Claude Sautet 1924 - 2000

Who is Claude Sautet? Who is Claude Sautet? you ask. Claude Rains, maybe. Claude Akins, Sheriff Lobo, just barely. But who is this Claude Sautet?

Sautet was a writer and director of French films. La Cinema de France. I have only seen four of his films (so far). The first three are wonderful, French and thought-provoking. About life and relationships. American films tend to shy away from such subjects. Or at least don't deal with them at all realistically.

Les Choses de la vie (1969) stars Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider. A quiet, deftly directed film about ordinary, everyday minutiae, with Piccoli as an average man vaguely torn between a demanding mistress and an ex-wife to whom he still feels bound. I paraphrased that sentence from a review in Time Out. (This film was remade rather pointlessly with Gere and Sharon Stone and called Intersection.) A must see.

César and Rosalie (1972) stars Yves Montand and Romy Schneider as a relatively happy middle aged couple who get along fine, until Romy's ex-lover, Sami Frey shows up wanting more. Cesar gets madly jealous. Rosalie, confused. Isabelle Huppert co-stars. A must see.

Vincent, François, Paul... and the Others (1974) with Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Serge Reggiani, Gérard Depardieu, Stéphane Audran, and Umberto Orsini. Leonard Maltin: "Melancholy, enormously satisfying life-goes-on drama about longtime male buddies who pursue their respective vocations during the week--medicine, boxing, factory ownership, etc. --then team up for food and drink on idyllic country weekends. Montand stands out in a dream French cast as a going-broke boss in perilous romantic and physical shape." A must see.

His fourth film -- that I've seen -- also his last, is my favorite. Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud. Emmanuelle Béart (Mission: Impossible), Michel Serrault (La Cage aux folles), Jean-Hugues Anglade (Betty Blue, Killing Zoe), Michael Lonsdale (the villain "Drax" in Moonraker, Ronin), and Charles Berling star. Maltin again: "Subtle, beautifully acted story of a 25-year-old woman in debt and stuck in a nowhere marriage, who meets an elegant and instantly infatuated man some 40 years her senior who offers to pay her bills and give her a job typing his memoirs. Sautet proves that in his 70s he's still as effective as ever in painting the difficulties and heartbreak of human relationships." A definite must see. Do not die without having seen this film.

Sautet was born February 23, 1924 in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He died of liver cancer on July 22, 2000 in Paris. At the time of his death he was married to Graziella Escojido.

From Monday July 24 2000 05:20:22 pm

"Acclaimed French director, Claude Sautet, dies at 76

JESSE WENTE - CBC Radio Arts

PARIS - Claude Sautet, considered by many to be one of France's best directors, has died.

Earlier today, Jacques Chirac, the French president, hailed Sautet as a filmmaker who "held out the mirror of our times."

Sautet won the Oscar for best foreign language film for Une Histoire Simple (A Simple Story) in 1978. His best-known film, however, is Les Choses de la Vie (The Things of Life) from 1969.

He started out as a screenwriter, and began his directing career with Bonjour Sourire in 1955. He went on to direct more than 30 feature films.

Just four years ago, Sautet won the French equivalent to the Oscar, the Cesar, for his what turned out to be his last film, Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud."

Director Filmography
1. Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995)
2. Un coeur en hiver (1992)
3. Quelques jours avec moi (1988)
... aka Few Days with Me, A (1988)
4. Garçon! (1983)
... aka Waiter! (1983)
5. Un mauvais fils (1980)
6. Simple Story, A (1978)
7. Mado (1976)
8. Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres (1974)
9. César et Rosalie (1972)
10. Max et les ferrailleurs (1971)
... aka Commissario Pelissier, Il (1971) (Italy)
... aka Max (1971)
11. Choses de la vie, Les (1969)
... aka Things of Life, The (1969) (USA)
12. Arme à gauche, L' (1964)
... aka Dictator's Guns, The (1964) (USA)
13. Classe tous risques (1960)
... aka Asfalto che scotta (1960) (Italy)
... aka Big Risk, The (1960) (USA)
14. Bonjour sourire (1955)
15. Nous n'irons plus au bois (1951)

Writer Filmography
1. Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995)
2. Intersection (1994)
3. Un coeur en hiver (1992)
4. Mon ami le traître (1988)
5. Quelques jours avec moi (1988)
6. Garçon! (1983)
7. Un mauvais fils (1980)
8. Simple Story, A (1978)
9. Mado (1976)
10. Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres (1974)
11. César et Rosalie (1972)
12. Mariés de l'an II, Les (1971)
... aka Scoundrel (1971) (UK)
13. Max et les ferrailleurs (1971)
14. Borsalino (1970)
15. Choses de la vie, Les (1969)
16. Mise à sac (1967)
17. Vie de château, La (1965)
... aka Matter of Resistance, A (1965) (USA)
18. Arme à gauche, L' (1964)
19. Âge ingrat, L' (1964) (story)
20. Échappement libre (1964)
... aka Backfire (1964) (USA)
21. Peau de banane (1963)
... aka Banana Peel (1963) (USA)
22. Classe tous risques (1960)
... aka Big Risk, The (1960) (USA)
23. Yeux sans visage, Les (1959)
... aka Eyes Without a Face (1959) (UK)
... aka Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus, The (1962) (USA)
24. Fauve est lâché, Le (1959)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director Filmography
1. Yeux sans visage, Les (1959) (assistant director)
2. Action immédiate (1957) (assistant director)
3. Bande à papa, La (1955) (assistant director)
4. Fils de Caroline chérie, Le (1955) (assistant director)
... aka Caroline and the Rebels (1955)