View source for Claude Chabrol

{{Short description|French film director (1930–2010)}}
{{Redirect|Chabrol|other people with the surname|Chabrol (surname)|the Occitanian custom|chabròl}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Claude Chabrol
| image        = Chabrol-italie-1985.png
| caption      = Chabrol in 1985
| birth_name   = Claude Henri Jean Chabrol
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1930|6|24|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Paris]], [[France]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|2010|9|12|1930|6|24|df=y}}
| death_place  = Paris, France
| years_active = 1956–2010
| occupation   = Film director
| spouse       = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|Agnès Goute|1956|1962|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Stéphane Audran]]|1964|1980|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Aurore Paquiss<br>|1983}}
}}
| children     = 4, including [[Thomas Chabrol|Thomas]]
}}
'''Claude Henri Jean Chabrol''' ({{IPA|fr|klod ʃabʁɔl|lang}}; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the [[French New Wave]] (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues and contemporaries [[Jean-Luc Godard]], [[François Truffaut]], [[Éric Rohmer]] and [[Jacques Rivette]], Chabrol was a [[Film criticism|critic]] for the influential film magazine ''[[Cahiers du Cinéma]]'' before beginning his career as a film maker.

Chabrol's career began with ''[[Le Beau Serge]]'' (1958), inspired by [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]'' (1943). Thrillers became something of a trademark for Chabrol, with an approach characterized by a distanced objectivity. This is especially apparent in ''[[Les Biches (film)|Les Biches]]'' (1968), ''[[The Unfaithful Wife|La Femme infidèle]]'' (1969), and ''[[The Butcher (1970 film)|Le Boucher]]'' (1970) – all featuring [[Stéphane Audran]], who was his wife at the time.

Sometimes characterized as a "mainstream" New Wave director, Chabrol remained prolific and popular throughout his half-century career.<ref name="archive.sensesofcinema.com">[http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/chabrol.html Great Directors Critical Database: Claude Charbol] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210123512/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/chabrol.html |date=10 December 2008 }} at [[Senses of Cinema]]</ref> In 1978, he cast [[Isabelle Huppert]] as the lead in ''[[Violette Nozière]]''. On the strength of that effort, the pair went on to others including the successful ''[[Madame Bovary (1991 film)|Madame Bovary]]'' (1991) and ''[[La Cérémonie]]'' (1995). Film critic [[John Russell Taylor]] has stated that "there are few directors whose films are more difficult to explain or evoke on paper, if only because so much of the overall effect turns on Chabrol's sheer hedonistic relish for the medium...Some of his films become almost private jokes, made to amuse himself." [[James Monaco]] has called Chabrol "the craftsman par excellence of the New Wave, and his variations upon a theme give us an understanding of the explicitness and precision of the language of the film that we don't get from the more varied experiments in genre of Truffaut or Godard."<ref name=Wakeman>Wakeman, John. ''World Film Directors, Volume 2''. The H. W. Wilson Company. 1988. 194–199.</ref>

==Life and career==

===Early life===
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol was born on 24 June 1930 to Yves Chabrol and Madeleine Delarbre in [[Paris]] and grew up in [[Sardent]], [[France]], a village in the region of [[Creuse]] 400&nbsp;km (240 miles) south of Paris. Chabrol said that he always thought of himself as a country person, and never as a Parisian. Both Chabrol's father and grandfather had been [[pharmacists]], and Chabrol was expected to follow in the family business. But as a child, Chabrol was "seized by the demon of cinema" and ran a film club in a barn in Sardent between the ages of 12 and 14.<ref name="archive.sensesofcinema.com" /> It was at this time that he developed his passion for the [[Thriller (genre)|thriller]] genre, [[Detective fiction|detective stories]] and other forms of [[popular culture|popular fiction]].

===Early years in Paris===
After [[World War II]], Chabrol moved to Paris to study [[pharmacology]]<ref name="Allmovie Biography">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:84594~T1 |title=Allmovie Biography |publisher=Allmovie.com |date=4 August 2011 |access-date=25 August 2011}}</ref> and literature at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], where he received a [[Licentiate (degree)#France|licence en lettres]]. Some biographies also state that he briefly studied law and political science at the [[École Libre des Sciences Politiques]].<ref name=Wakeman /> While living in Paris Chabrol became involved with the postwar [[Cinephilia|cine club]] culture and frequented [[Henri Langlois]]'s [[Cinémathèque Française]] and the Ciné-Club du Quartier Latin, where he first met [[Éric Rohmer]], [[Jacques Rivette]], [[Jean-Luc Godard]], [[François Truffaut]] and other future ''[[Cahiers du Cinéma]]'' journalists and [[French New Wave]] filmmakers. After graduating, Chabrol served his mandatory military service in the French Medical Corps, serving in Germany and reaching the rank of sergeant.<ref name=Wakeman /> Chabrol has said that while in the army he worked as a film projectionist.<ref name=Monaco253>Monaco, James. ''The New Wave''. New York: Oxford University Press. 1976. p. 253.</ref> After he was discharged from the army, he joined his friends as a staff writer for ''Cahiers du Cinéma'', who were challenging then-contemporary French films and championing the concept of [[Auteur theory]]. As a film critic, Chabrol advocated realism both morally and aesthetically, [[mise-en-scene]], and [[deep focus]] cinematography, which he wrote "brings the spectator in closer with the image" and encourages "both a more active mental attitude on the part of the spectator and a more positive contribution on his part to the action in progress."<ref name=Wakeman /> He also wrote for ''Arts'' magazine during this period.<ref name=Monaco253 /> Among Chabrol's most famous articles were "Little Themes", a study of genre films, and "The Evolution of Detective Films".<ref>Monaco. pp. 255–256.</ref>

