René Clair
Encyclopedia
René Clair born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker.
and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist under the pseudonym René Desprès. He also made his debut as an actor and, after an introduction from his brother Henri Chomette, he became an assistant to Jacques de Baroncelli
.
In 1924, he produced his first films, Entr'acte
and Paris qui dort
, which were followed by a quick succession of notable films. During World War II, he went to Hollywood and was stripped of his French citizenship by the Vichy
government.
He was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge and received the Grand Prix du Cinéma Français in 1953. In 1960, he was elected to the Académie Française
. He came to personify French film, and the prize
for film awarded by the Académie Française bears his name.
Clair started making films before the advent of sound, and therefore had very conflicting views of its uses; he was forced to use sound in his films for financial success. However, in lieu of creating films from theater plays like other French directors, Clair used sound to take the audience out of the narrative and into a different reality.
Clair's films And Then There Were None
and Le Silence est d'or both won best picture at the Locarno International Film Festival
making him as of 2009 one of only two directors to do so.
One of his notable films, À nous la liberté
led to a controversy involving Modern Times
.
Biography
He was born in Paris and grew up in the Les Halles quarter. He attended the Lycée MontaigneLycée Montaigne
The Lycée Montaigne is a famous French public secondary school. It is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, near the Jardin du Luxembourg, and was founded in the 1880s....
and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most rigorous in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.It offers both a...
. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist under the pseudonym René Desprès. He also made his debut as an actor and, after an introduction from his brother Henri Chomette, he became an assistant to Jacques de Baroncelli
Jacques de Baroncelli
Jacques de Baroncelli was a French film director best known for his silent films from 1915 to the late 1930s....
.
In 1924, he produced his first films, Entr'acte
Entr'acte (film)
Entr'acte is a 1924 French short film directed by René Clair, which premiered as an entr'acte for the Ballets Suédois production Relâche at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Relâche is based on a book and with settings by Francis Picabia, produced by Rolf de Maré, and with choreography by...
and Paris qui dort
Paris Qui Dort
The Crazy Ray is a 1925 French science fiction comedy short film directed by René Clair. The film is about a mad doctor who uses a magic ray on citizens which causes them to freeze in strange and often embarrassing positions. People who are unaffected by the ray begin to loot Paris. The film's...
, which were followed by a quick succession of notable films. During World War II, he went to Hollywood and was stripped of his French citizenship by the Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
government.
He was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge and received the Grand Prix du Cinéma Français in 1953. In 1960, he was elected to the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
. He came to personify French film, and the prize
René Clair Award
René Clair Award is an award instituted in 1994 and presented by the Académie française for the achievements in the field of cinema. The prize was named after a French filmmaker René Clair.-Laureates:*1994 : Alexandre Astruc*1995 : Robert Bresson...
for film awarded by the Académie Française bears his name.
Clair started making films before the advent of sound, and therefore had very conflicting views of its uses; he was forced to use sound in his films for financial success. However, in lieu of creating films from theater plays like other French directors, Clair used sound to take the audience out of the narrative and into a different reality.
Clair's films And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None (1945 film)
And Then There Were None is a 1945 film adaption of Agatha Christie's best-selling mystery novel And Then There Were None directed by René Clair....
and Le Silence est d'or both won best picture at the Locarno International Film Festival
Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
making him as of 2009 one of only two directors to do so.
One of his notable films, À nous la liberté
À nous la liberté
À nous la liberté is a 1931 French film directed by René Clair. With a score by Georges Auric, this film has more music than any of Clair's early films.-Plot:...
led to a controversy involving Modern Times
Modern Times (film)
Modern Times is a 1936 comedy film by Charlie Chaplin that has his iconic Little Tramp character struggling to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in...
.
Feature films
- Le Fantôme du Moulin-Rouge (1925)
- The Phantom of the Moulin-Rouge
- Le Voyage imaginaire (1926)
- The Imaginary Voyage
- La Proie du vent (1927)
- The Prey of the Wind
- Un chapeau de paille d'Italie (1928)
- An Italian Straw Hat
- Les Deux timides (1928)
- Two Timid Souls
- Sous les toits de ParisUnder the Roofs of ParisUnder the Roofs of Paris is a 1930 French film directed by René Clair. It was probably the earliest French example of a filmed musical-comedy, although its often dark tone differentiates it from other instances of the genre...
