Henri-Georges Clouzot

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Henri-Georges Clouzot with his first wife Véra (1953)

Henri-Georges Clouzot (born November 20, 1907 in Niort , † January 12, 1977 in Paris ) was a French film director .

Life

According to his parents' wishes, the son of a bookseller and publisher should actually go to the Navy. They sent him to Brest to the École navale . However, the career plans were thwarted by a severe nearsightedness, which was determined during the entrance examination. With the professional goal of becoming a diplomat, Clouzot studied law until the global economic crisis destroyed the wealth of his family and made it impossible to continue his studies. Clouzot became a journalist for the Paris-Midi tabloid. In 1931 he accepted Adolphe Osso's offer to work as a film editor and script editor in his production company. He later assisted Anatole Litvak and Ewald André Dupont in Berlin, and then created French versions of German films in Neubabelsberg . When the step to his first own film seemed near, a serious lung disease threw him back in 1933; she forced him into a sanatorium for five years. In 1938 he returned to the film business as a writer.

He made his debut in 1942 with The Murderer Living No. 21 , and Der Rabe followed the following year . Both directorial works are now considered masterpieces of film art.

After the liberation from the German occupation, Clouzot was initially banned from working because of allegedly too close cooperation with the enemy. Thanks to prominent personalities such as Pierre Bost , Jacques Becker and Henri Jeanson , however, he soon returned to his profession and was later given awards at the Venice and Cannes film festivals . In 1947 he directed Under False Suspicion .

Clouzot created a permanent memorial for the art of film in 1953 with the reward of fear . With the French film stars Yves Montand and Charles Vanel in the leading roles, the film received great attention not only in France but also internationally. In 1953 the film won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival . In addition to other famous films, Clouzot's thriller Die Teuflischen (1955) was particularly well received by the audience.

The Hollywood - remake of his most famous films Wages of Fear and Diabolique could not come close to the originals. Clouzot worked with Herbert von Karajan on a concert adaptation . When Gilbert Bécaud first publicly presented his chanson L'Orange at the Paris Olympia at the end of 1963 , Clouzot insisted on staging this performance personally . He was Romy Schneider's favorite director .

From 1950 until her death, he was married to Véra Clouzot (1913-1960), who appeared in some of his films. His second wife was Inès de Gonzalès (née Bise), who was also widowed. Clouzot died in Paris on January 12, 1977 at the age of 69. He was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre , where his first wife had already found her final resting place.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1931: La terreur des Batignolles
  • 1933: Everything for love (Tout pour l'amour)
  • 1933: Princess Mood (Caprice de princesse)
  • 1942: The murderer lives at number 21 (L'assassin habite au 21)
  • 1943: The Raven (Le corbeau)
  • 1947: Under false suspicion (Quai des orfèvres)
  • 1949: Manon
  • 1949: The return to life (Le retour à la vie)
  • 1950: The trip to Brazil (unfinished; Le voyage en Brésil)
  • 1950: Miquette et sa mère
  • 1953: The reward of fear (Le salaire de la peur)
  • 1955: The diabolical (Les diaboliques)
  • 1955: Picasso (Le mystère Picasso) - documentary
  • 1957: Spies at work (Les espions)
  • 1960: The Truth (La vérité)
  • 1964: L'enfer (unfinished; the German translation of the title would be Die Hölle)
  • 1967: Great conductors (Grands chefs d'orchestre: Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi) - Documentary about a concert by Herbert von Karajan in honor of Arturo Toscanini
  • 1968: His prisoner (La prisonnière)

literature

  • Steffen Haubner: [Article] The devilish ones. In: Jürgen Müller (Ed.): Films of the 50s. Taschen, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-8228-3245-6 , pp. 178-183.
  • Wolfgang Stuflesser: [Article] Henri-Georges Clouzot. In: Thomas Koebner (Ed.): Film directors. Biographies, descriptions of works, filmographies. 3rd, updated and expanded edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2008 [1. Ed. 1999], ISBN 978-3-15-010662-4 , pp. 139f. [with references].

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Article is based on: Steffen Haubner: [Article] Die Teuflischen. In: Jürgen Müller (Ed.): “Films of the 50s.” Taschen, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-8228-3245-6 , pp. 178–183
  2. ↑ Fabien Lecœuvre: 1001 histoires secrètes de chansons. Ed. du Rocher, Monaco 2017, ISBN 978-2-2680-9672-8 , p. 244
  3. ↑ cf. International Biographical Archive 12/1977 of March 14, 1977
personal data
SURNAME Clouzot, Henri-Georges
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French director of crime films
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Niort , France
DATE OF DEATH January 12, 1977
Place of death Paris