In 1955 Chabrol was briefly employed as a [[Publicist|publicity man]] at the French offices of [[20th Century Fox]], but was told that he was "the worst press officer they'd ever seen" and was replaced by Jean-Luc Godard, who they said was even worse. In 1956 he helped finance Jacques Rivette's short film ''[[Fool's Mate (1956 film)|Le coup du berger]]'', and later helped finance Rohmer's short ''[[Véronique et son cancre]]'' in 1958. Unlike all of his future New Wave contemporaries, Chabrol never made short film nor did he work as an assistant on other directors' work before making his feature film debut. In 1957 Chabrol and Eric Rohmer co-wrote ''Hitchcock'' (Paris: Éditions Universitaires, 1957), a study of the films made by director [[Alfred Hitchcock]] through the film ''[[The Wrong Man]]''.<ref name=Wakeman /> Chabrol had said that Rohmer deserves the majority of the credit for the book, while he mainly worked on the sections pertaining to Hitchcock's early American films, ''[[Rebecca (1940 film)|Rebecca]]'', ''[[Notorious (1946 film)|Notorious]]'', and ''[[Stage Fright (1950 film)|Stage Fright]]''.<ref name=Monaco253 /> Chabrol had interviewed Hitchcock with François Truffaut in 1954 on the set of ''[[To Catch a Thief]]'', where the two famously walked into a water tank after being starstruck by Hitchcock. Years later, when Chabrol and Truffaut had both become successful directors themselves, Hitchcock told Truffaut that he always thought of them when he saw "ice cubes in a glass of whiskey."<ref>Baecque, Antoine de and Toubiana, Serge. ''Truffaut: A Biography''. New York: Knopf. 1999. {{ISBN|978-0375400896}}. p. 195.</ref>

===1957–1967: Early film career===
The most prolific of the major New Wave directors, Chabrol averaged almost one film a year from 1958 until his death. His early films (roughly 1958–1963) are usually categorized as part of the New Wave and generally have the experimental qualities associated with the movement; while his later early films are usually categorized as being intentionally commercial and far less experimental. In the mid-sixties it was difficult for Chabrol to obtain financing for films so he made a series of commercial "potboilers" and spy spoofs, which none of the other New Wave filmmakers did.<ref>Monaco. p. 255.</ref>

Chabrol had married Agnès Goute in 1952 and in 1957 his wife inherited a large sum of money from relatives. In December of that year Chabrol used the money to make his feature [[directorial debut]] with ''[[Le Beau Serge]]''.<ref name="archive.sensesofcinema.com"/> Chabrol spent three months shooting in his hometown of Sardent using a small crew and little known actors.<ref name=Wakeman /> The film's budget was $85,000.<ref name="Monaco. p. 254">Monaco. p. 254.</ref> The film starred [[Jean-Claude Brialy]] as François and [[Gérard Blain]] as Serge, two childhood friends reunited when the recent medical school graduate François returns to Sardent and discovers that Serge has become an alcoholic after the stillbirth of his physically retarded first child. Despite suffering from [[tuberculosis]], François drags Serge through a snowstorm to witness the birth of his second child, thus giving Serge a reason to live while killing himself in the process. ''Le Beau Serge'' is considered the inaugural film of the French New Wave Film movement that would peak between 1959 and 1962. Chabrol was the first of his friends to complete a feature film (although Jacques Rivette had already begun filming his first feature ''[[Paris nous appartient]]''), and it immediately received critical praise and was a box office success. It won the Grand Prix at the [[Locarno Film Festival]] and the [[Prix Jean Vigo]]. Critics noticed similarities to Hitchcock's films, such as the motifs of doubling and re-occurrences and the "Catholic guilt transference" that Chabrol had also written about extensively in his and Rohmer's book the year earlier. Chabrol stated that he made the film as a "farewell to Catholicism",<ref>Monaco. p. 261.</ref> and many critics have called his first film vastly different from any of his subsequent films.<ref name=Wakeman />

