The Green Room (film)

The Green Room
Theatrical release poster
FrenchLa Chambre verte
Directed byFrançois Truffaut
Screenplay by
Based on"The Altar of the Dead"
by Henry James
The Beast in the Jungle
by Henry James
"The Way It Came"
by Henry James
Produced by
  • Marcel Berbert
  • François Truffaut
Starring
CinematographyNéstor Almendros
Edited byMartine Barraqué-Curie
Music byMaurice Jaubert
Production
companies
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • 5 April 1978 (1978-04-05) (France)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget3 million
Box office161,293 admissions (France)[1]

The Green Room (French: La Chambre verte) is a 1978 French historical drama film directed by François Truffaut, based on the 1895 short story "The Altar of the Dead" by Henry James, in which a man becomes obsessed with the dead people in his life and builds a memorial to them. It is also based on two other works by James: the 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle and the 1896 short story "The Way It Came". It was Truffaut's seventeenth feature film as a director and the third and last of his own films in which he acted in a leading role. It stars Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dasté and Patrick Maléon.

Truffaut spent several years working on the film's script and felt a special connection to the theme of honouring and remembering the dead. In the film, he included portraits of people from his own life at the main character's "Altar of the Dead". The Green Room was one of Truffaut's most praised films, and also one of his least successful financially.