Personal Info
Known For:
Camera
Birthday:
September 16, 1924
Place of Birth:
Paris, France
Social Media
Raoul Coutard
Biography
Raoul Coutard (16 September 1924 – 8 November 2016) was a French cinematographer. He is best known for his connection with the Nouvelle Vague period and particularly for his work with director Jean-Luc Godard. Coutard also shot films for New Wave director François Truffaut as well as Jacques Demy, a contemporary frequently associated with the movement.
He shot over 75 films during a career that lasted nearly half a century.
Coutard originally planned to study chemistry, but switched to photography because of the cost of tuition. In 1945, Coutard was sent to participate in the French Indochina War; he lived in Vietnam for the next 11 years, working as a war photographer, eventually becoming a freelancer for Paris Match and Look. In 1956, he was approached to shoot a film by Pierre Schoendoerffer, La Passe du Diable. Coutard had never used a movie camera before, and reportedly agreed to the job because of a misunderstanding (he believed he was being hired to shoot production stills of the film).
Coutard's first work collaboration with Jean-Luc Godard was Godard's first feature, À bout de souffle, shot in 1959. He was reportedly "imposed" on Godard by producer Georges de Beauregard; the director had already settled on a different cinematographer.
Coutard photographed nearly all of Godard's work in the Nouvelle Vague era (1959 - 1967), with the exception of Masculin, féminin; their last work during this period was Week-end (1967), which marked the end of Godard's work as a 'mainstream' filmmaker. The two did not work together again until Passion; their final collaboration was Godard's next feature, Prénom Carmen. ...
Source: Article "Raoul Coutard" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel | Self |
| 2011 | Pierre Schoendoerffer, the Sentinel of Memory | Self |
| 2008 | Il était une fois... « Jules et Jim » | Self (chef opérateur) |
| 2007 | Godard, Love and Poetry | Self |
| 2004 | The Making of Rocky Road to Dublin | Self |
| 2003 | The Outskirts of Alphaville | |
| 2000 | Nouvelle Vague : El cine sin dogmas | Self |
| 1997 | Jean Seberg: American Actress | Self |
| 1993 | Chambre 12, Hôtel de Suède | Self |
| 1992 | Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave | Self |
| 1971 | The Hideout | |
| 1970 | The Bamboo Incident | Angry French man (uncredited) |
| 1969 | Z | English Surgeon (uncredited) |
| 1967 | La Chinoise | Self - Cinematographer (uncredited) |
| 1963 | Contempt | Cameraman |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Les Rendez-vous du dimanche | Self |
| 1956 | Cinépanorama | Self |