Chabrol quickly followed this success up with ''[[Les Cousins (film)|Les Cousins]]'' in 1958. The film is a companion piece and a reversal to ''Le Beau Serge'' in many ways, such as having the responsible student Brialy now play the decadent and insensitive Paul while the reckless Blain now plays the hard-working law student Charles. In this film, the country cousin Charles arrives in the big city of Paris to live with his corrupt cousin Paul while attending school. This was the first of many Chabrol films to include characters named Paul and Charles, and later films would often include a female named Hélène.<ref>Monaco. p. 262.</ref> More so than his first film, ''Les Cousins'' features many characteristics that would be seen as "Chabrolian", including the Hitchcock influence, a depiction of the French [[bourgeoisie]], characters with ambiguous motives and a murder. It was also Chabrol's first film co-written with his longtime collaborator [[Paul Gégauff]], of whom Chabrol once said "when I want cruelty, I go off and look for Gégauff. Paul is very good at gingering things up...He can make a character look absolutely ridiculous and hateful in two seconds flat." ''Les Cousins'' was another box office success in France and won the [[Golden Bear]] at the [[9th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name=Wakeman />

Chabrol formed his own production company AJYM Productions (acronym based on the initials of his wife's and children's names) at the time of making ''[[Le Beau Serge]]''.  After the success of ''[[Le Beau Serge]]'' and ''[[Les Cousins (film)|Les Cousins]]'', Chabrol began funding many of the films of his friends. AJYM helped fund Eric Rohmer's feature debut ''[[The Sign of Leo]]'', partially funded Rivette's ''Paris nous appartient'', and [[Philippe de Broca]]'s films ''[[Les Jeux de l'amour]]'' and ''[[The Joker (1960 film)|Le farceur]]''.<ref name=Wakeman /> He also donated excess film stock from ''Les Cousins'' to Rivette to complete ''Paris nous appartient''.<ref name="Monaco. p. 254" /> Chabrol was also a technical advisor on Jean-Luc Godard's feature debut ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|Breathless]]'' and acted in small parts in many of his friends' and his own early films. For his support to the early careers of so many of his friends, Chabrol has been referred to as "the godfather of the French New Wave", although many film histories tend to overlook this contribution and dismiss Chabrol altogether.<ref name=Wakeman />

After two box office hits in a row, Chabrol was given a big budget to make his first [[color film]], ''[[À double tour]]'' (''Léda'') in the spring of 1959. The film stars [[Jean-Paul Belmondo]] as Laszlo and [[Antonella Lualdi]] as Léda, two outsiders of a bourgeois family who experience different results when attempting to enter that family. Chabrol adapted the script with Paul Gégauff from a novel by [[Stanley Ellin]], and the film is known for its [[oedipal]] sex triangle and murder scenario. The film was shot on location in Aix-en-Provence with cinematographer [[Henri Decaë]] and includes choppy, hand-held camera footage that is atypical of a Chabrol film despite being present in many of the New Wave films made at the same time. The film was both a box office and critical disappointment, and critic [[Roy Armes]] criticized "Chabrol's lack of feeling for his characters and love of overacting."<ref name=Wakeman />

In 1960 Chabrol made what is considered by many critics as his best early film, ''[[Les Bonnes Femmes]]''. The film stars [[Bernadette Lafont]], Clotilde Joano, [[Stéphane Audran]] and Lucile Saint-Simon as four Parisian appliance store employees who all dream of an escape from their mediocre lives, and the different outcomes for each girl. Most critics praised the film, such as [[Robin Wood (critic)|Robin Wood]] and [[James Monaco]]. However some left-wing critics disliked Chabrol's depiction of working-class people and accused him of making fun of their lifestyles. The film was another [[box office bomb|box office disappointment]] for Chabrol. It was followed with two films that were also financially unsuccessful and which Chabrol has admitted to making purely for "commercial reasons". ''[[Les Godelureaux]]'' was made in 1960 and hated by Chabrol. ''[[The Third Lover]]'' (''L'Œil du Malin''), released in 1961, received better reviews than Chabrol's previous films, with critics pointing out that the films that Chabrol wrote without Paul Gégauff were much more compassionate and realistic than the ones with Gégauff. It was shot on location in Munich.<ref>Monaco. p. 266.</ref> Although she had appeared in supporting roles in several Chabrol films before, ''The Third Lover'' was the first Chabrol film in which Stéphane Audran appeared as the female lead. They later married in 1964 and worked together until the late 1970s.<ref name=Wakeman />

In 1962 Chabrol made ''[[Ophelia (1963 film)|Ophelia]]'', a loose adaptation of ''[[Hamlet]]'' that was another box office disappointment. Later that year he had a minor hit film with [[Landru (film)|''Landru'']], written by [[Françoise Sagan]] and starring [[Charles Denner]], [[Michèle Morgan]], [[Danielle Darrieux]] and [[Hildegard Knef]]. The film depicts the famous French serial killer [[Henri Désiré Landru]], a story that had previously inspired [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s film ''[[Monsieur Verdoux]]''.<ref name=Wakeman />

