Firebrand critic turned new wave filmmaker, Truffaut and his ilk all began in the same shuffle. French dudes like Godard, Chabrol, Rohmer, Resnais, Malle and Truffaut all drew heavily from Hollywood B movies, Italian Neorealism, 30s impressionism, etc. and from this anxious palette began a radical movement (La Nouvelle Vague) that would massively impact how stories would be told. Every filmmaker and their mother was influenced by the French New Wave. These guys floated on a sheen of cool, made films that were youthful and invigorating, and opened the gateways of geekery for future imitators to explore. In a business of extremely high budgets, they called for less labored, less industry standard modes of filmmaking. They shot in the streets, fast and cheap. They rejected formalism and tradition in favor of punky experimentalism. And when the industry failed to listen to them they effectively said "fuck you" and carved their own way.

Well, most everyone except for Truffaut (isn’t he the semi-Spielberg of the group?). The first crest of films in his career definitely followed the rowdy principles laid out in the movement, films like THE 400 BLOWS (1959) and JULES AND JIM (1962), each which tackled the angst of adulting rituals. But Truffaut's reputation for anti-establishment gradually became more accessible to method and story. Many were Hollywood-friendly exercises in genre, tribute and populist pleasures. 

He became increasingly mainstream fare, took a lot of shit from Godard and other cinephiles for not immersing himself in the social and political milieu of the times, but that's not to say he couldn't make extremely personal, well-crafted films. He could. And he did. Truffaut had the occasional dark edge too. You don't make films like TWO ENGLISH GIRLS (1971), THE STORY OF ADELE H. (1975) THE GREEN ROOM (1978), or THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR (1981) without having some serious demons to purge. 

Truffaut may not have been as revolutionary as his contemporaries, but his films carried range, from boyish comedies, to science fiction, to dark, dark thrillers. He only made films about 4 topics: 1) obsessive romantics, 2). self-destructive passions, 3). women who kill men, and 4). children. He honored so many of the traditions that came before him, especially Hitchcock and Renoir, who he frequently payed homage to. Above all, he was a massive cinephile himself. Cinema, he'd say again and again, saved his life. Aren't we all Truffaut?