---
name: "François Truffaut"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/francois-truffaut"
fi1m_id: "francois-truffaut"
imdb_id: "nm0000076"
tmdb_id: 1650
wikidata_id: "Q53002"
roles: ["Director","Writer","Producer"]
born: "6 February 1932"
died: "21 October 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 85
average_as: "director"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-26T17:41:47.273444+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# François Truffaut

## Identity

François Truffaut

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/francois-truffaut
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** francois-truffaut
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000076
- **TMDB ID:** 1650
- **Wikidata ID:** Q53002
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q53002, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000076/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1650

Director and writer. Born 6 February 1932 in Paris, France. Died 21 October 1984.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer, Producer
- **Born:** 6 February 1932, Paris, France
- **Died:** 21 October 1984
- **Active:** 1959–1980
- **Also known as:** 프랑수아 트뤼포, 弗朗索瓦·特吕弗, 프랑소와 트뤼포
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 6: 1 acting, 3 directing, 1 writing, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Marie Dubois](https://film.one/person/marie-dubois.md), [Suzanne Schiffman](https://film.one/person/suzanne-schiffman.md)
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 2 BAFTAs (2 won · 4 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 85, as director, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 91 (1), 1960s 87 (2), 1970s 85 (1), 1980s 82 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 85 to 79 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Romance 2, War 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q53002, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000076/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1650

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The 400 Blows*](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md) (91), [*Jules and Jim*](https://film.one/film/jules-and-jim.md) (88), [*The Last Metro*](https://film.one/film/the-last-metro.md) (75)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Close Encounters of the Third Kind*](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md) (85)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on François Truffaut

> Truffaut wrote about people who care too much: a boy who prefers the cinema to school, two friends who love the same woman. The writing is warm and rarely cruel, which is why *The 400 Blows* lasts and why the later films can feel soft.

Antoine Doinel lies to his teacher, skips school and comes home to parents who were short of patience before he ever did anything to try it. Truffaut's habit in *The 400 Blows* (1959) is to let us enjoy the misbehaviour first and only then make us count how few chances the boy was given. That is how he writes people from then on: from inside the person doing the wrong thing, without pretending it is right. The children's faces at the Punch and Judy show moved us more than we expected, because he stops the story to watch them enjoy themselves, and for a minute their pleasure is the whole film. The music presses harder for sympathy than the pictures need.

He came to directing from criticism. In the early 1950s he wrote for Cahiers du Cinéma under André Bazin, arguing for the director as author and against the so-called tradition of quality. Then he made *The 400 Blows* and did not stop, directing around twenty features in twenty-five years and writing or co-writing most of them himself. He also gave Jean-Luc Godard the story for *Breathless* (1960), with Claude Chabrol; the lovers there sometimes have more to say than we want to hear, though the talk is Godard's, not his. *Shoot the Piano Player* (1960) played with film noir, *Jules and Jim* (1962) followed two friends and one woman, *Day for Night* (1973) went behind the camera, and *The Last Metro* (1980) took him to a Paris theatre under the occupation. Jean-Pierre Léaud played Doinel for him across five films.

What works is that he never tidies anyone up. Truffaut drew on his own neglected childhood for Antoine and stayed protective of him, yet he does not let the boy off, and he resists making the parents hateful. He preferred invention to observation and said so: "I have never filmed a documentary in my life and I hope I never do." He kept the same people around him for years, Georges Delerue on eleven scores, Nestor Almendros as cinematographer on nine films, Raoul Coutard on three, Suzanne Schiffman at his side on the scripts, and the films have a steady, unshowy surface as a result. The cost of his closeness to one character is already visible in 1959: the adults in *The 400 Blows* get less of his attention than the boy, and we wanted more of their lives. The complaint that follows the later films is that the sincerity stayed and the craft did not move on much. We have not reviewed enough of them to rule on that.

Start with *The 400 Blows*. It needs no knowledge of film history, only a memory of being told off before you had finished explaining. If you find yourself on the boy's side and slightly ashamed of it, that is the writer at work.

## Biography

François Truffaut was a French film director, screenwriter, producer and critic. He began his career writing for the magazine *Cahiers du Cinéma* under the guidance of André Bazin.

His first feature, *The 400 Blows* (1959), on which he also received screenplay and producer credits, helped launch the French New Wave. He supplied the original story for *Breathless* (1960) and later directed *Jules and Jim* (1962), *Fahrenheit 451* (1966), *Day for Night* (1973) and *The Last Metro* (1980), among other films.

