Raoul Coutard

Raoul Coutard 16 September 1924 8 November 2016 was a French cinematographer He is best known for his connection with the Nouvelle Vague period and particularly for his work with director JeanLuc Godard Coutard also shot films for New Wave director François Truffaut as well as Jacques Demy a contemporary frequently associated with the movement He shot over 75 films during a career that lasted nearly half a century Coutard originally planned to study chemistry but switched to photography because of the cost of tuition In 1945 Coutard was sent to participate in the French Indochina War he lived in Vietnam for the next 11 years working as a war photographer eventually becoming a freelancer for Paris Match and Look In 1956 he was approached to shoot a film by Pierre Schoendoerffer La Passe du Diable Coutard had never used a movie camera before and reportedly agreed to the job because of a misunderstanding he believed he was being hired to shoot production stills of the film Coutards first work collaboration with JeanLuc Godard was Godards first feature À bout de souffle shot in 1959 He was reportedly imposed on Godard by producer Georges de Beauregard the director had already settled on a different cinematographer Coutard photographed nearly all of Godards work in the Nouvelle Vague era 1959 1967 with the exception of Masculin féminin their last work during this period was Weekend 1967 which marked the end of Godards work as a mainstream filmmaker The two did not work together again until Passion their final collaboration was Godards next feature Prénom Carmen Source Article Raoul Coutard from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30