Once again, this thing about honoring the icons first after they have passed away...
Claude Chabrol died this morning, Sunday, in Paris at the age of 80. He was among Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Jacques Rivette one of the most prominent directors ("auteurs") of the French New Wave. Like most of them, he also was a film critic in the famous Cahiers du Cinéma.
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Chabrol in 1959.
Chabrol with a pipe. The perfect grandfather.
Although known as making more "mainstream New Wave" films (how that is even possible, I have no idea), he was among the first to kick start that movement. In 1958 he made his directorial debut with Le Beau Serge, a Hitchcock-influenced crime drama that paved the way for his upcoming films, a style sometimes referred to as "Chabrolesque". Next year he made the celebrated Les Cousins (1959) and the Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicle À double tour (Leda, 1959). He continued making almost one film a year until the day he died.
About something completely else: don't mix too many kinds of alcohol. You will end up like me, the night between Friday and Saturday - thrown out of a gay pub, lying in the gutter helplessly throwing up more liquid than your stomach possibly could ever hold.
God bless the homosexuals, by the way. Never have I had so many kind men to hold my hand while puking in a toilet, all the while being told to be perfectly comfortable since I'm not the least attractive. The nicest one told me that he liked his men masculine and rich, and that he thought he was at least as handsome as not to have to pay the entrance fee himself. I think I fell a little in love. He went on:
- Now honey, what the hell is a married woman doing at a place like this?
- *sob* Socializing... buuuaaaahhhh!
Viva glamour boys, I love you. But I will never drink alcohol again. Also, I will never ask gay men for cigarettes again - I hate mint flavored cigarettes. Now I will sleep a bit more with a bucket nearby.
Picture from Friday night.
Sad indeed - to me he was the only New Waver worth a light... right up to the end, when he could have just sat back and bullshitted, he was out there making movies. They weren't all great, but they were always interesting, and always proper movies. And I love the fact that he was such a gourmet and wine connoisseur. Ludivine Sagnier said that the first thing he told her when she was cast in The Girl Cut In Half was "on my sets we like to eat well..."
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of wine connoisseurs - you will never drink alcohol again, eh? How long till you break that promise? My guess is you have already...
Matthew Coniam:
ReplyDeleteYes, he really seemed like a lovely man!
Hrrmm... Perhaps I tasted just a little red wine yesterday... Haha. How come you know me so well? ;)
You might like this: http://templeofschlock.blogspot.com/2010/09/random-movie-ads-claude-chabrol-edition.html
ReplyDeleteDarsh:
ReplyDeleteHaha, lovely!