*Sources: britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

### Performed in (1)

- *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), Fi1m 85, as Claude Lacombe — [page](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md)

### Directed (3) — the average rests on these

- *The Last Metro* (1980), Fi1m 75, Director, Screenplay, Producer, Dialogue — [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-metro.md)
- *Jules and Jim* (1962), Fi1m 88, Director, Producer, Adaptation — [page](https://film.one/film/jules-and-jim.md)
- *The 400 Blows* (1959), Fi1m 91, as Homme dans une fête foraine (non crédité) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)

### Wrote (1)

- *Breathless* (1960), Fi1m 86, Story, Original Story — [page](https://film.one/film/breathless.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Wings of Desire* (1987), Fi1m 88, In Memory Of — [page](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md)

## Complete filmography (52)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Short Cuts : Stolen Kisses* (2024), Original Film Writer
- *Short cuts : François Truffaut's The Woman Next Door* (2023), Original Film Writer
- *Morceaux de Cannes* (2021), Actor
- *Bernadette Lafont: And God Created the Free Woman* (2016), Actor
- *The Magic Skin* (2011), Idea
- *Their First Films* (2004), Director
- *The Truth About Charlie* (2002), Original Film Writer
- *Belle Époque* (1995), series, Writer
- *The Little Thief* (1988), Story
- *Wings of Desire* (1987), In Memory Of — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md)
- *The Man Who Loved Women* (1983), Original Film Writer
- *Confidentially Yours* (1983), Director, Screenplay, Producer, Adaptation, Dialogue
- *Breathless* (1983), Author
- *The Woman Next Door* (1981), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *The Last Metro* (1980), Director, Screenplay, Producer, Dialogue — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-metro.md)
- *Love on the Run* (1979), Director, Producer, Screenplay
- *The Green Room* (1978), as Julien Davenne · Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), as Claude Lacombe — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md)
- *The Man Who Loved Women* (1977), as Un homme aux fénérailles (uncredited) · Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Small Change* (1976), as Martine's father · Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *That Kid* (1976), Producer
- *The Story of Adèle H.* (1975), as Officer (uncredited) · Director, Screenplay
- *Les Musiciens de la pellicule* (1974), series, as lui-même
- *Day for Night* (1973), as Ferrand · the Director, Director, Screenplay
- *A Gorgeous Kid Like Me* (1972), as Journalist (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Writer
- *Two English Girls* (1971), as Narrator (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Writer
- *Bed and Board* (1970), as Le Marchand de Journaux (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Producer, Dialogue, Screenplay
- *The Wild Child* (1970), as Le Dr Jean Itard · Director, Screenplay, Adaptation, Dialogue
- *Mississippi Mermaid* (1969), Director, Producer, Adaptation
- *Naked Childhood* (1969), Producer
- *Stolen Kisses* (1968), Director, Producer, Dialogue, Screenplay
- *The Bride Wore Black* (1968), Director, Adaptation
- *Fahrenheit 451* (1966), Director, Screenplay
- *The Soft Skin* (1964), as Le Pompiste (voice) (uncredited) · Director, Producer, Screenplay
- *Mata Hari, Agent H21* (1964), Screenplay
- *Los 4 Golpes* (1962), as The Assassin · Director
- *Antoine and Colette* (1962), Director, Writer
- *Love at Twenty* (1962), Director, Writer
- *A Swelled Head* (1962), Writer
- *Jules and Jim* (1962), Director, Producer, Adaptation — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/jules-and-jim.md)
- *Le scarabée d'or* (1961), Producer
- *A Story of Water* (1961), Writer, Director
- *Shoot the Piano Player* (1960), Director, Adaptation, Dialogue
- *The Army Game* (1960), as Le taulard passionné de lecture · Adaptation, Producer, Co-Director, Screenplay
- *Breathless* (1960), Original Story, Story — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/breathless.md)
- *Testament of Orpheus* (1960), Associate Producer
- *The 400 Blows* (1959), as Homme dans une fête foraine (non crédité) · Director, Producer, Screenplay, Adaptation — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)
- *The Overworked* (1958), Writer
- *Anna the Maid* (1958), Producer
- *The Mischief Makers* (1957), Director, Screenplay
- *Fool’s Mate* (1956), as Party guest (uncredited)
- *The Kreutzer Sonata* (1956), as Cameo (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![François Truffaut](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-006fdfc529d4.jpg) François Truffaut — Jack de Nijs for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut_%281965%29.jpg/1280px-Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut_%281965%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Autographe de François Truffaut sur un carton de VHS, vers 1980. 6 x 4 cm. Collection privée](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-89e430bac309.jpg) Autographe de François Truffaut sur un carton de VHS, vers 1980. 6 x 4 cm. Collection privée — François Truffaut, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Autographe_Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut_vers_1980.jpg/1280px-Autographe_Fran%C3%A7ois_Truffaut_vers_1980.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Cocktailparty t.g.v. officiële opening Filmweek Arnhem. de regisseur F (1959)](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-585f464f21ad.jpg) Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Cocktailparty t.g.v. officiële opening Filmweek Arnhem. de regisseur F (1959) — Daan Noske / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Cocktailparty_tgv_offici%C3%ABle_opening_Filmweek_Arnhem_de_regisseur_Francois_Tr%2C_Bestanddeelnr_910-4556.jpg/1280px-Cocktailparty_tgv_offici%C3%ABle_opening_Filmweek_Arnhem_de_regisseur_Francois_Tr%2C_Bestanddeelnr_910-4556.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Cocktailparty t.g.v. officiële opening Filmweek Arnhem. de regisseur F (1959)](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-2647fa87ea9b.jpg) Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Cocktailparty t.g.v. officiële opening Filmweek Arnhem. de regisseur F (1959) — Daan Noske / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Cocktailparty_tgv_offici%C3%ABle_opening_Filmweek_Arnhem_de_regisseur_Francois_Tr%2C_Bestanddeelnr_910-4557.jpg/1280px-Cocktailparty_tgv_offici%C3%ABle_opening_Filmweek_Arnhem_de_regisseur_Francois_Tr%2C_Bestanddeelnr_910-4557.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![François Truffaut](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-8b66f35b5ff9.jpg) François Truffaut — Image via TMDB
- ![François Truffaut](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-e5fe07371925.jpg) François Truffaut — Image via TMDB
- ![François Truffaut](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-3fb26c0ba635.jpg) François Truffaut — Image via TMDB
- ![Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Cocktailparty t.g.v. officiële opening Filmweek Arnhem. de regisseur F (1959)](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-61aeb1c3b8cf.jpg) Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Cocktailparty t.g.v. officiële opening Filmweek Arnhem. de regisseur F (1959) — Daan Noske / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Cocktailparty_tgv_offici%C3%ABle_opening_Filmweek_Arnhem_de_regisseur_Francois_Tr%2C_Bestanddeelnr_910-4558.jpg/1280px-Cocktailparty_tgv_offici%C3%ABle_opening_Filmweek_Arnhem_de_regisseur_Francois_Tr%2C_Bestanddeelnr_910-4558.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Portrait présumé de François Truffaut, vers 1943, détail d'une photographie de classe primaire du lycée Rollin. Studio Pierre Petit, Paris. Collection privée.](https://film.one/media/person/60015/gallery-0dae8896466d.jpg) Portrait présumé de François Truffaut, vers 1943, détail d'une photographie de classe primaire du lycée Rollin. Studio Pierre Petit, Paris. Collection privée. — Studio Pierre Petit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Francois_Trufaut_lyc%C3%A9e_Rollin_vers_1945.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 3 nominated

