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 The 39th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1966, were held on April 10, 1967, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. The Academy Awards broadcast faced the threat of cancellation due ...

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.

Life and career

Lelouch was born in the 9th arrondissement of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to Charlotte () and Simon Lelouch. His father was born to an Algerian Jewish family while his mother was a convert to

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. 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 The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. .. 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 Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

– one of the first to film daily life in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

and the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

. Lelouch served in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

working in the film unit where he made over 100 films. He was demobilized in 1960.Claude Lelouch, Bio

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

. Retrieved July 20, 2023. 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" – said. ''

La femme spectacle ''La Femme spectacle'' is a film directed by Claude Lelouch in 1964. Synopsis The film is an essay regarding the "female object". Details *Director: Claude Lelouch *Music: *Length : 100 minutes *Release date: 1964 Starring * Jean Yanne *Gérard ...

'' (1963), following

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, 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 ''Les Uns et les Autres'' (English: ''The Ones and the Others'') is a 1981 French film by Claude Lelouch. The film is a musical epic and it is widely considered as the director's best work, along with '' Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman)' ...

'' 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 ''C'était un rendez-vous'' (English: ''It Was a Date'') is a 1976 French short film directed by Claude Lelouch, showing a high-speed drive through Paris. Plot The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris during the early hours (05:30) of ...

'' 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.IMDB Trivia
, imdb.com; accessed 21 February 2016. He collaborated more than two dozen times with composer

Francis Lai Francis Albert Lai (; 26 April 19327 November 2018) was a French composer, noted for his film scores. He won the 1970 Oscar for Best Music, Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film '' Love Story''. The ...

. They scored a great hit with the theme song for the film '' A Man and a Woman'' sung by

Nicole Croisille Nicole Croisille (9 October 1936 – 4 June 2025) was a French singer and actress. She appeared in 24 films between 1961 and 2005, and recorded several albums since 1961. Perhaps her most heard work is on the soundtrack of 1966 film, '' A Man a ...

and

Pierre Barouh Pierre Barouh (born Élie Pierre Barouh; 19 February 1934 – 28 December 2016) was a French writer-composer-singer best known for his work on Claude Lelouch's film ''A Man and a Woman'' as an actor and the lyricist/singer for Francis Lai's music ...

, 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 The 18th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 1 to 12 July 1993. The Golden St. George was awarded to the French-Belarusian film '' Me Ivan, You Abraham'' directed by Yolande Zauberman. Jury * Claude Lelouch (France – President o ...

. In 2020 Lelouch filmed his own modern 'remake' of his 1976 short film (in collaboration with Ferrari) ''

'' entitled ''Le Grand Rendez-vous'', set in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

instead of

and starring Monegasque racing driver Charles Leclerc. Filming for the new version took place on the

Circuit de Monaco Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit laid out on the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine around the harbour of the Principality of Monaco. It is commonly, and even officially, referred to as "Monte Carlo" because it is largely inside ...

on 24 May 2020 and features Leclerc driving a Ferrari SF90 Stradale. It was released on 13 June 2020. The film was criticised by The Verge as 'lifeless'. Top Gear's Chris Harris said on Twitter this version was 'lazy and badly executed'.

Honours

* 2016: Commander in the Order of the Crown * 2005: Doctor of Philosophy Honoris Causa, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Awards

Lelouch's '' A Man and a Woman'' won the at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, as well as two

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

s including Best Foreign Language Film. His 1967 film '' Vivre pour vivre'', was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. In 1971, he won the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Directing for '' Le Voyou''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lelouch, Claude Living people 1937 births 20th-century French Jews Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres David di Donatello winners Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners Film directors from Paris French Army soldiers French film producers French people of Algerian-Jewish descent French screenwriters Military personnel from Paris Officers of the Legion of Honour