Claude Lelouch

{{Infobox person

| name = Claude Lelouch

| image = Claude Lelouch Deauville 2019.jpg

| caption = Lelouch in 2019

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1937|10|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Paris, France

| birth_name = Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Film director
screenwriter
cinematographer
actor
film producer}}

| spouse = {{flatlist|

{{marriage|Christine Cochet|1968|1972|end=div}}
{{marriage|Évelyne Bouix|1980|1985|end=div}}
{{marriage|Marie-Sophie L.|1986|1992|end=div}}
{{marriage|Alessandra Martines|1993|2009|end=div}}

}}

| partner = Gunilla Friden (1970s)

| children = 7

| signature = Firma de Claude Lelouch.svg

| signature_size = 200

}}

Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch ({{IPA|fr|klod ləluʃ|lang}}; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical acclaim for his 1966 romantic melodrama film A Man and A Woman.{{Cite web|title=Rotten Tomatoes: Movies {{!}} TV Shows {{!}} Movie Trailers {{!}} Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/claude_lelouch|access-date=10 December 2021 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}} At the 39th Academy Awards in 1967, A Man and a Woman won Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film.{{Cite web|title=Claude Lelouch|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0500988/awards|access-date=10 December 2021 |website=IMDb}} Lelouch was also nominated for Best Director. While his films have gained him international recognition since the 1960s, Lelouch's methods and style of film are known for attracting criticism.{{Cite web |last=Churchill |first=David|date=22 July 2010|title=Claude Lelouch's C'était un rendez-vous (1976)|url=https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2010/07/claude-lelouchs-cetait-un-rendez-vous.html|url-status=live|access-date=10 December 2021|website=Critics at Large|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013194405/http://www.criticsatlarge.ca:80/2010/07/claude-lelouchs-cetait-un-rendez-vous.html |archive-date=13 October 2010 }}{{Cite web|last=Daoust|first=Phil|date=13 February 2009|title=Phil Daoust meets film director Claude Lelouch|url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/13/interview-with-french-director-claude-lelouch|url-status=live|access-date=10 December 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906005157/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/13/interview-with-french-director-claude-lelouch |archive-date=6 September 2018 }}

Life and career

Lelouch was born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris to Charlotte ({{née|Abeilard}}) and Simon Lelouch.{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/74/Claude-Lelouch.html|title=Claude Lelouch biography|publisher=Filmreference.com|access-date=14 November 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101002135/http://www.filmreference.com/film/74/Claude-Lelouch.html|archive-date=1 November 2011}}

His father was born to an Algerian Jewish family while his mother was a convert to Judaism.Joseph Tolédano, Les Juifs maghrébins, Brepols, 1989, p. 287{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3198578,00.html|title=Claude Lelouch: Life as a movie - Israel Culture|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=11 January 2006 |publisher=Ynetnews.com|access-date=14 November 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831134454/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3198578,00.html|archive-date=31 August 2012|last1=Assoun|first1=Rebecca}} Lelouch says that his first contact with cinema was very young: "My mother hid me in movie theaters when I was little. We were wanted by the Gestapo. [...] Cinema, for starters, saved my life."{{cite web| title = Le cinéma de Claude Lelouch en 13 vidéos | author = INA, Claude Lelouch | url = http://www.ina.fr/contenus-editoriaux/articles-editoriaux/le-cinema-de-claude-lelouch-en-13-videos/ | date = 26 October 2017 | access-date = 15 November 2018 | publisher = INA | language = fr | at="Passeurs d'histoires: vidéo "2011 - Lycée : la section cinéma reçoit Claude Lelouch" | quote="Ma mère me cachait dans les salles de cinéma quand j'étais tout petit. On était recherché par le Gestapo. [...] Je pense que le cinéma a commencé par me sauver la vie."}} Of his personal faith, he says "Today I believe in God. My faith was sparked when I made a film in Israel. Over there, it is impossible not to believe in God. I loved the places of worship of all the religions. Everything which happens is for the best. I sometimes have the feeling that my inspiration comes from heaven. I think it is wonderful to be Jewish."{{Cite news|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3198578,00.html|title=Claude Lelouch: Life as a movie |date=1 November 2006|website=Ynetnews|last1=Assoun|first1=Rebecca}}

His father bought him a camera as a fresh start after his failure in the baccalaureat. He started his career with a reportage – one of the first to film daily life in the Soviet Union, with the camera hidden under his coat as he made his personal journey. He also filmed sporting events, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Tour de France.{{Citation |last=AlloCine |title=Pour un maillot jaune |url=https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=51073.html |language=fr |access-date=8 June 2022}}

Lelouch served in the French Army working in the film unit where he made over 100 films. He was demobilized in 1960.[https://www.amazon.com/prime-video/actor/Claude-Lelouch/amzn1.dv.gti.ef192d55-4ec5-43d8-bd5b-5336e028a8a8/ Claude Lelouch, Bio] Amazon. Retrieved July 20, 2023.

