impact on later directors

And Martin Scorsese said in an interview on the Casino dvd that this film inspired him the minute he saw it. Reason being that wonderful shot of the pianist ringing a doorbell - we see his finger - then closer - then closer.

This 3 cut-shot is seen frequently in Scorsese's films - Goodfellas (when Hnery is cooking, he turns to look out the door - we get a 2 cut shot going into his face. Also seen where Joe Pesci first sees Stone's character Ginger for the first time.

along with the woody allen i thought that the street scene was picked up later in adaptation by jonze and written by charlie kaufman. really all the inner dialogues were reminiscent

There's a saying about the rock band the Velvet Underground that although they never became commercially successful during their heyday, everyone who heard them started a rock band. I think that the same can be said of Shoot the Piano Player (and the French new wave in general). I see references all over the place. The Cohen Brothers I think have been very influenced. Many of the French New Wave films were homages to film-noir. In films like Blood Simple, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski I see a kind of homage to the homage.

The first time I saw the film I noticed that Charlie's voiceover was not his own voice, a technique the Scorsese used for Keitel's character in Mean Streets (it was Scorsese's voice).

As I began thinking about the film, I noticed uncanny resemblances to Mean Streets. For example, the film deals with characters struggling with life issues yet is not without its comedy. Look at when Charlie and his friends take the kids' money looking for fireworks and go to the movies. Gangsters play a prominent role in both films, yet they are likable.

Finally, the film ends in a death at the very end, a death that is caused by someone stealing money. And Keitel's character is named Charlie, his girlfriend is Theresa!

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Does anyone else see connections between this and the Graduate? Just with some of the not so subtle artistic ideas. In shoot the piano player we see a literal translation of a mother dropping dead, a shot of the bar owner in three different circles. While in the Graduate you have the main character looking through the goggles, and other scenes which I seem to forget. Basically we have these groundbreaking new takes on cinema, but they are done so obviously to the viewer unlike previous trends before this.

Kmonk: Please don't compare a real masterpiece to posturing by Allen's Woody and Q. Tarbucket.

Not an impact on directors per se, but the bartender is clearly the model for Moe on The Simpsons.