Claude Berri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Claude Beri Langmann (1934-07-01)1 July 1934 Paris, France |
| Died | 12 January 2009(2009-01-12) (aged 74) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Film producer, director, screenwriter, distributor, actor |
| Years active | 1953–2009 |
| Spouse(s) | Anne-Marie Rassam (m. 1967;d. 1987) Sylvie Gautrelet (m. ??;d. ??) |
| Partner | Nathalie Rheims (1998-his death) |
| Children | 3, including Julien Rassam Thomas Langmann |
| Relatives | Arlette Langmann (sister) Jean-Pierre Rassam (brother-in-law) Dimitri Rassam (nephew-in-law) |
| Awards | Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (forThe Chicken, 1965) BAFTA Award for Best Film (forJean de Florette, 1987) |
Claude Berri (French:[bɛʁi]; 1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, producer, screenwriter, distributor and actor.
Berri was a leading figure of the French film industry both a director and as a producer. Following a short film that won an Academy Award, Berri found success with his first feature film,The Two of Us (1967). He then had a varied career, producing and distributing both mainstream and avant-garde films. During the 1970s, Berri's films as a director were mostlycomedies but he later found increased success with several high-profileliterary adaptations. In 1986, his two-part filmJean de Florette andManon of the Spring won public and critical acclaim, becoming his best-known work. He next directedUranus (1990) and most notablyGerminal (1993). In 1997, he directed the historical biopicLucie Aubrac.
Directors whose films were produced by Berri includeRoman Polanski,Jacques Demy,Jean-Jacques Annaud,Miloš Forman,Claude Zidi,Jacques Rivette,Patrice Chéreau,Alain Chabat,Abdellatif Kechiche andDany Boon.
BornClaude Beri Langmann inParis, Berri was the son ofJewish immigrant parents.[1] His mother, Beila (née Bercu), was fromRomania, and his father, Hirsch Langmann, was a furrier fromPoland.[2] In 1943, during theNazi occupation of France, Berri's parents entrusted him for his safety to a family in the countryside. He spent the rest of the occupation being fostered by "an antisemitic couple" who were unaware that he was Jewish.[3] His sister, screenwriter and editorArlette Langmann, was born after the war.
Berri's original vocation was to be an actor. He began a career in the early 1950s but struggled to find roles, which prompted him to turn to directing and eventually producing. In 1965, he gained notice forThe Chicken, which won the Award for best short film at the38th Academy Awards.[4]
In 1967, Berri directedThe Two of Us (Le Vieil homme et l'enfant), a partially autobiographical film that told the story of a Jewish child, entrusted duringWorld War II to a benevolent and antisemitic old farmer who remains unaware that the boy he is caring for is a Jew. The film was a great success in France and abroad. Berri also adapted the story into a novel, released the same year as the film.[5]
During the years that followed, Berri became active as a producer andfilm distributor while continuing to direct his own films. Also in 1967, with his associate (later brother-in-law)Jean-Pierre Rassam, Berri bought the international distribution rights forMiloš Forman'sThe Firemen's Ball which was a great success and was nominated to theAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film. Berri's company, Renn Productions, which he had founded to produceThe Two of Us, gradually became a major player in the French film industry.[4]
Whereas Berri's films as a director were not major box-office successes during the 1970s, he was more fortunate as a producer. He notably associated himself withChristian Fechner to produceClaude Zidi's successful comedies, including those starring the comedy teamLes Charlots who were then particularly popular in France.[6] He also produced films starringPierre Richard, then France's new comedy star, directed by Richard himself or by Zidi. While enjoying box-office success as a producer or co-producer of comedies, Berri was also involved in producing more challengingavant-garde films, such asJean Eustache'sThe Mother and the Whore (1973) orJacques Rivette'sCéline and Julie Go Boating (1974). In 1979, he producedRoman Polanski'sTess (1979), which won theCésar Award for Best Film in 1980 and was nominated in 1981 to theAcademy Award for Best Picture.