From 1964 to 1967 Chabrol made six films and one short that were critically and commercially disastrous, and this period is considered a low point of his career. Four of these films were in the then-popular genre of [[List of James Bond parodies|spy spoof]] films, including ''[[Le Tigre aime la chair fraiche]]'' and ''[[Le Tigre se parfume à la dynamite]]''. Chabrol had said that "I like to get to the absolute limit of principles...In drivel like the Tiger series I really wanted to get the full extent of the drivel. They were drivel, so OK, let's get into it up to our necks."<ref name=Wakeman /> During this period a Variety headline read "Vital To Keep Making Pictures, and What Sort Not Relevant; Chabrol No 'Doctrinaire' Type."<ref>Monaco. p. 268.</ref> In 1965 Chabrol also contributed to the New Wave [[portmanteau film]] ''[[Six in Paris]]'' with the segment "La Muette". Chabrol co-starred with Stéphane Audran as a middle aged couple dealing with their rebellious teenage daughter. In 1964 Chabrol also directed a stage production of ''[[MacBeth]]'' for the [[Théâtre Récamier]].<ref name=Wakeman />

===1968–1978: "Golden Era"===

In 1968 Chabrol began working with film producer [[André Génovès]] and started to make more critically acclaimed films that would later be considered his "Golden Era". Most of these films revolved around themes of bourgeois characters and a murder is almost always part of the plot.<ref name=Wakeman /> Unlike his earlier films, most of these films centered around middle aged people.<ref>Monaco. p. 269.</ref> Chabrol often worked with the same people during this period including actors Audran and [[Michel Bouquet]], cinematographer [[Jean Rabier]], editor Jacques Gaillard, sound technician Guy Chichignoud, composer [[Pierre Jansen]], set designer Guy Littaye, as well as producer Génovés and co-writer Paul Gégauff.<ref name=Wakeman />

In 1968 Chabrol made ''[[Les Biches (film)|Les Biches]]'', one of his most acclaimed works. The film stars Stéphane Audran as the dominant and bisexual Frédérique, who finds a young protege in the bisexual Why ([[Jacqueline Sassard]]), until they both become the lover of a young architect named Paul ([[Jean-Louis Trintignant]]). Why ends up killing Frédérique, but it is unclear whether she murdered her cheating lover or the person that her lover was cheating with. The film received critical praise and was a box office hit. Chabrol followed this with a similar film ''[[The Unfaithful Wife]]'' (''La Femme infidèle''), in which a husband named Charles murders the lover of his cheating wife. It was later [[Unfaithful (2002 film)|remade in 2002]] by director [[Adrian Lyne]]. Chabrol finished the decade with ''[[This Man Must Die]]'' (''Que la bête meure'') in 1969. Based on an original story by [[Cecil Day-Lewis]], in the film Charles ([[Michel Duchaussoy]]) plots to kill Paul ([[Jean Yanne]]) after Paul killed Charles' son in a hit and run car accident. However the film's ending is left intentionally ambiguous, and Chabrol has stated that "you'll never see a Charles kill a Paul. Never." The film was especially praised for its landscape cinematography.<ref name=Wakeman />

In 1970 Chabrol made ''[[The Butcher (1970 film)|The Butcher]]'' (''Le boucher'') starring Jean Yanne and Stéphane Audran. Yanne plays Popaul, a former war hero known for his violent behavior, much like that depicted in the prehistoric cave drawings that the characters look at in their [[Périgord]] community. The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' called it "the best French film since the liberation." After another examination of bourgeois life in ''[[The Breach (film)|The Breach]]'' (''La Rupture'') in 1970, Chabrol made ''[[Just Before Nightfall]]'' (''Juste avant la nuit'') in 1971. The film stars Michel Bouquet as an ad executive named Charles who kills his mistress but cannot handle the guilt, so he confesses his crime to her husband ([[François Périer]]) and his wife (Stéphane Audran), expecting their condemnation. To his surprise they are only compassionate and forgiving to his crime and Charles cannot find relief from the guilt of what he has done. Later in 1971 Chabrol made ''[[Ten Days' Wonder (film)|Ten Days' Wonder]]'' (''La Décade prodigieuse''), based on a novel by [[Ellery Queen]]. The film was shot in English and starred [[Michel Piccoli]], [[Anthony Perkins]] and [[Orson Welles]]. It received poor critical reviews. He followed this with the equally disliked ''[[Dr. Popaul]]'', starring [[Jean-Paul Belmondo]] and [[Mia Farrow]]. Critics compared the film unfavorably with Chabrol's earlier film that centered on a "Landru-like" theme.<ref name=Wakeman /> Critic Jacques Siclier said that "the ''novelty'' of ''Docteur Popaul'' comes from the offhandedness with which the criminal history is treated."<ref>Monaco. p. 280.</ref>

