Rappeneau, Jean-Paul

(1932- )

   Director and screenwriter. Rappeneau started as an assistant to Raymond Bernard and Jean Dréville. He worked as a screenwriter for Yves Robert, Louis Malle, and Phillippe de Broca. His most successful feature to date is the heritage film Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), an adaptation of Edmond Rostand's nineteenth-century play. The film won ten César Awards, including Best Director, Best Film, Best Actor (Gérard Depardieu), and Best Cinematography. It later received a "César of Césars" at the twentieth anniversary of the César Awards in 1995. Rappeneau's first film was a short titled Chronique provinciale (1958). His feature debut, La vie de château (1966), starred Catherine Deneuve and won the Prix Louis-Delluc. Rappeneau has often worked with major French celebrities including Jean-Paul Belmondo in Les mariés de l'an II(1971), Yves Montand and Deneuve in Le sauvage (1975), Isabelle Adjani and Montand in Tout feu, tout flamme (1982), Juliette Binoche in the heritage film Le hussard sur le toit (1995), and Adjani and Depardieu in Bon voyage (2002). Le sauvage, Le hussard sur le toit and Bon voyage were all nominated for Césars for Best Director, and Le hussard sur le toit was also nominated for Best Film.

   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema by Dayna Oscherwitz & Mary Ellen Higgins