Leading filmmaker dead
January 11, 2010
During his 60 year career, Rohmer directed over 50 feature films and shorts for both television and the silver screen. The filmmaker became an international icon for both the good and bad aspects of art house films. Rohmer's films such as My Night at Maud's (1969), Claire's Knee (1970), and Pauline at the Beach (1983) showed the behaviour and passionate emotions of human beings in a way that defied the conventional expectations of entertainment.
Award winning American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino once said in an interview that Rohmer's works were not exactly for everyone.
"You have to see one of [Rohmer's movies], and if you kind of like that one, then you should see his other ones, but you need to see one to see if you like it," Tarantino said.
Path to success
There is some confusion over Rohmer's origins. Depending on who is asked, he was either born on March 21st, 1920 as Maurice Henri Joseph Scherer in the city of Tulle, or on April 4th, 1920 as Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer in Nancy. He later chose to go by the pseudonym Eric Rohmer. At 26, he published his first and only novel in Paris under a different name, Gilbert Cordier.
From there, he worked as a journalist and teacher of literature, and eventually entered the film world at the Cinematheque Francais. Rohmer shot his first film in 1950, and began working on the Cahier du Cinema, the magazine which became the foundation of the French New Wave.
His first major international success was My Night at Maud's, which won several international prizes and was nominated for two Oscars.
mk/AFP/dpa
Editor:Michael Lawton