In a brilliant piece of casting, celebrated French chanteur Charles Aznavour stars in Truffaut's whip-smart, scintillating second film - a combination of mischievous, tongue-in-cheek homage to American noir and effervescent, inventive Nouvelle Vague. Having left behind his life as a gifted concert pianist, Charlie sees out his downcast days tinkling the ivories in a dingy Parisian jazz bar. One day his brother Chico arrives, searching for sanctuary from a gang of crooks that he's double-crossed. Charlie offers to help but soon finds his murky past catching up with him and before long is embroiled in an affair that he can no longer control.