Jacques Audiard
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Born in Paris, France, in 1952. Jacques Audiard's family has always
been involved in movie business. His father, Michel, was a popular
screenwriter and director and his uncle a producer. But in his teens he
refused that world and wanted to be a teacher. He studied literature
and philosophy at the Sorbonne but didn't finish his degree. By that
time, his then girlfriend suggested he work as a trainee editor during
his university holidays. He worked as an assistant editor on several
movies like "Le locataire" (1976) directed by Roman Polanski.
He also joined a theater where he did all kinds of work. He specially
enjoyed adapting works for stage. In the eighties he wrote the
screenplays of some successful movies like "Mortelle Randonnee" (1983),
"Reveillon Chez Bob" (1984), "Saxo" (1987), "Frequence meurtre" (1988)
and "Grosse fatigue" (1994). Most of those films were thrillers
directed by prestigious filmmakers like Claude Miller and Michel Blanc.
He also directed some well received short movies.
Thanks to the success of those movies he was able, in 1994, to raise up
the money to make his first movie "Regarde les hommes tomber" a somber
road movie starred by two of the most important French actors: Mathieu
Kassovitz and Jean Louis Trintignant. That movie won 3 Cesars of the
French academy for best editing, best new director (Jacques Audiard)
and best new actor (for Kassovitz).
Kassovitz also became the star of his second movie "Un heros tres
discret" released in the Festival de Cannes in 1996 where it won the
award for best screenplay. "Un heros tres discret" undermined the myth
of the French resistance to the Nazis by telling the story of a young
impostor who rises high in French society after World war by concocting
a past for himself as a hero. It also won awards in the festivals of
Stockholm and Valladolid and made his name internationally.
In 2001 he made his third movie "Sur mes levres". The love story
between two outsiders (a deaf office worker and a hoodlum) who decide
to con a group of gangsters also became a success. It also won three
Cesars (best actress, sound and screenplay).
His last movie, "De battre mon Coeur sest arrête" (a remake of
"Fingers" a James Toback's movie) was released in the Berlin festival
of 2005.
With those movies, Audiard has become the new master of the "polar"
(French thriller) and inheritor of others great French directors like
Jean-Pierre Melville (1917-1973) and Henri Georges-Clouzot
(1907-1977).
been involved in movie business. His father, Michel, was a popular
screenwriter and director and his uncle a producer. But in his teens he
refused that world and wanted to be a teacher. He studied literature
and philosophy at the Sorbonne but didn't finish his degree. By that
time, his then girlfriend suggested he work as a trainee editor during
his university holidays. He worked as an assistant editor on several
movies like "Le locataire" (1976) directed by Roman Polanski.
He also joined a theater where he did all kinds of work. He specially
enjoyed adapting works for stage. In the eighties he wrote the
screenplays of some successful movies like "Mortelle Randonnee" (1983),
"Reveillon Chez Bob" (1984), "Saxo" (1987), "Frequence meurtre" (1988)
and "Grosse fatigue" (1994). Most of those films were thrillers
directed by prestigious filmmakers like Claude Miller and Michel Blanc.
He also directed some well received short movies.
Thanks to the success of those movies he was able, in 1994, to raise up
the money to make his first movie "Regarde les hommes tomber" a somber
road movie starred by two of the most important French actors: Mathieu
Kassovitz and Jean Louis Trintignant. That movie won 3 Cesars of the
French academy for best editing, best new director (Jacques Audiard)
and best new actor (for Kassovitz).
Kassovitz also became the star of his second movie "Un heros tres
discret" released in the Festival de Cannes in 1996 where it won the
award for best screenplay. "Un heros tres discret" undermined the myth
of the French resistance to the Nazis by telling the story of a young
impostor who rises high in French society after World war by concocting
a past for himself as a hero. It also won awards in the festivals of
Stockholm and Valladolid and made his name internationally.
In 2001 he made his third movie "Sur mes levres". The love story
between two outsiders (a deaf office worker and a hoodlum) who decide
to con a group of gangsters also became a success. It also won three
Cesars (best actress, sound and screenplay).
His last movie, "De battre mon Coeur sest arrête" (a remake of
"Fingers" a James Toback's movie) was released in the Berlin festival
of 2005.
With those movies, Audiard has become the new master of the "polar"
(French thriller) and inheritor of others great French directors like
Jean-Pierre Melville (1917-1973) and Henri Georges-Clouzot
(1907-1977).