Claude Lelouch

Overview

He started off by making short films for television on which he was at once producer, screenwriter and cameraman. This was interrupted by military service in the army, but only partly, because he was put into the army film unit where he made over 100 films. Demobbed in 1960, he used family money for his first feature Le propre de l'homme (1961) which was a total flop. In 1961, he started filming 'La Vie de Chateau' but was forced to close down after one week due to lack of finance. In 1964, he made L'amour avec des si (1964) which was a success in Sweden but a flop everywhere else. In 1963, his film Night Women (1964) had 40 minutes cut by the censor, so it was never shown publicly. His film Une fille et des fusils (1965) was his first to recover production costs. In 1965, came his 5th completed film Les grands moments (1966) but he thought it so bad that he bought the film himself so that it would never be seen. Things changed round completely the following year with what became a classic: A Man and a Woman (1966), which won the 'Grand Prix' at Cannes, an Oscar for Best Picture and numerous other awards.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Children: Sarah Lelouch (with Swedish model Gunilla Friden), Salomé Lelouch (with first wife Evelyne Bouix), Sabaya Lelouch, Seb Lelouch, Shaya Lelouch (with second wife), Simon Lelouch (with actress Christine Lelouch), and Stella Lelouch (with third wife Alessandra Martines).
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985." Pages 572-577. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967.
He supported Nicolas Sarkozy's 2012 presidential campaign.
After he graduated from high school, Lelouch's father gave him a 16mm.camera and some money and told him to go out, see the world, and bring back some images.The future director took his new tool to Russia where he made a documentary and later when conscripted into the army made seven short subjects for the military's cinematographic service.

Film-making is like spermatozoa. Only one in a million makes it.
The more I go to the movies, the more I like French movies.
I think my English gets worse. It's a tough language for the French, we phrase things completely different.
One day I'll make a film for the critics, when I have money to lose.
The screenplay talks to the conscious mind and the music to the subconscious mind. Our subconscious tells us we are eternal but our consciousness tell us we are mortals. Music is part of eternity. If God exists he is the composer.

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