Chabrol took a slight change of pace with his 1973 film ''[[Wedding in Blood]]'' (''Les Noces rouges'') by making his first film with political themes. The film stars Audran and Michel Piccoli as lovers who plot to murder Audran's husband, who is the corrupt gaullist mayor of their town. To their surprise the President of France orders that no investigation be made of the mayor's death, leading the murdering couple to suspect political interest in their crime.<ref name=Wakeman /> In the spring of 1973 the French government banned the film for one month, allegedly so that it would not influence members of the jury of a controversial criminal trial.<ref>Monaco. p. 281.</ref> Chabrol followed this political theme with ''[[Nada (1974 film)|Nada]]'', in which a group of young anarchists kidnap an American ambassador. It was Chabrol's first film to not center on the bourgeois since ''Le Beau Serge''.<ref>Monaco. p. 282.</ref> Chabrol returned to more familiar ground in 1975 with ''[[Une partie de plaisir|A piece of pleasure]]'' (''Une partie de plaisir''). In this film screenwriter Paul Gégauff plays a writer with a troubled marriage that ends in tragedy. (In 1983, Gégauff was stabbed to death in real life by his second wife.) Gégauff's wife is played by his real-life first wife [[Danièle Gégauff]] (already divorced when this film was made) and his daughter is played by real life daughter Clemence Gégauff. The film received poor critical reviews, with [[Richard Roud]] calling it "rather interestingly loathsome."<ref name=Wakeman />

Chabrol ended his Golden Period with one of his most admired and his most controversial films ''[[Violette Nozière]]'' in 1978. The film starred a young [[Isabelle Huppert]] as a real life Parisian girl from a respectable petit-bourgeois family in the 1930s. At night Violette sneaks out to pick up men and eventually contracts syphilis, which she convinces her parents must be hereditary before she kills them. The film was controversial in France but praised in other countries.<ref name=Wakeman />

===1979–2009: Later work===
In the 1980s and 1990s Chabrol engaged himself with many different projects for both TV and the silver screen. His films ''[[Cop au Vin|Poulet au vinaigre]]'' (1985) and ''[[Masks (1987 film)|Masques]]'' (1987) were entered into the [[1985 Cannes Film Festival|38th Cannes Film Festival]]<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/940/year/1985.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Chicken with Vinegar |access-date=28 June 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> and [[37th Berlin International Film Festival]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1987/02_programm_1987/02_Programm_1987.html|title=Berlinale: 1987 Programme|access-date=28 February 2011|publisher=berlinale.de}}</ref> ''[[Madame Bovary (1991 film)|Madame Bovary]]'' (1991) was nominated for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] and for the [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design]]. It was also entered into the [[17th Moscow International Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1991 |title=17th Moscow International Film Festival (1991) |access-date=2 March 2013 |publisher=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403102003/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1991 |archive-date=3 April 2014 |df=dmy }}</ref> ''[[La Cérémonie]]'' (1995) is perhaps his most acclaimed film from this period, as it was nominated for numerous [[César Awards]] and was entered into the [[52nd Venice International Film Festival]] among other. His 1999 film ''[[The Color of Lies]]'' was entered into the [[49th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1999/02_programm_1999/02_Programm_1999.html|title=Berlinale: 1999 Programme|access-date=29 January 2012|publisher=berlinale.de}}</ref>

In 1995 Chabrol was awarded the [[Prix René Clair]] from the [[Académie française]] for his body of work.

Chabrol continued directing films and TV series well into the 2000s.

==Personal life==
[[File:The grave of Claude Chabrol, Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.jpg|thumb|The grave of Claude Chabrol, Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris]]
Chabrol's first marriage to Agnès Goute (1956–1962) produced a son, Matthieu Chabrol, a composer who scored most of his father's films from the early 1980s. He divorced Agnès to marry the actress [[Stéphane Audran]], with whom he had a son, actor [[Thomas Chabrol]]. They remained married from 1964 to 1978. His third wife was Aurore Paquiss, who has been a script supervisor since the 1950s. He had four children.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/7997567/Claude-Chabrol.html|title=Claude Chabrol|work=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 September 2010|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref> Chabrol was a known gourmet chef and shot ''10 Days Wonder'' in [[Alsace]] only because he wanted to visit its restaurants. Although he acknowledges the influence of Alfred Hitchcock in his work, Chabrol has stated that "others have influenced me more. My three greatest influences were [[F. W. Murnau|Murnau]], the great silent film director...[[Ernst Lubitsch]] and [[Fritz Lang]]."<ref name=Wakeman />

Chabrol died on 12 September 2010 of [[leukemia]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/movies/13chabrol.html ''The New York Times'']</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Claude Chabrol, 1930–2010: Filmmaker was a founder of New Wave movement|first=Keith|last=Thursby|journal=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=13 September 2010|page=AA5}}</ref> He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in north-eastern [[Paris]].