Throughout his directing and producing career, Berri appeared occasionally as an actor, in his own films or in those of other directors. He played starring roles in five of his films,Mazel Tov ou le Mariage (1968),Le Cinéma de papa (1971),Sex Shop (1972),Le Mâle du siècle (1975) andLa Débandade (1999). Most of his other appearances were supporting parts orcameos, one notable exception being a starring role inSerge Gainsbourg'sStan the Flasher (1989).[4]
Most of Berri's earlier films as a director were comedies,[4] until the melancholicromance filmJe vous aime (1980), starringCatherine Deneuve, which was inspired by the separation from his wife.[7] Berri later said that he had become less interested in directing comedies following the illness of his first wife, as his personal life was no longer a source of inspiration and amusement.[4] During the 1980s, Berri had a successful association with comedianColuche: in 1980, he producedInspector Blunder, Coluche's return to film, which was a commercial hit. Berri directed Coluche himself in the comedyLe Maître d'école (1981), and produced his next two vehicles,Quarter To Two B.C. (1982) andBanzaï (1983). In 1983, Berri directed the crime dramaSo Long, Stooge (Tchao Pantin) starring Coluche in his first dramatic role. At the time, a review inLe Monde praised Berri's evolution as a director formerly known for his lightweight comedies, and described the film as a return topoetic realism.[8]So Long, Stooge was a box-office hit and received twelve nominations at theCésar Awards; Coluche earned theCésar Award for Best Actor for his performance.[4][9]
Berri next directed and produced a series of successful adaptations of French classic novels. In 1986, he made the two-part film that constitutes his best-known work,Jean de Florette and its sequel,Manon of the Spring (Manon des Sources), based onMarcel Pagnol'stwo-volume novel. Both films, who were at the time the French film industry's most expensive project ever,[10][11] were huge international hits.[12]
In 1990, Berri directedUranus, based onMarcel Aymé's novel. The film, a dark satire of postwar France, was entered into the41st Berlin International Film Festival.[13] In 1993, he madeGerminal, based onÉmile Zola'sclassic novel. Like his 1986Jean de Florette/Manon des sources project, Berri'sGerminal was at the time the highest budget in the history of French cinema.[14]
In 1997, Berri's filmLucie Aubrac, based onthe eponymous resistance heroin's memoir, was entered into the47th Berlin International Film Festival.[15]
In 2003, he was elected as president of theCinémathèque française where he obtained enough state subsidies to cover the costs of its resurgence at its new site in the rue de Bercy.[16]
Berri's box-office successes as a producer includeJean-Jacques Annaud'sThe Bear (1988) andThe Lover (1992) andPatrice Chéreau'sLa Reine Margot (1994). He also produced the first twolive-action films of theAsterix franchise,Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999) andAsterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002), the latter of which became one of the most commercially successful French films ever.[17] Berri had been initially reluctant to work on acomic book adaptation and was convinced by his sonThomas Langmann to produce the Asterix films.[18]
In 2004, the big-budget action comedySan-Antonio was a box-office disaster, severely impacting Berri's production company. Berri had to rely on a €2 million loan from his partnerNathalie Rheims to keep his business afloat.[19] The next year, Berri sold his remaining shares in Renn Productions toPathé, shortly after initiating two major film projects,Abdellatif Kechiche'sThe Secret of the Grain (2007) andDany Boon'sWelcome to the Sticks (2008).[4] The latter film's success, in particular, allowed him to pay off his debts forSan-Antonio.[19]
Berri won theBAFTA Award for Best Film in 1987 forJean de Florette. In France, he was nominated for twelveCésar Awards, including theCésar Award for Best Film and theCésar Award for Best Director, though he never won.
Berri's first marriage was with Anne-Marie Rassam, sister of film producerJean-Pierre Rassam. They had two children: actorJulien Rassam (1968-2002) and actor and film producerThomas Langmann (b. 1971). They separated in the late 1970s,[4] though they were not divorced until 1987.[20] Anne-Marie, who suffered frombipolar disorder,[21] committed suicide in 1997 by jumping from a balcony.[18]
Berri's second marriage was with costume designer Sylvie Gautrelet, with whom he had a son, Darius (b.1986).[22]
Already suffering fromdepression and affected by the death of his first wife, Berri was further impacted when his eldest son also committed suicide in 2002. Julien Rassam had been physically disabled since an accident two years earlier. Berri's film L'Un reste, l'autre part (2005) was inspired by this family tragedy.[4]
From 1998 to his death, Berri was the partner of author and producerNathalie Rheims.[19]
Berri was aconnoisseur andcollector offine arts andphotography. He was the owner of twogalleries in Paris that specialized inmodern art.[4] Art collecting was a passion project for Berri: in 1986, he sold the majority of his shares in Renn Productions toPathé in order to fund this activity.[6]
Berri died of astroke, inParis, aged 74,[23] one week info filming the comedyTrésor.[4] The film was completed byFrançois Dupeyron.[24]
After Berri's death, a collection of nine works byRobert Ryman,Ad Reinhardt,Giorgio Morandi,Richard Serra andLucio Fontana was promised to theCentre Pompidou in Paris in lieu of tax. But Berri's heirs ultimately sold them toQatar, through French art dealerPhilippe Ségalot, for about €50 million.[25]
Following Berri's death, a legal dispute over his succession broke out between Thomas Langmann, his half-brother Darius, the latter's mother Sylvie Gautrelet, and Nathalie Rheims. Thomas accused Darius, Gautrelet and Rheims of misappropriating his father's assets, notably by stealing valuable works of art from his extensive collection.[19] In July 2015, Thomas Langmann filed a complaint against his half-brother. In March 2025, Darius Langmann, Gautrelet, Rheims and several other people including an art expert, a family member and former employees of Claude Berri, were indicted forconspiracy to commit aggravatedtheft, breach of trust andtax evasion.[22]
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