This was a well written biography about Truffaut. It was so intimate I felt myself becoming Truffaut. As I read the passages about his tumultuous childhood I reflected on my own childhood and found it to be much different from his. What I remember most after reading the book is Truffaut's struggles. He had a difficult upbringing and he struggled all the way until The 400 Blows were released. After the enormous success of his first film things went better for him. Yet all was not settled. I found very interesting the passages about his relationship with Catherine Deneuve. I deeply sympathized with Truffaut after the couple's breakup. He was so distraught that he sought psychiatric help. This period of his life was also, perhaps, his best creatively. The late sixties and early seventies is when he was at the top of his game. The Soft Skin, Two English Girls, and Day for Night all were created during this period. Critical reception varied, but it was clear that Truffaut was a auteur filmmaker who would be remembered in film history books.
Of course there is the famous falling out with Jean Luc Godard. After reading a book about Godard, then this one about Truffaut, and seeing the film Two in the Wave, I should have an understanding of the rift which developed between the two filmmakers. Yet, I find myself wanting more. I have read excerpts or the entirety of the letters the two filmmakers exchanged and it became clear that they were bitterly divided. Godard's criticism were harsh and Truffaut's responses were equally harsh.
The details of how Truffaut made his films are probably the most interesting parts of the book. It took him years to get Fahrenheit 451 into production, then finish it. It's a film which Truffaut was never completely happy about. Like the other films he made in the early and mid sixties, Truffaut didn't like the results. I still think 451 isn't a bad film, but perhaps it was the difficulty in getting it made which caused Truffaut to not like it. There was also substantial discussion of Truffaut's flops. It seemed like he was always moving between success and failure. One film would do good box office and be well received. Then the next year it would be just the opposite. He would release a film that did minimal box office and wasn't well received by critics. For example Missisippi Mermaid was supposed to be a great success. It had stars Deneuve and Bel mondo and Truffaut directing it, but it failed to do much in terms of critical reception or box office. And this was the film where Deneuve ended her relationship with Francios. But then came his most prolific period where he turned his best work.
I suppose Truffaut's filmmaking career shows how the artist or filmmaker or writer seems to struggle personally while turning out his or her best work. Must we always struggle to produce good art? Or films in Truffaut's case? It would seem so. The hardest material often produces the best result. Steven Speilberg's Schindler's List deals with the Holocaust a terribly difficult time in human history. Yet it might be his best film. I'm sure there are other examples of artists struggling with personal crisis or the sinues of war and have produced excellent art.
Truffaut really did struggle, but he made some really great films. I am still mesmerized by Two English Girls. Especially the shot of the bed spread and it's red blood stain. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that image, that scene.
It is too bad Francois didn't live longer. He seemed to be moving into another good period in his filmmaking until he came down with terminal brain cancer. He struggled with it for several months before it got the best of him. I almost cried when I knew he was going to die. Such a talent, such a story of struggle, failure, success. Truffaut should be remembered as man who overcame adversity many times to become a great success.
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