
Claude Lelouch
Biography
Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical acclaim for his 1966 romantic melodrama film A Man and A Woman. At the 39th Academy Awards in 1967, A Man and a Woman won Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film. Lelouch was also nominated for Best Director. While his films have gained him international recognition since the 1960s, Lelouch's methods and style of film are known for attracting criticism.
Lelouch was born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris to Charlotte (née Abeilard) and Simon Lelouch.
His father was born to an Algerian Jewish family while his mother was a convert to Judaism. Lelouch says that his first contact with cinema was very young: "My mother hid me in movie theaters when I was little. We were wanted by the Gestapo. [...] Cinema, for starters, saved my life." Of his personal faith, he says "Today I believe in God. My faith was sparked when I made a film in Israel. Over there, it is impossible not to believe in God. I loved the places of worship of all the religions. Everything which happens is for the best. I sometimes have the feeling that my inspiration comes from heaven. I think it is wonderful to be Jewish."
His father bought him a camera as a fresh start after his failure in the baccalaureat. He started his career with a reportage – one of the first to film daily life in the Soviet Union, with the camera hidden under his coat as he made his personal journey. He also filmed sporting events, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Tour de France.
Lelouch served in the French Army working in the film unit where he made over 100 films. He was demobilized in 1960.
His first full-length film as director, Le Propre de l'homme, was decried by the critics: "Claude Lelouch, remember this name well, because you will not hear it again" – Cahiers du cinéma said. La femme spectacle (1963), following prostitutes, women shopping, going for nose-jobs, was censored for its misogynist tendency. A Man and a Woman changed his fortunes and was met with favour even by the Cahiers group.
The 1981 musical epic Les Uns et les Autres is widely considered as his masterpiece, and his credits now add up to 50 or so films.
His 1976 film, C'était un rendez-vous purportedly features a Ferrari 275 GTB being driven at extreme speed through the streets of Paris at dawn. The entire short is shot from the point of view of the car. Legend has it that Lelouch was arrested after it was first shown publicly. In a 2006 interview, Lelouch stated that he drove his own Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 in the film and created a soundtrack of the radically different sounding Italian sports car for effect.
He collaborated more than two dozen times with composer Francis Lai. They scored a great hit with the theme song for the film A Man and a Woman sung by Nicole Croisille and Pierre Barouh, and more than 300 versions of the song exist.
In 1993 he was the president of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. ...
Source: Article "Claude Lelouch" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Acting (41 movies)

Rendezvous
1976

D'un film à l'autre
2011

Poumon Vert et Tapis Rouge
2021

Catherine Deneuve by Chance, or, A Certain Blondeness
1978

Smic, Smac, Smoc
1971

Belmondo, il était une fois le beau monde
2011

Trintignant by Trintignant
2021

Re-belles
2023

Shoot to Live
2022

Jean-Marie fête Bigard
2019

Annie Girardot selon son cœur
2020

Belmondo, itinéraire...
2011

Bolero: A Global Hit
2019

Visions of Eight
1973

Heart to Heart
1979

De la piste aux étoiles
2023

Who Is Bernard Tapie?
2001

Happy New Year
1987

Resistencia Cultural
2021

Long Live Life
1984

Jean-Louis Trintignant - Mystérieux et insaisissable
2022

Anouk Aimée, la beauté du geste
2012

Far West
1973

Conversation avec Claude Lelouch
2024

A Film About Mikhail Kalatozov
2006

Belmondo by Belmondo
2016

The Right of Man
1961

Les Misérables et Victor Hugo : au nom du peuple
2020

Deauville et le rêve américain
2020

Happy New Year
1987

One 4 All
1999

A Day in the Life of French Cinema
2002

Boléro, le refrain du monde
2019

Claude Lelouch, la vie en mieux
2025

Bernard, Albert et l'Empereur
2021

Claude Lelouch - Le symphonique
2023

Bardot
2025

Jean-Pierre Aumont, charme et fou-rires
1999

The Legend of the Palme d’Or Continues
2025

Je m'appelle Régine et je vous emmerde !
2025

Alexandre Trannoy - L’Œuvre invisible
2025
Directing (63 movies)

Rendezvous
1976

The Good and the Bad
1976

Life Love Death
1969

To Be a Crook
1965

Les grands moments
1966

All That... for This?!
1993

Money Money Money
1972

To Each His Own Cinema
2007

Far from Vietnam
1967

Crossed Tracks
2007

A Man and a Woman
1966

Bolero
1981

Itinerary of a Spoiled Child
1988

Marriage
1974

The Beautiful Story
1992

Lumière & Company
1995

Les Miserables
1995

And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
2002

Love Is a Funny Thing
1969

There Were Days... and Moons
1990

What War May Bring
2010

Live for Life
1967

Happy New Year
1973

Cat and Mouse
1975

Us Two
1979

A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
1986

Men, Women: A User's Manual
1996

Chance or Coincidence
1998

The Courage to Love
2005

Going and Coming Back
1985

One 4 All
1999

Edith and Marcel
1983

For a Yellow Jersey
1965

The Crook
1970

Long Live Life
1984

In the Affirmative
1964

Another Man, Another Chance
1977

Le genre humain - 1ère partie: Les Parisiens
2004

And Now My Love
1974

Bandits
1987
Iran
1971

We Love You, You Bastard
2014

Robert et Robert
1978

A Second Chance
1976

13 Days in France
1968

Love Is Better Than Life
2022

Plan-Séquence
1992

Un + une
2015

The War of Silence
1957

D'un film à l'autre
2011

Everyone's Life
2017

Visions of Eight
1973

Smic, Smac, Smoc
1971

At the End of the Day
2024

The King of Ads
1991

The Right of Man
1961

Night Women
1964

11 Minutes, 9 Seconds, 1 Image
2002

The Best Years of a Life
2019

Le Grand Rendez-Vous
2020

Dance of Chance
2019

When the Curtain Rises
1957
Il a besoin
1981