Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter.

Life and career

Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his first practical cinematic experience while he was in uniform, serving with the ''Service Cinéma de l'Armée''. From 1965 until 1974, Miller worked in assistant and supervisory capacities for many of France's major directors, including

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...

and

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

. His principal mentor was

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

, under whose tutelage Miller directed a trio of shorts and (''The Best Way to Walk'', 1976), his first theatrical feature, a coming-of-age drama which bore traces of Truffaut's '' Les Mistons'' (1957) and ''

The 400 Blows ''The 400 Blows'' () is a 1959 French Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age Drama (film and television), drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut, who also co-wrote the film. Shot in the anamorphic format List of anamorphic forma ...

'' (1959). Miller received César nominations for Best Director and César Award for Best Screenplay, Dialogue or Adaptation for this film. His subsequent films can also be perceived as homages to Truffaut, many even using the same production personnel. The following year he made '' Dites-lui que je l'aime'', for which he received a second César nomination for Best Director. He won a César Award for Best Screenplay, Dialogue or Adaptation in 1981 for '' Garde à vue'', and the

Louis Delluc Prize The Louis Delluc Prize ( ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, consisting of a group ...

in 1985 for '' L'Effrontée'', for which he received another César nomination for Best Director. In 1983 he directed '' Mortelle randonnée''. When Truffaut died in 1984 during the preparation of another feature about a confused, adolescent serial thief entangled with an older lover, ''La Petite Voleuse'' (''

The Little Thief ''The Little Thief'' () is a 1988 French drama directed by Claude Miller. It is based upon an unfinished script by François Truffaut. Truffaut died before being able to direct the film himself. The film had 1,834,940 admissions in France. Set in ...

''), Miller took over the project, completing the film in 1988. The latter film was a considerable international success, and solidified Miller's status as one of France's major film-makers. On French television, Miller directed dozens of commercials and the six-part miniseries '' Traits de Mémoire'' (1976). After a four-year absence, Claude Miller returned to active filmmaking with '' The Accompanist'' (1992) and '' Le Sourire'' (1994). He had to wait until 1998 for his next major success: '' La Classe de Neige,'' the chilling story of a lonely boy on a school skiing holiday, which won the Jury Prize at the

1998 Cannes Film Festival The 51st Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 1998. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese served as jury president for the main competition. Isabelle Huppert was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. Greek filmmaker Theo A ...

. Later films Miller directed include '' Betty Fisher et autres histoires'' (2001) which Peter Bradshaw wrote that Miller "endowed it with the fascination of an exotic, spiky, poisonous flower", '' La Petite Lili'' (2003), and '' A Secret'' (2007). At the time of his death he was working on an adaptation of

François Mauriac François Charles Mauriac (; ; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...

's '' Thérèse Desqueyroux''. The film was selected to close the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actress Bérénice Bejo hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Austrian filmma ...

Filmography

*1969 : ''La Question ordinaire'' (short) *1971 : ''Camille ou la comédie catastrophique'' (short) *1976 : '' The Best Way to Walk'' *1977 : '' This Sweet Sickness'' *1981 : '' Garde à vue'' *1983 : '' Mortelle randonnée'' *1985 : '' An Impudent Girl'' *1988 : ''

'' *1992 : '' The Accompanist'' *1994 : '' The Smile'' *1998 : '' The Class Trip'' *2000 : ''La Chambre des magiciennes'' *2001 : '' Alias Betty'' *2003 : '' Little Lili'' *2007 : '' A Secret'' *2009 : ''Marching Band'' *2009 : '' I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive'' co-directed with his son Nathan Miller *2010 : '' See How They Dance'' *2012 : '' Thérèse Desqueyroux''

Bibliography

References

External links

*
Director Claude Miller Honoured in Hollywood
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Claude 1942 births 2012 deaths French film directors 20th-century French Jews French male screenwriters French screenwriters French film producers Film people from Paris Institut des hautes études cinématographiques alumni