Claude Chabrol

Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a renowned French film director and a pioneer of the French New Wave (nouvelle vague) group of filmmakers. His career was predominant at the end of the 1950s, sharing the stage with contemporaries Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer, and Jacques Rivette. Before transitioning to film making, Chabrol worked as a critic for the influential film magazine 'Cahiers du cinéma'. Chabrol started his career with 'Le Beau Serge' (1958), inspired by Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt' (1943). His approach was characterized by distanced objectivity, commonly known in films like 'Les Biches' (1968), 'La Femme infidèle' (1969), and 'Le Boucher' (1970), all featuring Stéphane Audran, his wife at the time.

He had a prolific and popular half-century career. His sheer hedonistic relish for film-making and craftsmanship earned him critical acclaim. One of his greatest accomplishments was his casting of Isabelle Huppert as the lead in 'Violette Nozière' (1978). This led to other successful collaborative efforts, including 'Madame Bovary' (1991) and 'La Cérémonie' (1995). James Monaco called Chabrol, "the craftsman par excellence of the New Wave". Despite his success, Chabrol's distinct style and inclination towards thrillers rendered his films more difficult to explain or evoke on paper.