Saturday 18 February 2012

Farewell François


François died young. He was 52. He knew he was dying. He was calm when he was waiting for that. When his friends went to see him in August, he said to his companion: "They wonder if I'll still be here in September."

In the last days, he devoted his failing strength to writing his autobiography, The Script of My Life, a projects he was attached to but didn't have time to finish.

Claude Berry was paying visits to him. He'd always phone before going over. "François, may I come to see you?" asked Claude. François, always formal, replied, "Of course, Claude, it is a pleasure for me to see you before I die." Claude was shocked, but when he arrived at François's place he understood François is so determined to see Amadeus

Milos Forman remembers when he met François, how unrecognizable, how shattered he was. But François was still determined to see Amadeus. So Milos told François the story. He described every scene of his film. François "heard" Amadeus. Amadeus died young, too. He was 35. 

Was Amadeus François's last film? We don't know.

This clip is from François Truffaut, une autobiographie (2004), directed by Anne Andreu. It deserves a DVD release. Now that François is 80. Alive as you and me. Well, more alive than me.


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