Jean-Charles Tacchella
Born (1925-09-23) 23 September 1925 (age 98)
Cherbourg, Manche, Normandy, France
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, cinematographer
Years active1955–2008

Jean-Charles Tacchella (born 23 September 1925) is a French screenwriter and film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film Cousin Cousine (1975), which was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[1] and which was later (1989) remade in a US version starring Ted Danson and titled Cousins.

Early career

Jean-Charles Tacchella studied in Marseilles and, just after the Liberation, left for Paris with the aim of becoming a film director. He joined L'écran Français when he was nineteen, where he worked with Renoir, Becker, and Grémillon. While with the magazine, he wrote about filmmakers, actors, films and met André Bazin, Nino Frank, Roger Leenhardt, Roger Thérond and Alexandre Astruc. He became friends with Erich Von Stroheim, Anna Magnani, Vittorio de Sica and created the monthly “Ciné Digest” with Henri Colpi. In 1948, Tacchella, along with Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Astruc, Claude Mauriac, René Clément, and Pierre Kast, established Objectif 49, an avant-garde film club whose president was Jean Cocteau. Objectif 49 became the birthplace of the New Wave.[2]

Film director

Jean-Charles Tacchella has since directed eleven features, many of which have had successful international careers and been awarded prestigious prizes. They include Voyage to Grand Tartarie (1974), Cousin cousine (1975, nominated for the Oscars Césars, Silver Shell for Best Director at the 1976 San Sebastian International Film Festival), Le Pays bleu (1977), It's a Long Time I've Loved You (1979, Jury Prize at the Montreal Film Festival), Croque la vie (1981), Staircase C (1985, Prix de l'Académie française, Grand Prix at the Uppsala Film Festival), Travelling avant (1987, Best Male Newcomer for Thierry Frémont – Golden Tulip for Best Director at the Istanbul Film Festival), Gallant Ladies (Best Director, Digne Film Festival 1990), The Man of My Life (1992), Seven Sundays (1995).[3]

Tacchella is described as being "a smooth technician, Tacchella's camera work is fluid and precise". And his movie Traveling avant (1987), roughly equivalent to the American film term "Tracking Shot", is described as "a semi-autobiographical paean to his youth as a cinema fanatic and cine-club enthusiast in post-war Paris".[4]

Cinémathèque

Tacchella was President of the Cinémathèque Française from 2000–2003.[5]

Selected filmography

Year Title Director Writer Producer
1955 The Heroes Are Tired No Yes No
1957 Typhoon over Nagasaki No Yes No
1958 The Law is the Law No Yes No
1959 Come Dance with Me No Yes No
1959 Time Bomb (Le vent se lève) No Yes No
1959 Croquemitoufle No Yes No
1960 The Itchy Palm No Yes No
1961 The Honors of War No Yes No
1962 Crime Does Not Pay No Yes No
1964 The Thief of Tibadabo No Yes No
1964 The Great Blow No Yes No
1966 La longue marche No Yes No
1971 Legs in the Air No Yes No
1971 The Last Winters (Short) Yes Yes No
1973 Une belle journée (Short) Yes Yes No
1974 Voyage to Grand Tartarie Yes Yes No
1975 Cousin Cousine Yes Yes No
1978 Blue Country Yes Yes No
1979 Silver Anniversary Yes Yes No
1981 Croque la vie Yes Yes No
1985 Escalier C Yes Yes No
1987 Travelling avant Yes Yes No
1990 Gallant Ladies Yes Yes No
1992 The Man of My Life Yes Yes No
1994 Seven Sundays Yes Yes No
1999 People Who Love Each Other Yes Yes No

References

  1. ^ "The 49th Academy Awards (1977) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
  2. ^ Unifrance Site
  3. ^ Imdb Site
  4. ^ quote from Film.com Site
  5. ^ BFI.org BFI Site

External links

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