(1930)- Under the Roofs of Paris
- Le MillionLe MillionLe Million is a 1931 French musical comedy film directed by René Clair. The story was adapted by Clair from a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemand.-Plot:...
(1931)- The Million
- À nous la libertéÀ nous la libertéÀ nous la liberté is a 1931 French film directed by René Clair. With a score by Georges Auric, this film has more music than any of Clair's early films.-Plot:...
(1931)- Freedom for Us
- Quatorze Juillet (1932)
- Bastille Day
- The Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes West is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film...
(1935) - Break the NewsBreak the News (film)Break the News is a 1938 British musical comedy film directed by René Clair and starring Jack Buchanan, Maurice Chevalier and June Knight. Two struggling performers decide to create a fake murder scandal in order to drum up publicity for their act...
(1938) - The Flame of New OrleansThe Flame of New OrleansThe Flame of New Orleans is a 1941 comedy film directed by René Clair and starring Bruce Cabot in his first comedy role and Marlene Dietrich. It was nominated an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Martin Obzina, Jack Otterson and Russell A...
(1941)
- I Married a WitchI Married a WitchI Married a Witch is a 1942 fantasy romantic comedy film, directed by René Clair, and starring Veronica Lake as a witch whose plan for revenge goes comically awry, with Fredric March as her foil. The film also features Robert Benchley, Susan Hayward and Cecil Kellaway...
(1942) - Forever and a Day (1943)
- It Happened TomorrowIt Happened TomorrowIt Happened Tomorrow is a 1944 fantasy film starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie, and featuring Edgar Kennedy and Sig Ruman. It was directed by René Clair.-Plot:...
(1944) - And Then There Were NoneAnd Then There Were None (1945 film)And Then There Were None is a 1945 film adaption of Agatha Christie's best-selling mystery novel And Then There Were None directed by René Clair....
(1945) - Le Silence est d'or (1947)
- Silence Is Golden
- La Beauté du diable (1950)
- Beauty of the Devil
- Les Belles de nuitLes Belles de nuitLes Belles de nuit is a 1952 French language motion picture fantasy directed and written by René Clair who co-produced with Angelo Rizzoli...
(1952)- Beauties of the Night
- Les Grandes Manoeuvres (1955)
- The Grand Maneuver
- Summer Manoeuvres
- Porte des Lilas (1957)
- Gate of Lilacs
- The Gates of Paris
- Tout l'or du monde (1961)
- All the Gold in the World
- Les Fêtes galantes (1965)
- The Lace Wars
Short films
- Entr'acteEntr'acte (film)Entr'acte is a 1924 French short film directed by René Clair, which premiered as an entr'acte for the Ballets Suédois production Relâche at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Relâche is based on a book and with settings by Francis Picabia, produced by Rolf de Maré, and with choreography by...
(1924) - Paris qui dortParis Qui DortThe Crazy Ray is a 1925 French science fiction comedy short film directed by René Clair. The film is about a mad doctor who uses a magic ray on citizens which causes them to freeze in strange and often embarrassing positions. People who are unaffected by the ray begin to loot Paris. The film's...
(1924)- Paris Asleep
- The Crazy Ray
- La Tour (1928) (documentary)
- Forever and a Day (1943) (segment "1897")
- La Française et l'Amour (1960) (segment "Mariage, Le")
- Love and the Frenchwoman
- Les Quatre VéritésThree Fables of LoveThree Fables of Love is a 1962 French-Italian-Spanish comedy film starring Anna Karina. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.-Cast:* Manuel Alexandre* Ángel Álvarez...
(1962) (segment "Les Deux Pigeons")- Three Fables of Love
Awards & recognitions
- À nous la libertéÀ nous la libertéÀ nous la liberté is a 1931 French film directed by René Clair. With a score by Georges Auric, this film has more music than any of Clair's early films.-Plot:...
(1931)- Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
Audience Referendum Winner - Most Amusing Film
- Venice Film Festival
- The Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes West is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film...
(1935)- Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
Official Selection
- Venice Film Festival
- Les Belles de nuitLes Belles de nuitLes Belles de nuit is a 1952 French language motion picture fantasy directed and written by René Clair who co-produced with Angelo Rizzoli...
(1952)- Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
FIPRESCI Prize Winner
- Venice Film Festival
External links
- Bibliography of books and articles about Rene Clair via UC Berkeley Media Resources center