==Filmography==

===As director===
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!English title
!Original title
!Notes
|-
!1958
| colspan="2" |''[[Le Beau Serge]]'' 
|[[Prix Jean Vigo]] 1959
|-
! rowspan="2" |1959
| colspan="2" |''[[Les Cousins (film)|Les Cousins]]''
|[[Golden Bear]]
|-
|''[[Web of Passion]]''
|''À double tour''
|based on ''The Key to Nicholas Street'' by [[Stanley Ellin]]
|-
!1960
|''[[Les Bonnes Femmes]]''
|
|
|-
!1961
|''[[Wise Guys (1961 film)|Wise Guys]]''
|''Les Godelureaux''
|based on novel of the same title by [[Éric Ollivier]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1962
|''[[The Seven Deadly Sins (1962 film)|The Seven Deadly Sins]]''
|''Les Sept péchés capitaux''
|Short
|-
|''[[The Third Lover]]''
|''L'Œil du Malin''
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |1963
| colspan="2" |''[[Ophélia (1963 film)|Ophélia]]''
|loosely based upon [[Shakespeare]]'s character
|-
| colspan="2" |''[[Landru (film)|Landru]]'' 
|based upon the true story of [[Henri Désiré Landru]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1964
|''[[The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers]]''
|''Les plus belles escroqueries du monde''
|Short
|-
| colspan="2" |''[[Le Tigre aime la chair fraiche]]''
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |1965
|''[[Six in Paris]]: La Muette''
|''Paris vu par...''
|Anthology film
|-
| colspan="2" |''[[Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha]]''
|loosely based upon [[Jacques Chazot]]'s character
|-
|''[[Our Agent Tiger]]''
|''Le tigre se parfume à la dynamite''
|
|-
!1966
|''[[Line of Demarcation (film)|Line of Demarcation]]''
|''La Ligne de démarcation''
|based upon the memoir by [[Gilbert Renault]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1967
|''[[The Champagne Murders]]''
|''Le Scandale''
|
|-
|''[[The Road to Corinth]]''
|''La route de Corinthe''
|based on novel of the same title by Claude Rank
|-
!1968
| colspan="2" |''[[Les Biches (film)|Les Biches]]''
|loosely based on ''[[The Talented Mr. Ripley]] by [[Patricia Highsmith]]''
|-
! rowspan="2" |1969
|''[[The Unfaithful Wife]]''
|''La Femme infidèle''
|
|-
|''[[This Man Must Die]]''
|''Que la bête meure''
|based on ''The Beast Must Die'' by [[Cecil Day-Lewis]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1970
| colspan="2" |''[[Le Boucher]]''
|
|-
|''[[The Breach (film)|The Breach]]''
|''La Rupture''
|based on ''The Balloon Man'' by [[Charlotte Armstrong]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1971
|''[[Just Before Nightfall]]''
|''Juste avant la nuit''
|based on ''[[The Thin Line (novel)|The Thin Line]]'' by [[Edward Atiyah]]
|-
|''[[Ten Days' Wonder (film)|Ten Days' Wonder]]''
|''La Décade prodigieuse''
|based on ''[[Ten Days' Wonder]]'' by [[Ellery Queen]]
|-
!1972
| colspan="2" |''[[Dr. Popaul]]''
|based on ''Murder at Leisure'' by [[Hubert Monteilhet]]
|-
!1973
|''[[Wedding in Blood]]''
|''Les Noces rouges''
|
|-
!1974
|''The Nada Gang''
|''[[Nada (1974 film)|Nada]]'' 
|based on ''Nada'' by [[Jean-Patrick Manchette]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1975
|''[[Pleasure Party]]''
|''Une partie de plaisir''
|
|-
|''[[Innocents with Dirty Hands]]''
|''Les innocents aux mains sales''
|based on ''The Damned Innocents'' by [[Richard Neely]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1976
|''[[Death Rite]]''
|''Les Magiciens''
|based on ''Initiation au meurtre'' by [[Frédéric Dard]]
|-
|[[The Twist (1976 film)|''The Twist'']] 
|''Folies bourgeoises''
|
|-
!1977
|''[[Alice or the Last Escapade]]''
|''Alice ou la Dernière Fugue''
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |1978
|''[[Blood Relatives (1978 film)|Blood Relatives]]''
|''Les Liens de sang''
|based on ''Blood Relatives'' by [[Ed McBain]]
|-
| colspan="2" |''[[Violette Nozière]]'' 
|based upon a [[Violette Nozière (murderer)|true French murder case]] in 1933
|-
!1980
|''[[The Horse of Pride]]''
|''Le Cheval d'orgueil''
|based upon an ''[[:fr:Le Cheval d'orgueil (livre)|autobiography of the same title]]'' by [[Pêr-Jakez Helias]]
|-
!1982
|''[[The Hatter's Ghost]]''
|''Les Fantômes du chapelier''
|based on novel of the same title by [[Georges Simenon]]
|-
!1984
|''[[The Blood of Others (film)|The Blood of Others]]''
|''Le Sang des autres''
|based on ''[[The Blood of Others|novel of the same title]]'' by [[Simone de Beauvoir]]
|-
!1985
|''[[Cop au Vin]]''
|''Poulet au vinaigre''
|
|-
!1986
| colspan="2" |''[[Inspecteur Lavardin]]''
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |1987
|''[[Masks (1987 film)|Masks]]''
|''Masques''
|
|-
|''[[The Cry of the Owl (1987 film)|The Cry of the Owl]]''
|''Le cri du hibou''
|based on ''[[The Cry of the Owl]]'' by [[Patricia Highsmith]]
|-
!1988
|''[[Story of Women]]''
|''Une affaire de femmes''
|based upon the true story of [[Marie-Louise Giraud]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |1990
|''[[Quiet Days in Clichy (1990 film)|Quiet Days in Clichy]]''
|''Jours tranquilles à Clichy''
|based upon a ''[[Quiet Days in Clichy (novel)|Quiet Days in Clichy]]'' by [[Henry Miller]]
|-
|''[[Dr. M (film)|Dr. M]]''
|''Docteur M''
|loosely based on the plot of [[Fritz Lang]]'s ''[[Dr. Mabuse the Gambler]]'', which was in turn based on ''[[Doctor Mabuse|Mabuse der Spieler]]'' by [[Norbert Jacques]]
|-
!1991
| colspan="2" |''[[Madame Bovary (1991 film)|Madame Bovary]]''
|based on ''[[Madame Bovary]]'' by [[Gustave Flaubert]]
|-
!1992
| colspan="2" |''[[Betty (film)|Betty]]''
|based on novel of the same title by [[Georges Simenon]]
|-
!1993
|''[[The Eye of Vichy]]''
|''L'Œil de Vichy''
|Documentary
|-
!1994
|[[Hell (1994 film)|''Hell'']]
|''L'Enfer''
|adapted from the [[screenplay]] ''[[Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno|of the same title]]'' by [[Henri-Georges Clouzot]]
|-
!1995
| colspan="2" |''[[La Cérémonie]]''
|based on ''[[A Judgement in Stone]]'' by [[Ruth Rendell]]
|-
!1997
|''[[The Swindle (1997 film)|The Swindle]]''
|''Rien ne va plus''
|
|-
!1999
|''[[The Color of Lies]]''
|''Au cœur du mensonge''
|
|-
!2000
| colspan="2" |''[[Merci pour le Chocolat|Merci pour le chocolat]]''
|based on ''[[The Chocolate Cobweb]]'' by [[Charlotte Armstrong]]
|-
!2003
|''[[The Flower of Evil (film)|The Flower of Evil]]''
|''La fleur du mal''
|
|-
!2004
|''[[The Bridesmaid (film)|The Bridesmaid]]''
|''La Demoiselle d'honneur''
|based on ''[[The Bridesmaid (novel)|The Bridesmaid]]'' by [[Ruth Rendell]]
|-
!2006
|''[[Comedy of Power]]''
|''L'ivresse du pouvoir''
|
|-
!2007
|''[[A Girl Cut in Two]]''
|''La Fille coupée en deux''
|
|-
!2009
| colspan="2" |''[[Bellamy (film)|Bellamy]]''
|Final film
|}

