What an interesting film. In what might be the slowest thriller ever made, Truffaut takes a typical chase/hide-from-bad-guys flick and turns it into a poetic, charming character study of a timid pianist. And does so without really losing what makes such films work - suspense.

The film starts out normal enough. A man is being chased through the streets by a couple of guys in a car. But very shortly after, the chase is over and is replaced with a long, meandering walk and talk about marriage. This sort of dichotomy persists throughout the film, both in story and acting. You have a character walking hurriedly in one direction only to turn on a dime and slow down. A bar fight slows down to a stop - one character appears to want to tell the other a secret, and before I know what is happening I realize the struggle has started back up. I'm not even sure whether it was intentional, or if I just misread something, and I'm also not sure whether I really loved it or just found it kind of awkward.

The chased opening character introduces us to his brother, a shy, introverted pianist playing under the name Charlie Kohler at a bar. We spend the rest of the film with him, learning all about him and his past in between scenes of conventional thriller plot. And though that plot is interesting, the real meat of the film are just watching Charlie. Seeing the way he works with women and his brothers, listening to his inner monologue, and finding out why he might be the way he is, is really fascinating stuff. Plus, the acting, dialog, editing and such are pretty enthralling, just visually. There is a scene after we flashback to Charlie's history in which he and Lena (I think) are lying in bed, that is so charming and lyrical and beautiful that I forgot to read the subtitles.

As for the filler, and again, here the filler is in the chase, not character development, it follows the aforementioned choppy contrasting style the rest of the film does. Besides the bar fight, there's a couple hostage sorta situations that are undeniably unexpected and fun. In the first, Charlie and Lena are being taken to find Charlie's brother, if I recall; instead of being the tense, silent ride you think it should, the captors and captive talk and laugh like old friends. Quickly after, an action is taken that again comes out of left field and as quickly as the pair were captured, they are now walking away from the car. It's just so cool to see it play out, certainly unlike anything I've seen in a film like this. (The second hostage thing is the kidnapping of a child; like the first, it plays out unexpectedly and charmingly and fascinatingly.)

Like the other Truffauts I've seen, Shoot the Piano Player is a treat. It's engaging and unique and a lot of fun. A great change from the average, expected genre film, it gave me something I absolutely did not expect, and left me pretty excited, and for that, I am appreciative.