Bertrand Tavernier

Directing

Bertrand Tavernier

Born April 25, 1941 · Lyon, Rhône, France

Died March 25, 2021 · aged 79

Bertrand Tavernier was a French director, screenwriter, producer and writer, born on April 25, 1941 in Lyon, and died on March 25, 2021 in Sainte-Maxime (Var). Son of the writer and resistance fighter from Lyon, René Tavernier, he was first an assistant director, press officer (notably for Stanley Kubrick) and critic before moving on to directing with The Watchmaker of Saint-Paul, his first criti…

Known For

Le DoulosLe Doulos · 1962
Le Doulos
★ 7.41962
MovieDramaThriller
Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?
ContemptContempt · 1963
Contempt
★ 7.01963
MovieDramaRomance
Art film producer Jeremy Prokosch, unhappy with the work of his director, hires Fritz Lang (as himself) to direct an adaptation of The Odyssey, but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb, he brings in a screenwriter to energise the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.
In the Electric MistIn the Electric Mist · 2009
In the Electric Mist
★ 6.12009
MovieThrillerDrama
Lt. Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana, is trying to link the murder of a local hooker to New Orleans mobster Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni, who is co-producer of a Civil War film. When the star of the film, Elrod Sykes, reports finding another corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp near the movie set, Robicheaux starts another investigation, believing the corpse to be the remains of a black man whose murder he witnessed 35 years earlier.
Léon Morin, PriestLéon Morin, Priest · 1961
Léon Morin, Priest
★ 7.11961
MovieDramaRomance
Barny, although a Marxist, is intrigued by the mysteries of religion. In confession, she teases a priest, Léon Morin, but he is a young and intelligent man and ready to discuss anything.
'Round Midnight'Round Midnight · 1986
'Round Midnight
★ 7.11986
MovieDramaMusic
Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.
A Sunday in the CountryA Sunday in the Country · 1984
A Sunday in the Country
★ 6.91984
MovieDramaFamily
In France, before WWI. As every Sunday, an old painter living in the country is visited by his son Gonzague, coming with his wife and his three children. Then his daugther Irene arrives. She is always in a hurry, she lives alone and does not come so often... An intimist chronicle in which what is not shown, what is guessed, is more important than how it looks, dealing with what each character expects of life.
It All Starts TodayIt All Starts Today · 1999
It All Starts Today
★ 7.11999
MovieDrama
In a mining town which has been blighted by economic downturns, an elementary school headmaster struggles to obtain social services on behalf of his students.
The Princess of MontpensierThe Princess of Montpensier · 2010
The Princess of Montpensier
★ 6.32010
MovieActionDrama
Set in the high courts of 16th Century France, where the wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants are raging. Marie de Mézières, a beautiful young aristocrat, is in love with Henri de Guise, but her hand in marriage is promised to the Prince of Montpensier.

Filmography

Sort
Journeys Through French CinemaJourneys Through French Cinema · 2017
Journeys Through French Cinema
★ 8.52017
SeriesDocumentary
My Journey Through French Cinema (2017), Bertrand Tavernier’s César-nominated three-and-a-half-hour tour through French film history, was too short to introduce audiences to all that he wanted to share. In this new eight-part series (8x55min), the acclaimed director of such films as Coup de Torchon and ‘Round Midnight guides us through a roster of filmmakers both influential and forgotten, explores how his country’s cinema was shaped by the German occupation and changed again through the New Wave, spotlights little-known female filmmakers, and more. Subjects include: René Clément, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Julien Duvivier, Henri Decoin, Claude Autant-Lara, as well as composers who made movie music an art in and of itself, far from the Hollywood spotlight.

Director