Barbet Schroeder
Encyclopedia
Barbet Schroeder is a Franco-Swiss movie director
and producer who started his career in French
cinema in the 1960s, working together with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard
and Jacques Rivette
.
-born physician, and Jean-William Schroeder, a Swiss
geologist.
Schroeder's production company "Les Films du Losange", founded by him at age 23, produced some of the best-known films of the French New Wave
. His directorial debut, More (1969), about heroin addiction, became a hit in Europe
. Pink Floyd
wrote music for this movie and released the album, Soundtrack from the Film More. They also wrote the soundtrack for his 1972 film La Vallée
, released as the album Obscured by Clouds
.
He later went on to direct more mainstream Hollywood fare, such as Barfly
(1987) starring Mickey Rourke
, Single White Female
(1992), and Reversal of Fortune
(1990), for which Jeremy Irons
as Claus von Bülow
received an Academy Award
. Despite his many commercially successful films, Schroeder continues to be interested in making smaller films with a more limited audience, such as the adaptation of Colombia
n writer Fernando Vallejo
's controversial novel La virgen de los sicarios
(2000) or the documentary General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974), featuring extensive interviews with the Uganda
n dictator and Terror's advocate (2007) about terrorism in the last 50 years seen through the eyes of a lawyer, Jacques Vergès
, and his clients.
Schroeder has also made some appearances as an actor: playing one of the 'ghosts' in Jacques Rivette
's Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Céline and Julie Go Boating), a cameo as a Porsche driver in Beverly Hills Cop III
(1994), as the President of France in Mars Attacks!
(1996), as a hair products salesman in Paris, je t'aime
(2006), and as the mechanic in The Darjeeling Limited
(2007).
that first aired on 1 November 2009. The episode was entitled "The Grown Ups", and was notable for its depiction of the events of the Kennedy assassination
.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and producer who started his career in French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
cinema in the 1960s, working together with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
and Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
.
Life and career
Schroeder was born in Tehran, Iran, the son of Ursula, a GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-born physician, and Jean-William Schroeder, a Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
geologist.
Schroeder's production company "Les Films du Losange", founded by him at age 23, produced some of the best-known films of the French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
. His directorial debut, More (1969), about heroin addiction, became a hit in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
wrote music for this movie and released the album, Soundtrack from the Film More. They also wrote the soundtrack for his 1972 film La Vallée
La Vallée (film)
La Vallée is a 1972 French film written and directed by Barbet Schroeder. The film stars Bulle Ogier as Viviane, a woman who goes on a strange and accidental voyage of self-discovery through the New Guinea bush....
, released as the album Obscured by Clouds
Obscured by Clouds
-Singles:*"Free Four"/"Stay" *"Free Four"/"The Gold It's in the..." -Personnel:Pink Floyd*David Gilmour – guitars, vocals, pedal steel guitar, VCS3*Nick Mason – drums, percussion...
.
He later went on to direct more mainstream Hollywood fare, such as Barfly
Barfly (film)
Barfly is a 1987 American film which is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles. The screenplay by Bukowski was commissioned by the French film director Barbet Schroeder – it was published, with illustrations by the author, in...
(1987) starring Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
, Single White Female
Single White Female
Single White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:...
(1992), and Reversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune is a 1990 film adapted from the 1985 book Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz...
(1990), for which Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
as Claus von Bülow
Claus von Bülow
Claus von Bülow is a British socialite of German and Danish ancestry. He was accused of the attempted murder of his wife Sunny von Bülow by administering an insulin overdose in 1980 but his conviction in the first trial was reversed and he was found not guilty in both his retrials.-Biography:Born...
received an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. Despite his many commercially successful films, Schroeder continues to be interested in making smaller films with a more limited audience, such as the adaptation of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n writer Fernando Vallejo
Fernando Vallejo
Fernando Vallejo Rendón is a novelist, filmmaker and essayist, born in Colombia. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.Vallejo was born and raised in Medellín, though he left his hometown early in life...
's controversial novel La virgen de los sicarios
La virgen de los sicarios
Our Lady of the Assassins may refer to any of the following articles:* Our Lady of the Assassins of the Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo, published by Alfaguara, Bogotá, 1993 in Spanish....
(2000) or the documentary General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974), featuring extensive interviews with the Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n dictator and Terror's advocate (2007) about terrorism in the last 50 years seen through the eyes of a lawyer, Jacques Vergès
Jacques Vergès
Jacques Vergès, born 5 March 1925 in Ubon Ratchathani, Siam , is a French-Vietnamese lawyer who has earned fame continually since the 1950s, first as an anticolonialist communist figure and then for defending a long string of well-known clients from anticolonialist Algerian militant Djamila...
, and his clients.
Schroeder has also made some appearances as an actor: playing one of the 'ghosts' in Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
's Céline et Julie vont en bateau (Céline and Julie Go Boating), a cameo as a Porsche driver in Beverly Hills Cop III
Beverly Hills Cop III
Beverly Hills Cop III is a 1994 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on Trading Places and Coming to America...
(1994), as the President of France in Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
(1996), as a hair products salesman in Paris, je t'aime
Paris, je t'aime
Paris, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...
