Iconic, groundbreaking interviews of Alfred Hitchcock by film critic François Truffaut—providing insight into the cinematic method, the history of film, and one of the greatest directors of all time. In Hitchcock, film critic François Truffaut presents fifty hours of interviews with Alfred Hitchcock about the whole of his vast directorial career, from his silent movies in Great Britain to his color films in Hollywood. The result is a portrait of one of the greatest directors the world has ever known, an all-round specialist who masterminded everything, from the screenplay and the photography to the editing and the soundtrack. Hitchcock discusses the inspiration behind his films and the art of creating fear and suspense, as well as giving strikingly honest assessments of his achievements and failures, his doubts and hopes. This peek into the brain of one of cinema’s greats is a must-read for all film aficionados.

Before turning to filmmaking, Francois Truffaut was a film critic writing for Cahiers du Cinema during the 1950s. The Early film Criticism of Francois Truffaut makes available, for the first time in English, articles that originally appeared in French journals such as Cahiers du Cinema and Arts. Truffaut discusses films by such acknowledged masters as Hitchcock, Huston, Dymytryk, and Lang, but also examines the work of such lesser-known directors as Robert Wise, Don Weis, and Roger Vadim.

A collection of autobiographical writings by French filmmaker François Truffaut.

Interviews with the film critic and director who was a key figure in the French New Wave

From a cinematic grand master, “one of the most readable books of movie criticism, and one of the most instructive” (American Film Institute). An icon. A rebel. A legend. The films of François Truffaut defined an exhilarating new form of cinema for moviegoers the world over. But before Truffaut became a great director, he was a critic who stood at the vanguard, pioneering an innovative way to view movies and to write about the cinematic arts. Now, for the first time in eBook, the legendary director shares his own words, as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time examines the art of movie-making through engaging and deeply personal reviews about the movies he loves. Truffaut writes extensively about his heroes, from Hitchcock to Welles, Chaplin to Renoir, Buñuel to Bergman, Clouzot to Cocteau, Capra to Hawks, Guitry to Fellini, sharing analysis and insight as to what made them film legends, and how their work led Truffaut and his fellow directors into classics like The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, and the French New Wave movement. Articulate and candid, The Films in My Life is for everyone who has sat in a dark movie theater and dreamed. “Truffaut brings the same intelligence and grace to the printed page that he projects onto the screen. The Films in My Life provides a rare knowledgeable look at movies and moviemaking.” —Newsday

Small Change, shot in the French Provinces, is a story about children. Truffaut has captured the essence of each age group - the verbally precocious three-year-old who pushes the family cat out the window only to follow it nine stories to the ground, the teenage boy yet to experience his first kiss, but hopelessly infatuated with his best friend's mother, the uncooperative eight-year-old daughter of the local policeman who, when left alone as punishment, uses her father's bullhorn to complain to the neighbors she is starving, the brothers who, having insufficient pocket money to buy a stolen compass, cut a younger classmate's hair and borrow his barber money. Small Change contains precise and moving descriptions of the various stages of a secure childhood, of the fun and freedom one experiences as a child, but throughout the film, Truffaut makes a stunning comparison with another child who lives in the same town, who attends the same school. He compares the life of Julian, who is hated and abused by his mother, whose mere existence is despised because he is a child. In Small Change, Truffaut makes an eloquent and traumatic appeal for the rights of children.

“The writings reveal a Truffaut who was as incisive and direct in assessing his own work as he was in assessing the work of other directors.” —Choice Between 1959 and 1984, French film director François Truffaut was interviewed over three hundred times. Each interview offers critical insight into the genesis of Truffaut’s films as he shares the sources of his inspiration, the choice of his themes, and the development of his screenplays. In addition, Truffaut discusses his relationships with collaborators, actors, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting of each film. These texts, originally assembled by Anne Gillain and published in French in 1988, are presented here in a montage arranged chronologically by film. This compilation includes an impressive array of reflections on cinema as an art form. Truffaut defines the aims and practices of the French New Wave, comparing their efforts to the films made by their predecessors and including comments that encompass the entire history of cinema. Truffaut on Cinema provides commentary on contemporary events, a wealth of biographical information, and Truffaut’s own artistic itinerary.