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C00002 00002		The farmhouse scene in Francois Truffaut's Shoot The Piano Player
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	The farmhouse scene in Francois Truffaut's Shoot The Piano Player
is the only scene where we see all the Saroyan brothers together.  One,
Edouard, has left his life as concert pianist to become Charlie Kohler,
honky tonk piano player in a bar-cafe.  He has killed the bar owner with 
a knife in a quarrel and has come to the family's farmhouse to join his
brothers in hiding.  Richard and Chico are already there, hiding out
from two robbers, after stealing the money for themselves.  Chico had 
gone to Paris earlier to enlist the aid of Charlie, but he had refused.
Richard meets Charlie some distance from the house and we do not see it 
before the first interior shot.
	The first farmhouse shot is a medium close-up of Charlie and
Richard sitting at a table, Charlie on the left, Richard on the right.
Their right and left, respectively, shoulders extend out of the frame
creating a center space of approximately one third of the frame.  
Charlie is still wearing his light colored trenchcoat, is slightly 
hunched over the table, with his hands below the table, and is staring
off to the right and down.  Richard is talking to and looking at Charlie.
His forearms are crossed and propped on the table, his hands vivid
against his bulky black sweater.  The center space of the frame is filled 
with plain painter panelling.  At the top of the frame a bouncing
pendulum indicates the presence of a clock.  Richard and the table 
overlap Charlie's figure, superimposing one brother over another.  We
have been told in previous narration that this is the family home and
also that the older parents have been sent into the village for the
"duration".  Yet this first shot shows no "hominess" ttat we can 
identify from Charlie's attitude.  =e is withdrawn, inanimate, unresponsive
to either his brother or his environment.  He is dressed formally -
a crisp coat, white shirt, tie - looking much like his abandonned
Eduoard image.  The table top is empty and bare, as is the wall behind it.  
His brothe's posture is casual, accustomed, and most importantly, we see
it as dominant.  Charlie seems to be, at most, a guest.  Charlie's
only response to his brother is when Richard speaks to him from his
personal viewpoint.  Up until now Richard has been talking of Charlie's
experiences.  Charlie responds to Richard's use of "I".  Richard says 
that he is glad to see him again [not  "..glad you're back," as subtitled].
At this, Charlie replys, "me too," and becomes temporarily animated.
Charlie glances several times over his right shoulder, away from 
Richard, distracted, not seeming to be listening, yet more award than in
his staring stste.  Charlie changes the subject to that of the boiling
coffee.  Richard gets up, walks behind Charlie, as the camera dollies
right and out, along the side of the table, revealing that Charlie is
sitting at one short end of it, again giving the impression of a guest.
We now have a wider angled medium shot.  We see Richard as fumctioning in 
this environment.  He is fiddling with coffee, stve, wood poker, etc.
behind Charlie, at a right angle to the camera.  In this wider shot more
of the surface of the table is revealed in the foreground, showing us that
Charlie's gaze may well have been fixed into the imediacy of the farmhouse 
afterall, for jutting out of the table is a large knife_ we now see his
staring eyes' target.  Also, we see a bowl of eggs and a lit lantern
lined up on the surface, leading away from Charlie.  At the same time, 
Richard is speaking of going "sit crazy," holed up in the house.  Whereas
Charlie fixeson to the knife as a replay of the knife jutting out of his
victim, in the context of the farmhouse it is both an implement for
eating and for toying with to while away time.  With this wider shot we
also see more of the walls of the interior.  A background woodpile, stovepipe,
shelves with bottles, and the whole wall clock, surprisingly delicate, 
reflecting polished metal.  Finally, we expect to see some of the intimate
articles of the brothers' parents' home.  What we see is that strange
combination of utilitarian and absurd things that we would more likely
expect from any hide-out.  The setting still looks stark, barely functional,
except for the small clock.
	A cut to a close-up of Charlie with the camera angled down.  Richard's
voice talks of not wanting to get up in the morning, of being a prisoner.
The image of Charlie is locked into the frame, pinned at the shoulders.
Charlie only blinks, his face frozen, drawn, pale, expressionless.  Richard
is still fiddling behind his head.  We see that Charlie is perhaps listening
now, reflecting on his life as "Charlie Kohler," the imprisonment he, too,
has imposed on himself.
	Cut back to shot 1.  Richard speaks of playing and joking with Chico,
that they had found it at first fun.  Perhaps Charlie is remembering the
quarrel with the bar owner_ the "play" that he had wanted to stop once
they had tusselled outside of the bar, away from the women's view, after he 
thought they had both made their points.  Richard pounds the ceiling with
an ax, calls to Chico.  The camera pans back to the right to Chico descending
the stairs behind the panelling, emerging through the door.  Chico is also
wearing casual warm "country" clothing - a paid woolen shirt over a plain 
one.  Richard is bent over the stove in the background with his back to Chico.
Chico acknowledges  Charlie first; it is then that Charlie breaks away again
from his locked gaze.  Chico, thus, seems to be the central, dominant figure, 
able to command attention, and much more readily than did Richard.  Continuing
this, the camera continues to pan to place only Chico in the frame in a
medium shot with still more of the table revealed: a pile of cut bread,
reaffirming the farmhouse context of the knife, as opposed to Charlie's
context.  As we lose view of the knife and Charlie's focus, before the end of
the pan, for the first time we see well a gleaming gun in Chico's hand.  This,
then, also defines the knife in its farmhouse context, as Chico thinks the 
gun is more important.  Chico is also carrying a small briefcase.  Charlie asks,
"What is that?"  Chcio answers, "The loot."  But Charlie may be asking about
the gun.  Richard enters from the left, looking at Chico.  The camera pans
back to the left and Chico and Richard both turn and look at Charlie as Chico
explains that "the loot" is the reason he went to Paris.  This is a very 
powerful statement as it demonstrates that Chico has begun to formulate his own
version of his actions pertaining to the robbery,  The scenes in Paris of
Chico and Charlie give no indication that that was his purpose in being there,
rather, that he had sought Charlie's help, as usual.  Now, in the farmhouse,
Chico is, it seems, concocting, but with Charlie's lack of response, he goes 
unchecked, uncorrected, thus putting himself into a different power position
in relation to his brothers.  The two brother looking at Charlie also seem
to be accusing, challenging; they ar both standing and Charlie is still hunched 
over the table.  Chcio had just told what seens to us to be a fabrication.
Charlie is still locked into his lie of being "Charlie"