123 - The Soft Skin, 1964, France. Dir. Francois Truffaut.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

123 - The Soft Skin, 1964, France. Dir. Francois Truffaut.

"If, overnight, cinema should become once again a silent art, many directors would be forced into unemployment, but among the survivors there would be Alfred Hitchcock, and everyone would realize at last he is the greatest director in the world." -- Francois Truffaut.

Read that statement again.  Read it seventeen times.

Think about what it means.

Why does Truffaut believe Hitchcock's films would survive as silent films?

Why does Truffaut believe that by watching them silently--if that were all that were left--or rather, if he had to make new films that were silent only, people would recognize Hitchcock as the greatest director?

What does it say about Truffaut's understanding of Hitchcock's use of camera (placement, angle, movement, lens), production design (locations, sets, props, colors, wardrobe, hair), the presence of stars, and editing?  In other words, the visuals.

And how they tell a story.

With a beginning, a middle, and an end.

With perpetual tension and release, following tight narrative logic.

How does Truffaut's love and respect of Hitchcock inform Truffaut's own filmmaking?

Godard and Truffaut began together as writers for the film journal Cahiers du Cinema.  Then they became filmmakers themselves.  Then they became international sensations as representatives of the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague).

When they started, they both loved films.  They became critics because they loved films.  They became filmmakers because they loved films.

But somewhere along the way they took divergent paths.

Truffaut would continue to love films and filmmaking and people and families for the rest of his life.

Godard started making films that were less character-driven, less plot-driven, less logic-driven, more abstract, more political, more strident, and more misanthropic.

Truffaut continued to perfect his craft, strengthening his skills in the areas of narrative structure, character development, camera work, and editing.

Godard wanted to be a political revolutionary.

Truffaut wanted to be a filmmaker.

Godard grew more antisocial.

Truffaut grew more entertaining.

Godard scolded people.

Truffaut loved them.

People now watch Godard films because they are assigned to in film school.

People watch Truffaut films because they want to.  Because they enjoy them.

Both are important.

But they ended up making different kinds of movies.

The Soft Skin is a delicious discovery.

It has a story.   A beginning, a middle, and an end.

It has real characters who behave like real people.  Played by real actors who really act.  And who are exceptional.

It follows the logic of the heart.

Pierre Lachenay's heart.  His wife Franca's heart.  His mistress Nicole's heart.

And real problems that real adults really face.

Each step of the story creates new tensions as it resolves old ones.

And the viewer follows, hoping that something good will come of it all.

It is funny.  It is romantic.  It is tense.  It is sad.

The ending is more of a New Wave ending than a classic one.

But the film itself is classic.  Because it is skillfully made.  And because it tells the truth.

The supplements contain a documentary in which Claude Chabrol, their New Wave colleague, shows where Truffaut took a scene from Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious, starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, and recreated it "shot for shot."  (When you watch the scenes side by side, they are not shot for shot, but they are in parallel.)

Does it help to learn from a master?

Watch and see.