Truffaut's films are always about himself; to a greater or lesser extent, less obviously in some films than in others, but nevertheless always. They are also always about love, again with a similar caveat. These elements are of course not mutually exclusive, but are combined in different ways from film to film. The typical Truffaut hero contains many of Truffaut's own personal characteristics and is involved in some sort of 'love' relationship. These two recurring preoccupations are announced in Truffaut's first film, Les Mistons, and have been taken up repeatedly throughout his work.

The two major themes may be variously subdivided. For example, the importance of friendship, especially male friendship; the role of women—dream goddesses, mother figures or whores; the intoxication with cinema and especially with the American B-film, to which many innuendoes and jokes refer; the fascination with language, as an instrument of or aid to...