(2006), and as the mechanic in The Darjeeling Limited
The Darjeeling Limited
The Darjeeling Limited is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, and starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman. It was written by Anderson, Schwartzman, and Roman Coppola...
(2007).
Television
Schroeder directed the 12th episode of the 3rd season of the American dramatic television series Mad MenMad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
that first aired on 1 November 2009. The episode was entitled "The Grown Ups", and was notable for its depiction of the events of the Kennedy assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
.
Director
- 1969 : More
- 1972 : La ValléeLa Vallée (film)La Vallée is a 1972 French film written and directed by Barbet Schroeder. The film stars Bulle Ogier as Viviane, a woman who goes on a strange and accidental voyage of self-discovery through the New Guinea bush....
- 1974 : Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait (General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait) (documentary)
- 1976 : MaîtresseMaîtresseMaîtresse is a 1976 French film directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Bulle Ogier and Gérard Depardieu in an early role.The film provoked controversy in the United Kingdom and the United States because of its graphic depictions of sado-masochistic behaviour, such as nailing a penis into a plank...
- 1978 : Koko, le gorille qui parleKoko: A Talking GorillaKoko: A Talking Gorilla is a 1978 documentary directed by Barbet Schroeder that focuses on Dr. Francine 'Penny' Patterson and her work with Koko, the gorilla Patterson claims to have taught to communicate with humans using symbols taken from American Sign Language. The film was screened in the...
(Koko: A Talking Gorilla) (documentary) - 1984 : TricheursTricheursTricheurs is a 1984 film directed by Barbet Schroeder....
- 1987 : BarflyBarfly (film)Barfly is a 1987 American film which is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles. The screenplay by Bukowski was commissioned by the French film director Barbet Schroeder – it was published, with illustrations by the author, in...
- 1987 : The Charles Bukowski TapesThe Charles Bukowski TapesThe Charles Bukowski Tapes are a collection of short-interviews with the American writer/poet Charles Bukowski, filmed and assembled by Barbet Schroeder and first published in 1987 in the USA...
- 1990 : Reversal of FortuneReversal of FortuneReversal of Fortune is a 1990 film adapted from the 1985 book Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz...
- 1992 : Single White FemaleSingle White FemaleSingle White Female is a 1992 American erotic thriller based on John Lutz's novel SWF Seeks Same. The film stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh and is directed by Barbet Schroeder.-Plot:...
- 1995 : Kiss of DeathKiss of Death (1995 film)Kiss of Death is a 1995 crime thriller film starring David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicolas Cage, Stanley Tucci, Ving Rhames and Helen Hunt, directed by Barbet Schroeder....
- 1996 : Before and After
- 1998 : Desperate Measures
- 2000 : La virgen de los sicariosLa virgen de los sicariosOur Lady of the Assassins may refer to any of the following articles:* Our Lady of the Assassins of the Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo, published by Alfaguara, Bogotá, 1993 in Spanish....
- 2002 : Murder by NumbersMurder by NumbersMurder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder. It stars Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case....
- 2007 : Terror's AdvocateTerror's AdvocateTerror's Advocate is a 2007 French documentary film about Jacques Vergès.-Critical reception:The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of January 5, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 85% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 40 reviews...
- 2008 : Inju: The Beast in the ShadowInju: The Beast in the ShadowInju: The Beast in the Shadow is a 2008 film by Barbet Schroeder based on a 1928 novel by Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo...
- 2009 : Mad Men; Season 3, Episode 12
Actor
- 1963 : The Bakery Girl of MonceauThe Bakery Girl of MonceauThe Bakery Girl of Monceau or The Girl at the Monceau Bakery is a 1963 film by Éric Rohmer. The original French title is La Boulangère de Monceau...
(Eric RohmerÉric RohmerÉric Rohmer was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher. A figure in the post-war New Wave cinema, he was a former editor of Cahiers du cinéma....
) - 1965 : Paris vu Par... (section Gare du Nord, Jean RouchJean RouchJean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist.He is considered to be one of the founders of the cinéma vérité in France, which shared the aesthetics of the direct cinema spearheaded by Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Albert and David Maysles...
) - 1974 : Celine and Julie go boating (Jacques RivetteJacques RivetteJacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
) - 1994 : La Reine MargotLa Reine Margot (1994 film)La Reine Margot is a 1994 French period film directed by Patrice Chéreau, based on the 1845 historical novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas, père. It stars Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Virna Lisi and Vincent Pérez...
(Patrice ChéreauPatrice ChéreauPatrice Chéreau is a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor, and producer.-Biography:Patrice Chéreau was born in Lézigné, Maine-et-Loire, and went to school in Paris. At a young age he became well-known to Parisian critics as director, actor, and stage manager of his high-school theatre...
) - 1996 : Mars Attacks!Mars Attacks!Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
(Tim BurtonTim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
) - 2006 : Paris, je t'aimeParis, je t'aimeParis, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...
(VariousParis, je t'aimeParis, Je t'aime is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements...
) - 2007 : Darjeeling Limited (Wes AndersonWes AndersonWesley Wales Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer of features, short films and commercials....
) - 2007 : Ne touchez pas la hache (Jacques RivetteJacques RivetteJacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
)