Philippe de Broca

Philippe de Broca 15 March 1933 26 November 2004 was a French movie director He directed 30 fulllength feature films including the highly successful That Man from Rio LHomme de Rio The Man from Acapulco Le Magnifique and On Guard Le Bossu His works include historical romantic epics such as Chouans and King of Hearts Le Roi de cœur as well as comedies with a charismatic breezy hero ready to embark upon any adventure which comes his way so long as it means escaping everyday modern life Practice Makes Perfect Le Cavaleur The Devil by the Tail Le Diable par la queue The African LAfricain He had links with the actor JeanPaul Belmondo with whom he made six films as well as with JeanPierre Cassel Philippe Noiret and Jean Rochefort Philippe de Broca was born on 15 March 1933 in Paris France He was the son of a cinema set designer and the grandson of a wellknown painter Philippe de Broca He studied at the Paris Photography and Cinematography School école Vaugirard graduating in 1953 He carried out his military service with the service cinématographique des armées army film service in Germany and then in Algeria directing or acting as head cameraman on short films Greatly affected by the war he witnessed he vowed to show life in its best light in his future films because laughter is the best defence against upsets in life After his discharge from the military he set off on a journey taking in the length of Africa in Berliet trucks before returning to Paris He began working as an intern with Henri Decoin before finding assistant positions with Claude Chabrol Bitter Reunion Le Beau Serge The Cousins Les Cousins Web of Passion À Double Tour François Truffaut The 400 Blows Les 400 Coups and Pierre Schoendoerffer Ramuntcho In 1959 Claude Chabrol produced de Brocas first film for him The Love Game Les jeux de lamour with JeanPierre Cassel De Broca went on to work with Cassel again in The Joker Le Farceur 1960 Five Day Lover LAmant de cinq jours 1961 and Male Companion Un Monsieur de Compagnie 1964 De Brocas first commercial success came with Swords of Blood Cartouche filmed in 1962 This film also saw two more names become associated with de Broca the actor JeanPaul Belmondo and the producer Alexandre Mnouchkine International acclaim came with That Man from Rio LHomme de Rio in 1964 Up to His Ears Les tribulations dun Chinois en Chine in 1965 The Man from Acapulco Le Magnifique in 1973 and Incorrigible LIncorrigible in 1975 In 1966 he cowrote directed and produced King of Hearts Le Roi de Cœur This parody of the Great War which some cinemalovers consider his masterpiece was a commercial and personal failure to de Brocas dismay Yet it eventually achieved genuine cultfilm status during the mid 1970s when it was presented in repertory movie theaters as well as nontheatrical college and university film series across the United States eventually running for five years at the now defunct film house the Central Square Cinemas in Cambridge Massachusetts Source Article Philippe de Broca from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30