ANDRÉ TÉCHINÉ
(Director)
BIOGRAPHY
André Téchiné's 25-year, 13-film career spans an extraordinary cinematic range. His specific talent lies in the seeming ease with which he draws out the human and psychological
motives of his characters, perfectly interlocking them with the large and small events of their respective eras: the 19th century England of LES SOEURS BRONTË (THE BRONTE SISTERS), the recourse to prostitution of a country boy unable to break into acting in Paris in J'EMBRASSE PAS, a last attempt at love in provincial France in LE LIEU DU CRIME, France during the Algerian war in LES ROSEAUX SAUVAGES (WILD REEDS). In MA SAISON PRÉFÉRÉE (official selection at Cannes 1992), he explored the mid-life relationship between a brother and sister, drawing as always, the film's emotional power from the choices the characters make to compensate their personal failures and weaknesses rather than from spectacular plot turns. In LES VOLEURS, Téchiné deftly explores the Aeschylean territory of the love-in-hate and hate-in-love paradoxes inherent in the family relationships and amorous entanglements.
Although his first film, PAULINE S'EN VA, went practically unnoticed, the next three,
particularly BAROCCO, an elegant stylistic exercise in which color plays an important
role, unleashed floods of praise. Roland Barthes, one of the main craftsmen and
spokesmen of this vogue (he agreed to play Thackeray in LES SOEURS BRONTË), wrote of
SOUVENIRS D'EN FRANCE: "André Téchiné was congratulated for bringing a new style of fiction to the movie screen. Yes, the film has something of the novel, not in
terms of narrative genre or psychological pathos, but in terms of the need for language." For
Téchiné, a plot must not unfold in a straight line, but in a juxtaposition of strong
sequences. This is why he was compared to Brecht for his SOUVENIRS D'EN FRANCE.
Narrative and image go hand in hand in Téchiné's work.
Téchiné has been an intergral figure in the careers of France's key actors -- Catherine
Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil -- but has also made some of his stongest films, notably WILD REEDS (French César awards in 1995 for Best Film, Best Director and Most Promising New Actress) with unknowns.
LES VOLEURS (THIEVES) represents his second collaboration with Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil. Once again, André Téchiné demonstrates his extraordinary talent for filming the subtlest nuances of image and character, and a trenchant fidelity to the paradoxes inherent in the human spirit.
ANDRE TECHINE
FILMOGRAPHY
1969 PAULINE S'EN VA
1974 SOUVENIRS D'EN FRANCE
1976 BAROCCO
1978 LES SOEURS BRONTË (THE BRONTE SISTERS)
1981 HÔTEL DES AMÉRIQUES
1982 LA MATIOUETTE
1985 RENDEZ-VOUS
1986 LE LIEU DU CRIME
1987 LES INNOCENTS
1991 J'EMBRASSE PAS
1993 MA SAISON PRÉFÉRÉE
1994 LES ROSEAUX SAUVAGES (WILD REEDS)
César 1995 for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Female Promising
Role
1995 LES VOLEURS (THIEVES)
Last Modified 12-December-1996
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