François Truffaut

François Roland Truffaut (born in Paris, on February 6, 1932; died in Neuilly-sur-Seine on October 21, 1984) was one of the founders of the French "New Wave" in filmmaking, and remains an icon of the French film industry. He wrote, directed, acted in and produced over thirty films.

Life

Truffaut was born out of wedlock in 1930s Paris, where he was raised by his mother and his adopted father, Roland Truffaut, both of whom were devout Catholics. He never met his biological father, who was a Jewish dentist. Truffaut had a difficult childhood that resulted in rebellion against his parents in particular and authority in general. Truffaut reported that his film The 400 Blows (1959) was largely autobiographical. His love of films partly came from his elective father, the writer and critic André Bazin.

Related Topics:
Catholics - Jewish - The 400 Blows - André Bazin

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Truffaut came to filmmaking only after an early career as one of the most outspoken film critics in France, writing for Bazin's les Cahiers du cinéma (he became an editor of the review in 1953). The Cahiers at this time were intensely critical of post-war French cinema (because of the severity of his critiques, Truffaut was refused a press pass to the 1958 Cannes film festival) and enamoured with Hollywood filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks. In 1954, Truffaut published an article expounding the politique des auteurs, or Auteur theory of cinema which championed the idea that movies should reflect the personal vision and preoccupations of the director.

Related Topics:
Cahiers du cinéma - 1953 - 1958 - Cannes film festival - Alfred Hitchcock - Howard Hawks - Auteur theory

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On October 29, 1957, he married Madeleine Morgenstern at the City Hall in Paris, with whom he had two children, Laura (b. January 22, 1959) and Eva (b. June 29, 1961). His father-in-law, a film producer and distributor, helped to get Truffaut's career off the ground. He and Morgenstern divorced in 1965. In 1983, he had a daughter with actress and constant companion, Fanny Ardant, Joséphine Truffaut who was born on September 28, 1983, a year before his death.

Related Topics:
October 29 - 1957 - January 22 - 1959 - June 29 - 1961 - Fanny Ardant - September 28 - 1983

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The dynamics of relationships are a common thread throughout most of his films.

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Truffaut was an expert on Sir Alfred Hitchcock, even publishing a book Hitchcock (also known as Hitchcock/Truffaut) which recorded interviews and conversations with Hitchcock. His last film Confidentially Yours, a comedy thriller in black and white, could be considered to be a "fake Hitchcock".

Related Topics:
Alfred Hitchcock - Confidentially Yours

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Truffaut's 1973 production of La Nuit américaine won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Also an actor, he sometimes played in his own films, and appeared memorably in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Related Topics:
La Nuit américaine - Academy Award - Steven Spielberg - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

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Truffaut suffered from a brain tumor which was diagnosed in 1983. He died shortly thereafter in the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine at the age of 52. He was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris.

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