A Companion to François Truffaut"An 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 Scientifique"This 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 Truffaut's 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 Truffaut's 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, 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, thirty-four 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 tracks Truffaut's controversial stature within French cinema and vividly identifies how he thinks and works as a director, adding an irreplaceable perspective to this essential volume.

Acknowledgments viiiNotes on Contributors ixPreface xvFilmography xxiiiPart I La Planète Truffaut 11. Interview with Arnaud Desplechin, Part I: Truffaut and HisPosition 3Anne Gillain and Dudley Andrew2. Truffaut and His "Doubles" 23Martin Lefebvre3. Aesthetic Affinities: François Truffaut, PatrickModiano, Douglas Sirk 71Anne Gillain4. Interview with Arnaud Desplechin, Part II: Truffaut and HisMethods 105Anne Gillain and Dudley AndrewPart II Style and Sensibility 1255. Flashes of Happiness 127Alain Bergala6. Truffaut and the Photographic: Cinema, Fetishism, Death137Junji Hori7. The Impasse of Intimacy: Romance and Tragedy inTruffaut's Cinema 153John Orr8. A Fine Madness: Digressions on Pathologies inTruffaut's Films 173Francis Vanoye9. The Ecstatic Pan 184Phil Powrie10. The Untimely Moment and the Correct Distance 205Adrian MartinPart III The Making of a Filmmaker 21911. Every Teacher Needs a Truant: Bazin and L'Enfantsauvage 221Dudley Andrew12. Certain Tendencies of Truffaut's Film Criticism242Richard Neupert13. Truffaut-Hitchcock 265Jonathan Everett Haynes14. The Paradox of "Familiarity": Truffaut, Heir ofRenoir 283Ludovic Cortade15. Cain and Abel: Godard and Truffaut 300Michel Marie16. Friction, Failure, and Fire: Truffaut as Adaptive Auteur317Timothy CorriganPart IV Truffaut and His Time 33317. Growing Up with the French New Wave 335James Tweedie18. Bad Objects: Truffaut's Radicalism 356Sam Di Iorio19. Between Renoir and Hitchcock: The Paradox ofTruffaut's Women 375Ginette Vincendeau20. Truffaut in the Mirror of Japan 388Kan NozakiPart V Films 40121. Directing Children: The Double Meaning of Self-Consciousness403Angela Dalle Vacche22. Jules et Jim ... et Walter Benjamin 420Dudley Andrew23. Digging Up the Past: Jules et Jim 434Elizabeth Ezra24. The Elevator and the Telephone: On Urgency in La Peau douce448Michel Chion25. La Peau douce: A Psychogeography of Silky Cinephilia454Tom Conley26. La Peau douce: François Truffaut's PassionateObject 469Hilary Radner27. An Unsettling Passage: From Les Deux Anglaises et lecontinent to La Chambre verte 489Carlos Losilla28. The Structural Role of Intervals in L'Argent de poche507Alain Bergala29. To Die or to Love: Modern Don Juans in Truffaut and Oliveira517Luiza Jatobá30. Film as Literature: or the Truffaldian Malaise(L'Homme qui aimait les femmes) 530Lúcia Nagib31. The Elegist: François Truffaut inside La Chambre verte546Philip Watts32. La Chambre verte and the Beating Heart of Truffaut'sOeuvre 561Françoise Zamour33. Le Dernier Métro: An Underground Golden Coach 571Jean-Michel Frodon34. Disillusionment and Magic in La Nuit américaine and LeDernier Métro 584Marc VernetIndex 594