Raoul Coutard

Born: 1924-09-16

Raoul Coutard (16 September 1924 – 8 November 2016) was a French cinematographer. He is best known for his connection with the Nouvelle Vague period and particularly for his work with director Jean-Luc Godard. Coutard also shot films for New Wave director François Truffaut as well as Jacques Demy, a contemporary frequently associated with the movement. He shot over 75 films during a career that lasted nearly half a century. Coutard originally planned to study chemistry, but switched to photography because of the cost of tuition. In 1945, Coutard was sent to participate in the French Indochina War; he lived in Vietnam for the next 11 years, working as a war photographer, eventually becoming a freelancer for Paris Match and Look. In 1956, he was approached to shoot a film by Pierre Schoendoerffer, La Passe du Diable. Coutard had never used a movie camera before, and reportedly agreed to the job because of a misunderstanding (he believed he was being hired to shoot production stills of the film). Coutard's first work collaboration with Jean-Luc Godard was Godard's first feature, À bout de souffle, shot in 1959. He was reportedly "imposed" on Godard by producer Georges de Beauregard; the director had already settled on a different cinematographer. Coutard photographed nearly all of Godard's work in the Nouvelle Vague era (1959 - 1967), with the exception of Masculin, féminin; their last work during this period was Week-end (1967), which marked the end of Godard's work as a 'mainstream' filmmaker. The two did not work together again until Passion; their final collaboration was Godard's next feature, Prénom Carmen. ... Source: Article "Raoul Coutard" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


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Contempt

as Cameraman
Released: 1963-10-29

A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch is a producer unhappy with the work of...

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Z

as English Surgeon (uncredited)
Released: 1969-02-26

Amid a tense political climate, the opposition leader is killed in an apparent accident. When a...

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La Chinoise

as Self - Cinematographer (uncredited)
Released: 1967-08-30

Paris, 1967. Disillusioned by their suburban lifestyles, a group of middle-class students, led...

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CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel

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Released: 2018-09-16

An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around...

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The Making of Rocky Road to Dublin

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Released: 2004-10-11

This documentary reunites director Peter Lennon and cinematographer Raoul Coutard, who recount...

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Chambre 12, Hôtel de Suède

as Self
Released: 1993-05-27

Claude Ventura's documentary Chambre 12, Hotel de Suede, was made for the French television...

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Pierre Schoendoerffer, the Sentinel of Memory

as Self
Released: 2011-10-15

Pierre Schoendoerffer revisits his life and career, with a strong focus on the impact that his...

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The Hideout

as uncredited
Released: 1971-07-21

A jewel thief hides his loot in a WELL while escaping. He returns several years later only to...

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The Bamboo Incident

as Angry French man (uncredited)
Released: 1970-06-22

A young Vietnamese boy's life is thrown into turmoil by the war raging in his country. The ten...

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as Self (chef opérateur)
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Godard, Love and Poetry

as Self
Released: 2007-01-01

Documentary about director Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina. In 1960, Jean-Luc Godard films for...

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Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-12

A talk show presented by Michel Drucker

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Cinépanorama

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First aired: 1956-02-04

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