema and vividly identifies how he thinks and works as a director, adding an irreplaceable perspective to this essential volume.