Bertrand Blier has passed away. The French director, known for his films Evening wear or even Buffet Froiddied this Tuesday at the age of 85, his entourage announced to AFP. He died “peacefully at home in Paris, surrounded by his wife and children,” said his son Léonard Blier.
His films marked the cinema of the 1970s and 1980s and his name will remain associated with that of Gérard Depardieu, whose career he launched in 1974 in The Valseusesalongside Patrick Dewaere and Miou-Miou.
An Oscar and Cesars
Film perceived as cult for some, The Valseuses is distinguished by a gritty humor. Many critics have since approached Blier’s work with regard to the misogyny and male domination that it reflects.
In 1979 he won the Oscar for best foreign film for Prepare your tissues and, the following year, the César for best screenwriter for Buffet froid. He then won the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes and three Césars with Too beautiful for you (1989), not to mention the César for best actress for Carole Bouquet.
-The 1990s and 2000s were less prosperous, with the exception of Noise of ice cubeswhere an alcoholic writer (Jean Dujardin) “dialogues” with his illness which takes the form of a man, played by Albert Dupontel.
Rachida Dati salutes “an immense and non-conformist filmmaker”
“I learned with great sadness of the disappearance of Bertrand Blier. He was a genius dialogue writer, in the tradition of Prévert and Audiard,” responded the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.
“In films that were part of their era, he offered iconic roles to the greatest: Jean-Pierre Marielle, Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, Michel Blanc, Isabelle Huppert, Patrick Dewaere, Josiane Balasko, without forgetting his own father Bernard Blier. Bertrand Blier was an immense and non-conformist filmmaker, a mad lover of the freedom to create,” she added.
