“My Life, a Screenplay: the unpublished letters of François Truffaut”
Directed by David Teboul, co-written with Serge Toubiana.
‘Thanks to François Truffaut’s daughters, Laura and Eva, I obtained permission to use letters and correspondences. But I mostly worked with unpublished material: the last testimony that François Truffaut entrusted. He had always wanted to write his autobiography and had thought of doing it after his parents’ death. As he had hurt them greatly after The 400 Blows, he kept postponing this project.
His ex-wife, Madeleine Morgenstern, with whom he lived during the last months of his life, had suggested he resume it. I worked on this material consisting of interviews that Truffaut had given to his childhood friend, Claude de Givray.
Their goal was to write this autobiography, which was to be titled ‘My Life, a Screenplay, the unpublished letters of François Truffaut’ David Teboul.
REVIEW
Cinephiles revere François Truffaut, and many of us were eagerly awaiting this documentary.
With subtlety and, it’s evident, a lot of love for this director, David Teboul has created an emotional film about a filmmaker who was profoundly affected by his childhood, deprived of love, neglected and mistreated by violent parents with whom he cut ties in adulthood.
Instead, he chose André Bazin as his spiritual father.
The documentary relies on archival footage (some well-known, others not), interviews with Truffaut, his correspondence with his (adoptive) father, and most importantly, an autobiographical account he began a few months before his death in 1984.
A cult filmography, a legendary meeting between Hitchcock and him.
My favorite scene is the one where he talks about children. He says he wouldn’t consider making a film without children, that we don’t see enough of them in cinema, and yet they are everywhere in everyday life.
A screenplay of a life and that of another era.
François Truffaut also reflects an era when the objectification of women was pervasive.
“Cinema is the art of making pretty things with pretty women,” François Truffaut declared.
Macha Méril has testified against him, stating, “François Truffaut is not exempt from the list of filmmakers who have abused women,” in “Le Figaro” on March 7, 2024.
October 21st, 2024 will mark the 40th anniversary of François Truffaut’s death.
BEFORE THE SCREENING.
WITH THIERRY FREMAUX, DAVID TEBOUL & SERGE TOUBIANA