===As actor===
{{Div col}}
*1956: ''La Sonate à Kreutzer'' (by Éric Rohmer)
*1958: ''[[Le Beau Serge]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – La Truffe
*1959: ''[[Web of Passion]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Passerby (uncredited)
*1960: ''[[Les Bonnes Femmes]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Un nageur à la piscine (uncredited)
*1960: ''[[Les Jeux de l'amour]]'' (by [[Philippe de Broca]]) – Le forain
*1960: ''[[Trapped by Fear]]'' (by Jacques Dupont) – Invité à la soirée (uncredited)
*1961: ''[[Wise Guys (1961 film)|Wise Guys]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Un consommateur (uncredited)
*1961: ''Saint Tropez Blues'' (by Marcel Moussy) – Le réalisateur empruntant des propos de Pierre Kast
*1961: ''Les menteurs'' (by Edmond T. Gréville) – Le réceptionniste de l'hôtel (uncredited)
*1961: ''[[Paris Belongs to Us]]'' (by Jacques Rivette) – Un homme à la party (uncredited)
*1962: ''Les Ennemis'' (by Édouard Molinaro) – Le moniteur de gymnastique (uncredited)
*1962: ''[[The Seven Deadly Sins (1962 film)|The Seven Deadly Sins]]'' (by various directors) – Le pharmacien (segment "Avarice, L'") (uncredited)
*1962: ''[[The Third Lover]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Man in peep show (uncredited)
*1964: ''Les durs à cuire ou Comment supprimer son prochain sans perdre l'appétit'' (by Jacques Pinoteau) – Le psychiatre
*1965: ''[[Six in Paris]]'' (by various directors) – The father (segment "La Muette")
*1965: ''[[Marie-Chantal contre le docteur Kha]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Customer complaining of his fruit juice
*1965: ''[[Our Agent Tiger]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Le médecin radiologue (uncredited)
*1966: ''[[Brigitte et Brigitte]]'' (by Luc Moullet) – Le cousin obsédé de Petite Brigitte
*1967: ''[[La route de Corinthe]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Alcibiades (uncredited)
*1968: ''La Petite Vertu'' (by Serge Korber) – Le client du club 22 / Man at the bar in the night club (uncredited)
*1968: ''[[Les Biches (film)|Les Biches]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Filmmaker (uncredited)
*1970: ''[[The Breach (film)|La Rupture]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Un passager dans le tramway (uncredited)
*1970: ''Sortie de secours'' (by Roger Kahane)
*1971: ''Aussi loin que l'amour'' (by Frédéric Rossif) – L'homme au poteau (uncredited)
*1972: ''Un meurtre est un meurtre'' (by Étienne Périer) – Le contrôleur des wagons-lits / Railway Guard
*1974: ''Le permis de conduire'' (by Jean Girault) – Le réceptionniste de l'hôtel (uncredited)
*1974: ''[[La Bonne Nouvelle]]'' (Short, by [[André Weinfeld]]) – Le curé / The Priest
*1976: ''[[The Twist (1976 film)|Folies bourgeoises]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Le client chez l'éditeur (uncredited)
*1977: ''[[Animal (1977 film)|Animal]]'' (by Claude Zidi) – Le metteur en scène
*1978: ''[[Violette Nozière]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Récitant du commentaire final (uncredited)
*1981: ''Les folies d'Élodie'' (by André Génovès) – Un invité au vernissage
*1984: ''[[Thieves After Dark]]'' (by Samuel Fuller) – Louis Crépin dit :Tartuffe
*1984: ''Polar'' (by Jacques Bral) – Théodore Lyssenko
*1986: ''Suivez mon regard'' (by Jean Curtelin) – Le téléphage
*1986: ''[[Je hais les acteurs]]'' (by [[Gérard Krawczyk]]) – Lieberman
*1987: ''Sale destin'' (by Sylvain Madigan) – Le commissaire
*1987: ''Jeux d'artifices'' (by Virginie Thévenet) – Le père de Jacques
*1987: ''[[L'été en pente douce]]'' (by Gérard Krawczyk) – The priest
*1988: ''Alouette, je te plumerai'' (by Pierre Zucca) – Pierre Vergne
*1992: ''Sam suffit'' (by Virginie Thévenet) – M. Denis
*1997: ''Rien ne va plus'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Le croupier (voice, uncredited)
*1999: ''[[The Color of Lies]]'' (by Claude Chabrol) – Emmanuel Solar (voice, uncredited)
*2006: ''[[Avida (film)|Avida]]'' (by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern) – Le zoophile débonnaire
*2008: ''Lucifer et moi'' (by Jean-Jacques Grand-Jouan) – L'homme de la rue
*2010: ''[[Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)|Gainsbourg, vie héroïque]]'' (by [[Joann Sfar]]) – Le Producteur Musique de Gainsbourg
*2012: ''Le Jour des corneilles'' (by Jean-Christophe Dessaint) – Le docteur (voice)
*2018: ''[[The Other Side of the Wind]]'' (by [[Orson Welles]]) – Himself (final film role)
{{div col end}}

