Raoul Coutard

Biography

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…

Movies & TV Shows

1. Contempt (1963) — Cameraman
2. Z (1969) — English Surgeon (uncredited)
3. La Chinoise (1967) — Self - Cinematographer (uncredited)
4. The Bamboo Incident (1970) — Angry French man (uncredited)
5. Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave (1992) — Self
6. Godard, Love and Poetry (2007) — Self
7. The Hideout (1971)
8. Cinépanorama (1956) — Self
9. The Making of Rocky Road to Dublin (2004) — Self
10. Chambre 12, Hôtel de Suède (1993) — Self
11. CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel (2018) — Self
12. Nouvelle Vague : El cine sin dogmas (2000) — Self
13. Jean Seberg: American Actress (1997) — Self
14. Les Rendez-vous du dimanche (1975) — Self
15. Pierre Schoendoerffer, the Sentinel of Memory (2011) — Self
16. Il était une fois... « Jules et Jim » (2008) — Self (chef opérateur)
17. The Outskirts of Alphaville (2003)

Directed

1. Operation Leopard (1980) — Director
2. The Bamboo Incident (1970) — Director
3. S.A.S. San Salvador (1983) — Director
4. Le Défilé du 14 Juillet 1977 (1977) — Director
5. Une nuit en Lorraine (1975) — Director