Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer.

Life and career

Tavernier was born in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. He said his father's publishing of a wartime resistance journal and aid to anti-Nazi intellectuals shaped his moral outlook as an artist. According to Tavernier, his father believed that words were "as important and as lethal as bullets". Tavernier wanted to become a filmmaker from the age of 13 or 14 years. He said that his cinematic influences included filmmakers

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

William Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in Crime film, crime, Adventure film, adventure, and Action film, a ...

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and

Jacques Becker Jacques Becker (; 15 September 1906 – 21 February 1960) was a French film director and screenwriter. His films, made during the 1940s and 1950s, encompassed a wide variety of genres, and they were admired by some of the filmmakers who led th ...

. Tavernier was influenced by the 1968 general strike in France. He associated with the OCI between 1973 and 1975, and was particularly struck by the writing of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. The first film director with whom he worked was

Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Grumbach (20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), known professionally as Jean-Pierre Melville (), was a French filmmaker. Considered a spiritual godfather of the French New Wave, he was one of the first fully-independent French filmmake ...

. Later, his first film ('' The Clockmaker'', 1974) won the Prix Louis Delluc and the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize award at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival. His early work was dominated by mysteries, but his later work is characterized by a more overt social commentary, highlighting his left-wing views ('' Life and Nothing But'', '' Captain Conan'') and presenting a critical picture of contemporary French society ('' It All Starts Today'', ''Histoires de vies brisées : les double-peine de Lyon'').

Honours and Awards

In 1986, his film ''Round Midnight'' won two

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

(Best Original Music and Best Sound), the Best Film Award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

and the Oscar for Best Music (Original Score) at the 1987

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. He won the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

for best film in a language other than English in 1990 for '' Life and Nothing But'' and a total of four

César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...

s and was joint winner of another. In 1995, his film '' L'Appât'' won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

Award at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival. Four years later, his film '' It All Starts Today'' won an Honourable Mention at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. His film '' The Princess of Montpensier'' competed for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

2010 Cannes Film Festival The 63rd Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 2010. American filmmaker Tim Burton served as jury president for the main competition. Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for the dram ...

. Tavernier was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the

42nd International Film Festival of India The 42nd International Film Festival of India was held on 23 to 30 November 2011 in Goa. The International competition (Feature) was chaired by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, and Short film competition was chaired by Basu Bhattacharya. For the first tim ...

in Goa for his outstanding achievements and work in the film industry.

Personal life

Tavernier was married to screenwriter Colo Tavernier O'Hagan from 1965 to 1981. They had two children. Their son,

Nils Tavernier Nils Tavernier (born 1 September 1965) is a French actor and director. He is best known for his film appearances in ''Beatrice (1987 film), Beatrice'' (1987), ''Valmont (film), Valmont'' (1988), and ''Revenge of the Musketeers (1994 film), Revenge ...

(born 1 September 1965), works as both a director and actor. Their daughter, Tiffany Tavernier (born in 1967), is a novelist, screenwriter and

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

Death

Tavernier died on 25 March 2021 at age 79.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

* ttp://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jul1999/sff2-j10.shtml An interview with Bertrand Tavernier: "My job is to dream and invent, and out of this produce something that will change the world"- ''World Socialist Web Site''
Bertrand Tavernier speaks with the ''World Socialist Web Site''

An interview with Bertrand Tavernier on his film The Princess of Montpensier
at subtitledonline.com * Bertrand Tavernier in Conversation with Melinda Camber Porterbr>PDF

- ''World Socialist Web Site'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavernier, Bertrand 1941 births 2021 deaths Mass media people from Lyon French male film actors French film directors French male screenwriters French screenwriters French film producers Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Best Director César Award winners Directors of Golden Bear winners Lycée Henri-IV alumni French male television actors 20th-century French male actors Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipients