Strange Interludes: The Films of Francois Truffaut at AFI

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ANY CINEPHILE will be able cite Francois Truffaut's Greatest Hits -- "The 400 Blows," "Jules and Jim," "Shoot the Piano Player." But the Truffaut of "The Soft Skin," "Mississippi Mermaid" and "The Bride Wore Black" is lesser known even to art-film buffs.

AFI Silver aims to rectify that with the Films of Francois Truffaut, part one of which is in full swing and runs through Sept. 3.

The better-known films have already screened, but now's the time for the deep-dish art-house fan to hustle to Silver Spring.

Thursday is the last screening of the very strange and compelling "Soft Skin," in which an affair leads to an unexpected crime of passion. The atypical hard-heartedness of Truffaut's style here is especially discomfiting considering his own marriage was in ruins while he was making the film.

On a lighter note -- no, sorry, nothing lighter here, unless you count the flame-starters bad guys of the future use to torch reading material in the sci-fi masterpiece "Fahrenheit 451," screening Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

» AFI Silver, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; through Aug. 20; 301-495-6700, afi.com/silver. (Silver Spring)

Photo courtesy AFI