A Truffaut Notebook

by Sam Solecki

François Truffaut (1932-1984) ranks among the greatest film directors and has had a worldwide impact on filmmaking as a screenwriter, producer, film critic, and founding member of the French New Wave. His most celebrated films include The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, Jules and Jim, Day for Night, and The Last Metro. A Truffaut Notebook is a lively and eclectic introduction to the life and work of this major cinematic figure. In entries as brief as a page, as well as in full-length essays, it examines topics such as Truffaut's mentors, the autobiographical nature of his films, his place in the film tradition, his film criticism, his reputation, his relationships with other directors, and the formal and thematic coherence of his body of work. Sam Solecki also argues for Truffaut's continuing appeal and relevance by examining his influence on filmmakers like Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach, Alexander Payne, Patrice Leconte, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and on writers such as Julian Barnes, Ann Beattie, and Salman Rushdie. Because the book returns regularly to the author's shifting responses to Truffaut's work over the last fifty years, it also offers an autobiographical meditation on his own lifelong fascination with film. Consisting of over eighty short entries and essays, as well as provocative lists, dreams, and quizzes, A Truffaut Notebook is an original and exciting text and a model of passionate engagement with cinema.

356 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2015

Reviews

[Addy · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know when you write an essay the night before it’s due, and you have all these ideas you want to explore but you don’t have enough time to organize them into coherent thoughts, structure your essay well, or go into as much detail as you would like on some of your main points? (Obviously, this is a hypothetical, I’ve never put myself in such a situation, heh heh...) Well that’s how this book felt. The structure barely made logical sense, Sam Solecki loved to bring up interesting ideas that he would leave only partially explored in favor of investigating far less thrilling themes, and by doing this, some of his hypotheses he failed to explore seemed like huge leaps of logic, and I failed to see how he could conclude that one of Godard’s later films were meant to be viewed as a apology to Truffaut after their messy split as friends based on a few instances that “might have” recalled Truffaut. I remember at some point physically rolling my eyes when Solecki brought up a question about one of Truffaut’s potential themes, but then chose not to answer. But thanks for giving readers an in depth analysis of the dream you had where you where at lunch with Albert Finney and Gertrude Stein. Solid content.
Also, isn’t the title of this work “A Truffaut Notebook”? Why does it feel like I spend more time getting to know the author, and other artists who share passing similarities than the famed director himself. I will admit that some of the artists the author brings up serve as a good foil to compare Truffaut against, most felt like unnecessary add-ons. I wanted to know more about Truffaut, that’s why I got the book, why did I spend so much time on tangents with no direct correlation to the auteur and his works?
I will say that this book did a good job reigniting my passion for French films; perhaps I will rewatch some, analyze them and come up with my own Truffaut Notebook. But until then, Solecki, I’ll return your rushed essay to you with a correction I have received several times myself; “interesting ideas, I wish you had expanded more on them.”

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Think of this more as one and a half stars. This self indulgent, rambling collection of loose ideas starts out as mildly irritating but soon becomes infuriating. Want to know how many times Sam Solecki saw "The Grand Budapest Hotel"? Where to find Catherine Deneuve's nude scenes? Want to read two chapters in which he describes his dreams? Interested in hearing about his ex-girlfriends? Want to waste time on quizzes? (Do you know what movie features a character named Clarice Starling? or Adenoid Hynkel?) Solecki likes Truffaut but not as much as he likes writing about himself and tossing scraps of trivia around as if they were more significant (Did you know Truffaut was mentioned in an episode of "Frasier"? ).

[Carlos Valladares · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pathetic. Truffaut deserves better than such sycophantic, “Notes on x”-ish preening.