ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the life and work of Francois Truffaut, who was in the forefront of the New Wave, or auteurism, in French cinema of the 1950s and 1960s, along with several other young directors, and explores in depth the adaptive value for him of filmmaking. Truffaut experienced severe early adversity, having been rejected from birth by his mother and consigned to surrogates. Truffaut would sometimes be involved with more than one woman concurrently. He handled being away from them for protracted periods poorly and had difficulty terminating an affair and letting go, becoming clinically depressed afterwards. In his work, Truffaut was preoccupied with control, minimizing chance by engaging himself meticulously in script preparation, casting, the selection of locales for filming, promotion and distribution, down to the minutiae, while exhibiting impressive executive skills along with a keen business sense.
