Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Truffaut: A Biography by Antoine De Baecque, Serge Toubiana, Catherine Temerson, Antoine De Baecque ISBN: 0-520-22524-4 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 04 September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Not definitive, but the best biography we have so far...
Comment: While I share the other reviewer's enthusiasm for this excellent biography, there were some problems with the book that suggest to me that there is more to be said about Mr. Truffaut. The jumps in time throughout the book were ominous, as if the authors either didn't have enough information or didn't want to write about a particular moment in Truffaut's life. The organization of the book into short chapters with titles like "Friends First" and "The Diminished Life" some only 3 or 4 paragraphs long interrupted the flow of the narrative for me and made it hard to keep names and events clearly in my mind's eye. The biography was strongest on the early and late periods in the director's life. The long middle section felt repetitive and I found myself wandering a bit. As other reviewers have pointed out: you wont' find any exhaustive information on the making of various films in this book. I am looking forward to reading the Insdorf book for film coverage. There is an exhaustive listing of Truffaut's written works at the end of the book, but a curiously short list of books an articles on Truffaut (24 listings primarily in French). I suspect that the publishers trimmed this list considerably, so you will have to look elsewhere for a comprehensive bibliography. Despite my criticisms I enjoyed this book a great deal and it has led me back to the films which are now enhanced from reading this biography.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Truly Magnificent Biography
Comment: "Truffaut" is a rather imposing book at over 450 pages, but it is an extremely interesting read. The book is very strong on Truffaut's formative years and reads almost like a novel. Throughout the story of Truffaut's 51+ years the authors pull no punches, and not everything they say is complimentary to their subject. If you have seen most of Truffaut's movies, you will notice that some of Truffaut's biography sounds like the plots of some of his films. This is, in fact, the essence of Truffaut, who could never really separate his films from his life.
The book is very strong on the connection of Truffaut's personal life to his films, and the circumstances which decided what sort of movie he would make at any one time. At a personal level you will learn about his connection to Renoir and Hitchcock. It devotes no space, however, to an artistic analysis of his films, which is not usually part of a film maker's biography. This area, however, is treated wonderfully by Annette Insdorf in her book "Francois Truffaut." The two books together are as complete a treatment of Francois Truffaut as one could wish.
From such a detailed and complete book one learns not only abut Truffaut but also a great deal about his Cahiers and Carosse colleagues. Of particular interest to me was to see the deterioration of the relationship between the passionate bourgeois Truffaut and the ultra-ideological Marxist Godard. The authors quote a letter from Truffaut in which he bears his claws, but it is Godard who appears to have been venomous.
If you love the films of Francois Truffaut, this is a book you must read. After you read the book you will want to revisit Truffaut's 21 films and 2 shorts, and then you will want to read the book again.
Rating: 5
Summary: THE DIRECTOR WHO LOVED WOMEN
Comment: When you saw all of TRUFFAUT's films ,this book has the edge over all other books about him.It is a complete biography about a man who had a passion for making movies.It is also about a man who loved actresses and had love affairs with many of them.FRANCOIS is all over the book with his strenghts and his weaknesses.Many of his movies have autobiographical contents;STOLEN KISSES for instance show his obsession with women;The character of AZNAVOUR in SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER is almost a portrait of himself;JULES AND JIM was a love triangle ,and in his private life FRANCOIS had several mistresses at the same time.His sensitive approach has also ruined a few movies like THE SOFT SKIN and THE MISSISSIPI MERMAID.As a critic he could be very rude at times ,but he was a convincing debator.Finally ,i would say that movies were really his escape from the monotomy of life ;it was his own ticket for adventure.A worthy biography ,because i learn things about him beyond gossip.
 |
Title: The Films in My Life by Francois Truffaut, Leonard Mayhew ISBN: 0306805995 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: François Truffaut by Annette Insdorf ISBN: 0521478081 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 27 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title:Jules and Jim ASIN: B00000JJHG Publisher: Fox Lorber Pub. Date: 23 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $17.38 |
 |
Title: French New Wave by Chris Wiegand ISBN: 190304765X Publisher: Oldcastle Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: A History of the French New Wave Cinema (Wisconsin Studies in Film) by Richard Neupert ISBN: 0299181642 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press Pub. Date: 05 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
