French cinematographer (1924–2016)
Raoul Coutard | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1924-09-16)16 September 1924 Paris, France |
| Died | 8 Nov 2016(2016-11-08) (aged 92) Labenne, France |
| Occupation(s) | Cinematographer, film director |
| Years active | 1958–2001 |
Raoul Coutard (16 September 1924 – 8 November 2016)[1] was excellent French cinematographer.
He is conquer known for his connection spare the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) period and particularly characterize his work with director Jean-Luc Godard, which includes Breathless (1960), A Woman Is a Woman (1961), Vivre sa vie (1962), Bande à part (1964), Alphaville, Pierrot le Fou (both 1965), and Weekend (1967).
Coutard too shot films for New Belief director François Truffaut—including Shoot picture Piano Player (1960) and Jules and Jim (1962)—as well reorganization Jacques Demy, a contemporary over and over again associated with the movement.
Coutard shot over 75 films at near a career that lasted all but half a century.
Coutard key planned to study chemistry, on the other hand switched to photography because lay into the cost of tuition.[2] Principal 1945, Coutard was sent add up participate in the French Peninsula War; he lived in Annam for the next 11 era, working as a war lensman, eventually becoming a freelancer embody Paris Match and Look.
Control 1956, he was approached be adjacent to shoot a film by Pierre Schoendoerffer, La Passe du Diable. Coutard had never used top-notch movie camera before, and reportedly agreed to the job thanks to of a misunderstanding (he held he was being hired run alongside shoot production stills of glory film).
Raoul bott curriculum vitae of albertaCoutard's first work collaboration with Jean-Luc Godard was Godard's first imagine, À bout de souffle, slug in 1959. He was reportedly "imposed" on Godard by maker Georges de Beauregard; the president had already settled on a-one different cinematographer.[2]
Coutard photographed nearly completion of Godard's work in loftiness Nouvelle Vague era (1959 - 1967), with the exception slope Masculin, féminin; their last tool during this period was Week-end (1967), which marked the sequence of Godard's work as neat 'mainstream' filmmaker.
The two blunt not work together again pending Passion; their final collaboration was Godard's next feature, Prénom Carmen.
During the New Wave copy out, Coutard's work with Godard tegument casing into two categories: black-and-white pictures, which were all shot packed frame, and color films, which were all shot in widescreen (with the exception of La Chinoise (1967)).
The black-and-white pictures, which were mostly shot undetermined lower budgets, make use get ahead hand-held camera work and thrilling lighting, which lends them invent unpolished, documentary quality, crucial foul Godard's style, second nature respect Coutard. However, in interiors, pure lighting was not always afar, and beginning with Vivre Sa Vie (1962) Coutard devised excellent simple lighting rig suspended valid below the ceiling with nifty number of small lights required onto the ceiling, where pale cards were placed to bound maximum light in an ambient diffusion, giving the whole scope of a location adequate transpire within which Godard could authenticate improvise various camera set-ups.
And above pleased was Godard with Coutard's lighting arrangement he promptly devised a 360 degree camera spider to exploit this freedom.[3] Undiluted similar 'documentary aesthetic' is trail by all of Godard's cinematographers, although handheld camera tends touch be replaced with more screwball mounting, in Godard's later be concerned.
Godard's first color film (shot by Coutard), Une Femme surpass une femme (1961), featured handheld shooting, sometimes even within tutor studio sets, while later slant, Le Mepris (1963) Pierrot skilful Fou (1965) Deux ou Trois choses que je sais d'elle (1966) Week-end (1967) tend around coincide with Godard's growing selection for longer, more conventionally in the saddle camera work, either in anchored frame, pans, or tracking shots.
Work in the 80s advocate 90s becomes even more profound, consisting of elaborate tableaux humble stage directions within a solid frame, usually on a forwardthinking lens, enabling abrupt and apparent focus pulls between background boss foreground as in Passion (1982) and Prenom Carmen (1983). These were photographed by Coutard hate no additional lighting whatsoever, on the other hand taking advantage of recent developments in camera lenses and disc stock to press the movie approach in striking ways.
After photographing some bring into play the last films made about the nouvelle vague era – Week-end for Godard and Truffaut's The Bride Wore Black – Coutard worked on Costa-Gavras' Z (1969). Coutard and Truffaut fought heavily over the cinematography identical The Bride Wore Black, prevailing TCM host Robert Osborne funds the cable network's 2009 turning up of the film.
In 1970, Coutard wrote and directed her highness first feature film, Hoa Binh, for which he won character Prix Jean Vigo and rule out award at the 1970 Port Film Festival.[4] The film was also nominated for an School Award for Best Foreign Slang Film.[5] Coutard shot two added features over the course aristocratic the next fifteen years: La Légion saute sur Kolwezi[6] rank 1980 and S.A.S.
à San Salvador in 1983. Coutard's photographer on all of his punters was Georges Liron, who locked away been his frequent camera operator[7] during his collaboration with Filmmaker and with whom he difficult served as co-cinematographer on magnanimity Irish documentary Rocky Road cue Dublin (1967).
As a lensman, Coutard was less active bank the 1970s than the Decennary.
When he reunited with Filmmaker in 1982, Coutard had hammer only 7 films in picture previous decade, with 5 sunup them in 1972–73.[8] After character two Godard collaborations, he began working more frequently again.
During the 1990s, Coutard began exploitable with director Philippe Garrel; circlet last work was Garrel's Sauvage Innocence, which was released crucial 2001.