Claude Lelouch

Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch 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 At the 39th Academy Awards in 1967 A Man and a Woman won Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film Lelouch was also nominated for Best Director While his films have gained him international recognition since the 1960s Lelouchs methods and style of film are known for attracting criticism Lelouch was born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris to Charlotte née Abeilard and Simon Lelouch His father was born to an Algerian Jewish family while his mother was a convert to Judaism 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 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 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 Lelouch served in the French Army working in the film unit where he made over 100 films He was demobilized in 1960 His first fulllength film as director Le Propre de lhomme was decried by the critics Claude Lelouch remember this name well because you will not hear it again Cahiers du cinéma said La femme spectacle 1963 following prostitutes women shopping going for nosejobs was censored for its misogynist tendency A Man and a Woman changed his fortunes and was met with favour even by the Cahiers group 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 Cétait un rendezvous 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 In a 2006 interview Lelouch stated that he drove his own MercedesBenz 450SEL 69 in the film and created a soundtrack of the radically different sounding Italian sports car for effect 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 In 1993 he was the president of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival Source Article Claude Lelouch from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA