Alexandre Astruc (; 13 July 1923 – 19 May 2016) was a French film critic and film director.

Biography

Before becoming a film director he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the

auteur theory An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...

centers on his

notion Notion or Notions may refer to: Software * Notion (music software), a music composition and performance program * Notion (productivity software), a note-taking and project-management program from Notion Labs Inc. * Notion (window manager), the s ...

of the ''caméra-stylo'' or "camera-pen" and the idea that directors should wield their

cameras A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

like writers use their pens.Alexandre Astruc, "The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: La Caméra-Stylo," in ''The New Wave'', ed. Peter Graham, pp. 17-23. Trans. from "Naissance d'une nouvelle avant-garde: la caméra-stylo," ''L'Écran Français'' 144, 30 March 1948. In 1994 he was awarded the

René Clair Award René Clair Award (french: Prix René-Clair) is an award instituted in 1994 and presented by the '' Académie française'' for achievements in the field of cinema. The prize was named after the French filmmaker René Clair. Each year, the winner o ...

for his whole body of film work.

Selected filmography

''(s) indicates films also co-scripted by Astruc'' *1949: ''Ulysse ou Les mauvaises rencontres'' also known as ''Aller et retour'', a short film; Astruc also wrote the scenario *1952: '' The Crimson Curtain'' (s) (Le rideau cramoisi) *1952: ''

La Putain respectueuse ''La Putain respectueuse'' (''The Respectful Prostitute'') is a French drama film from 1952, directed by Marcello Pagliero and Charles Brabant, written by Alexandre Astruc, starring Barbara Laage and Louis de Funès. It is an adaptation of Jean- ...

'' *1955: '' Les Mauvaises rencontres'' (s) *1957: ''

Amour de poche ''Amour de poche'' (''Girl in His Pocket'') is a French comedy fantasy film from 1957, directed by Pierre Kast, written by France Roche, starring Jean Marais. The scenario was based on a novel ''Diminishing Draft'' of Waldemar Kaempffert.< ...

'' *1958: ''

Une vie ''Une vie'' also known as ''L'Humble Vérité'' is the first novel written by Guy de Maupassant. It was serialised in 1883 in the ''Gil Blas'', then published in book form the same year as ''L'Humble Vérité''. It was the basis for the 1958 fi ...

'' (s) *1960: '' La proie pour l'ombre'' (s) *1962: ' *1964: ''

The Pit and the Pendulum "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843''. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of ...

'' (Le Puits et le Pendule) *1966: ' (s) *1968: ' (s)

Publications

*1945: ''Les Vacances'', Gallimard *1975: ''Ciel de cendres'', Le Sagittaire *1975: ''La tête la première'', Olivier Orban *1977: ''Le Serpent jaune'', Gallimard *1979: ''Quand la chouette s'envole'', Gallimard *1982: ''Le Permissionnaire'',

Éditions de la Table ronde Éditions de la Table ronde is a French publishing house founded in 1944 by Roland Laudenbach. Since 1996 it has been an imprint of éditions Gallimard. History The company was founded by Roland Laudenbach in 1944 and named by Jean Cocteau. It ...

, Paris *1989: ''Le roman de Descartes'', Éditions Balland *1992: ''Du stylo à la caméra et de la caméra au stylo: Écrits (1942–1984)'', Éditions de l'Archipel *1993: ''L'autre versant de la colline'', Écriture *1994: ''Évariste Galois'',

Groupe Flammarion Groupe Flammarion () is a French publishing group, comprising many units, including its namesake, founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion, as well as units in distribution, sales, printing and bookshops (La Hune and Flammarion Center). Flammarion b ...

*1997: ''Le Siècle à venir'', Éditions Trédaniel *2015: ''Le plaisir en toutes choses'' (with Noël Simsolo), Éditions Neige/Écriture

References

Bibliography

Raymond Bellour Raymond Bellour (born 1939 in Lyon) is a French scholar, and writer. Best known to Anglophone readers for his publications on film analysis, his work is dispersed across a wide range of articles and books, few of which are available in English, i ...

, ''Alexandre Astruc'', Paris, Seghers, Collection Cinéma d'aujourd'hui, 1963. *Philippe François, « Alexandre Astruc », in

Patrick Cabanel Patrick Cabanel (born 22 February 1961) is a French historian, director of studies at the École pratique des hautes études and holder of the chair in ''Histoire et sociologie des protestantismes''. He mainly writes on the history of religious mi ...

and

André Encrevé André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

(dir.), ''Dictionnaire biographique des protestants français de 1787 à nos jours'', tome 1 : A-C, Les Éditions de Paris Max Chaleil, Paris, 2015, (p. 105)

External links

Alexandre Astruc on NewWaveFilm.com
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astruc, Alexandre Writers from Paris 1923 births 2016 deaths French film directors French male screenwriters French screenwriters 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French male actors Roger Nimier Prize winners