Cycles

Claude Sautet, centenary of his birth

Discover a selection of his works

5 films

Twice awarded the César for Best Director (for "A Heart in Winter" in 1993 and "Nelly and Mr. Arnaud" in 1996), Claude Sautet was one of the greatest French filmmakers of the late 20th century. To mark the centenary of his birth in 1924, the Institut français suggests to (re)discover his work through a selection of his greatest films.

Claude Sautet, centenary of his birth
  • Classics
  • 1972
  • France
  • 1h50
by Claude Sautet

Rosalie is amicably divorced, dividing her time between her mother's house, with her siblings and small daughter, and César's. He's self made, a scrap iron king, outgoing, amiable, in love with her. Enter David, an artist and Rosalie's flame before her marriage. In a quiet, brooding way, he seeks to reclaim Rosalie. César's jealous outbursts and attempts at cunning backfire and send Rosalie into David's arms. César keeps trying: he buys Rosalie's childhood seaside vacation home as a gift, wins her back, then must ask David to join them so Rosalie will be happy. When Rosalie discovers César and David's complicity, she again asserts her freedom, leaving the men alone together.

  • Drama
  • 1995
  • France
  • 1h46
by Claude Sautet

Young Nelly has money and relationship problems. On the verge of divorce, she meets old Mr. Arnaud, who is bored in a life too quiet since he retired from business. He, who has made a lot of money and is trying to make up for a dark past, suggests that she work for him. A troubling complicity will unite them.

  • Comedy-drama, Classics
  • 1974
  • France
  • 2h00
by Claude Sautet

Three friends face mid-life crises. Paul is a writer who's blocked. François has lost his ideals and practices medicine for the money; his wife grows distant, even hostile. The charming Vincent, everyone's favorite, faces bankruptcy, his mistress leaves him, and his wife, from whom he's separated, wants a divorce. The strains on the men begin to show particularly in François and Paul's friendship and in Vincent's health. A younger man, Jack, becomes attractive to Lucie, François's wife. Another young friend, the boxer Jean, who's like a son to Vincent and whose girlfriend is pregnant, has taken a bout with a merciless slugger. Has happiness eluded this circle of friends?

  • Thriller, Classics, Comedy-drama
  • 1971
  • France
  • 1h55
by Claude Sautet

Max is a Paris detective, aloof, independently wealthy, and frustrated by gangs of robbers whom he cannot catch. To re-establish his stature and save face, he decides to inveigle a group of petty thieves (led by an old acquaintance) to rob a bank. A reluctant captain provides Max intelligence and Max starts spending evenings with Lilly, a prostitute who's the girlfriend of the group's leader. He poses as a rich banker with money to burn and encourages Lilly to think about her future. He hints at a payroll that comes through his bank. The plot works, the petty thieves think they're ready for a big score, and the cops are in place. What could go wrong with Max's cold plan? Who's entrapped?

  • Drama, Classics
  • 1970
  • France
  • 1h29
by Claude Sautet

An ordinary accident on a country road, a car driving at excessive speed, rolls over several times... The victim is a forty-year-old architect, Pierre, well-to-do, separated from his wife Catherine, with a grown son and a mistress Helene. He is at the age where one asks oneself questions. Ejected from the car, lying in the grass of the meadow, half conscious but already dying without knowing it. Pierre relives a few episodes from his past, rediscovering the sweetness of the "things of life", until the moment when, dreaming with his family, next to the family boat, he sinks without recourse into death.

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