=== TV work ===
*''Histoires insolites'' (1974), 5 episodes
*''Nouvelles de Henry James'' (1974), 2 episodes – based on stories by [[Henry James]]
*''Il était un musicien'' (1978), 3 episodes
*''{{Ill|Madame le juge|fr}}'' (1978), 1 episode
*''"Jeunesse et Spiritualité" Cyprien Katsaris'' (1979) [https://web.archive.org/web/20050312104013/http://www.suntimes.com/includes/ebert/chabrol.html Official site]
*''{{Interlanguage link multi|Fantômas (1980 film)|fr|3=Fantômas (mini-série)|lt=Fantômas}}'' (1980), 2 episodes – Remake of ''[[Fantômas (1913 serial)|Fantômas]]''
*''Le système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume'' (1981) – based on ''[[The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether]]'' by [[Edgar Allan Poe]]
*''{{Ill|Elective Affinities (1982 film)|fr|3=Les Affinités électives (téléfilm)|lt=Elective Affinities}}'' (1982) – based on ''[[Elective Affinities]]'' by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]
*''M. le maudit'' (1982, short)
*''La danse de mort'' (1982) – based on ''[[The Dance of Death (Strindberg play)|The Dance of Death]]'' by [[August Strindberg]]
*''Les dossiers secrets de l'inspecteur Lavardin'' (1988), 2 episodes
*''Les redoutables'' (2001), 1 episode
*''[[Chez Maupassant]]'' (2007), 2 episodes – based on stories by [[Guy de Maupassant]]
*''Au siècle de Maupassant: Contes et nouvelles du XIXème siècle'' (2010), 2 episodes

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{IMDb name|0001031}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050312104013/http://www.suntimes.com/includes/ebert/chabrol.html Biography on newwavefilm.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081210123512/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/chabrol.html Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database]
*[https://archive.today/20121220002426/http://home.comcast.net/~chabrol/ChabrolPositif.html Interview with Chabrol on La Cérémonie]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312104013/http://www.suntimes.com/includes/ebert/chabrol.html |date=12 March 2005 |title=Roger Ebert interviews Chabrol in 1971 }}
*[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jun/16/features.weekend Surfer on the New Wave – Interview with Chabrol from 2001]

{{Claude Chabrol}}
{{Locarno Film Festival Best Director Award}}
{{European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{French New Wave}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabrol, Claude}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from leukemia in France]]
[[Category:Directors of Golden Bear winners]]
[[Category:Film directors from Paris]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:English-language film directors]]
[[Category:Film theorists]]
[[Category:French-language film directors]]
[[Category:German-language film directors]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1970s]]
[[Category:European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients]]