His first full-length film as director, Le Propre de l'homme, was decried by the critics: "Claude Lelouch, remember this name well, because you will not hear it again" – {{Lang|fr|Cahiers du cinéma}} said. La femme spectacle (1963), following prostitutes, women shopping, going for nose-jobs, was censored for its misogynist tendency. A Man and a Woman changed his fortunes and was met with favour even by the Cahiers group.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The 1981 musical epic Les Uns et les Autres is widely considered as his masterpiece, and his credits now add up to 50 or so films.

His 1976 film, C'était un rendez-vous purportedly features a Ferrari 275 GTB being driven at extreme speed through the streets of Paris at dawn. The entire short is shot from the point of view of the car. Legend has it that Lelouch was arrested after it was first shown publicly.{{cite web |url=http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=849 |title=C'était un Rendez-vous Review (1976) |website=Thespinningimage.co.uk |access-date=21 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205109/http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=849 |archive-date=3 March 2016 }} In a 2006 interview, Lelouch stated that he drove his own Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 in the film and created a soundtrack of the radically different sounding Italian sports car for effect.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169173/trivia IMDB Trivia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626152149/http://imdb.com/title/tt0169173/trivia |date=26 June 2006 }}, imdb.com; accessed 21 February 2016.

He collaborated more than two dozen times with composer Francis Lai. They scored a great hit with the theme song for the film A Man and a Woman sung by Nicole Croisille and Pierre Barouh, and more than 300 versions of the song exist.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

In 1993 he was the president of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1993 |title=18th Moscow International Film Festival (1993) |access-date=9 March 2013 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403093721/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1993 |archive-date=3 April 2014 }}

In 2020 Lelouch filmed his own modern 'remake' of his 1976 short film (in collaboration with Ferrari) C'était un rendez-vous entitled Le Grand Rendez-vous, set in Monaco instead of Paris and starring Monegasque racing driver Charles Leclerc.{{Cite web|url=https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/leclerc-cetait-un-rendezvous-lelouch/4795039/|title=F1's Charles Leclerc set for C'etait un Rendezvous remake|website=www.motorsport.com|date=21 May 2020 }} Filming for the new version took place on the Circuit de Monaco on 24 May 2020 and features Leclerc driving a Ferrari SF90 Stradale. It was released on 13 June 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.motorsport.com/general/news/leclerc-completes-monaco-filming-run/4796094/|title=F1's Charles Leclerc drives Monaco for controversial film remake|website=www.motorsport.com|date=24 May 2020 }}

The film was criticised by The Verge as 'lifeless'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/15/21291980/ferrari-le-grand-rendez-vous-charle-leclerc-monaco-footage|title=Ferrari ruined its 'Rendez-vous' revival with digital image stabilization|date=15 June 2020}}

Top Gear's Chris Harris said on Twitter this version was 'lazy and badly executed'.{{cite tweet|number=1272467543022866432|user=harrismonkey|title=All of us content creators who have...|date=15 June 2020}}

Honours

2016: Commander in the Order of the Crown{{cite web|url=http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/cultuur+en+media/film/1.2828044|title=Franse cineast Claude Lelouch geridderd in Brussel|website=deredactie.be|date=25 November 2016|access-date=30 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210002628/http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/cultuur%2Ben%2Bmedia/film/1.2828044|archive-date=10 February 2018}}
2005: Doctor of Philosophy Honoris Causa, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Awards

Lelouch's A Man and a Woman won the {{Lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}} at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2827/year/1966.html |title=Festival de Cannes: A Man and a Woman |access-date=21 February 2016 |work=festival-cannes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807031955/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2827/year/1966.html |archive-date=7 August 2012 }} as well as two Oscars including Best Foreign Language Film.{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967|title=The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners|access-date=21 February 2016|work=oscars.org|date=4 October 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003824/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967|archive-date=2 April 2015}}

His 1967 film Vivre pour vivre, was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968|title=The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners|access-date=12 November 2011|work=oscars.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003842/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968|archive-date=2 April 2015}} In 1971, he won the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Directing for Le Voyou.