- 1975: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Day for Night*
- 1975: Best Director (nominated), for *Day for Night*
- 1960: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *The 400 Blows*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 2 won, 4 nominated

- 1984: Best Film Not in the English Language (nominated), for *Confidentially Yours*
- 1979: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (nominated), for *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*
- 1974: Best Film (won), for *Day for Night*
- 1974: Best Direction (won), for *Day for Night*
- 1963: Best Film (nominated), for *Jules and Jim*
- 1961: Best Film (nominated), for *The 400 Blows*

### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won

- 1959: Cannes Best Director Award (won), for *The 400 Blows*

### Other awards — 14 won, 7 nominated

- César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation 1989: César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (nominated), for *The Little Thief*
- César Award for Best Director 1984: César Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Confidentially Yours*
- César Award for Best Director 1981: César Award for Best Director (won), for *The Last Metro*
- César Award for Best Film 1981: César Award for Best Film (won), for *The Last Metro*
- César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation 1981: César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (won), for *The Last Metro*
- David di Donatello Luchino Visconti 1981: David di Donatello Luchino Visconti (won)
- César Award for Best Director 1976: César Award for Best Director (nominated), for *The Story of Adele H.*
- National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1975: National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film (won), for *The Story of Adele H.*
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director 1973: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (won), for *Day for Night*
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director 1973: New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director (won), for *Day for Night*
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film 1973: New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film (won), for *Day for Night*
- National Board of Review Award for Best Director 1970: National Board of Review Award for Best Director (won), for *The Wild Child*
- National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1970: National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film (won), for *The Wild Child*
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (nominated), for *The Wild Child*
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay 1970: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay (nominated), for *The Wild Child*
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director 1969: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Stolen Kisses*
- Louis Delluc Prize 1968: Louis Delluc Prize (won), for *Stolen Kisses*
- Hugo Awards 1967: Best Dramatic Presentation (nominated), for *Fahrenheit 451*
- Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film 1964: Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film (won), for *The Soft Skin*
- Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film 1962: Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film (won), for *Jules and Jim*
- Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film 1959: Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film (won), for *The 400 Blows*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/francois-truffaut