Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

148 • BRICOUT, CHRISTIAN
The son of a French army colonel, he graduated
from the Strasbourg Conservatory and made his
stage debut as an actor at the Centre Dramatique
de l’Est. During his military service in Germany with
the French army’s Cinematographic Service, he befriended
cinematographer Pierre Lhomme. Thanks
to his new friend, he met the future great names of
the Nouvelle Vague. From 1956 (Elena et les Hommes
/ Elena e le uomini / UK and USA: Paris Does Strange
Things, Jean Renoir, France / Italy) to 2007 (Vous êtes
de la police?, Romuald Beugnon), he played supporting
and leading roles in more than 160 movies, notably
directed by Jacques Rivette (1956 Le Coup du Berger
/ USA: Fool’s Mate, short; 1960 Paris nous appartient
/ UK: Paris Is Ours / USA: Paris Belongs to Us), Eric
Rohmer (1956 La Sonate à Kreutzer, short; 1970 Le
Genou de Claire / UK and USA: Claire’s Knee), Claude
Chabrol (1958 Le Beau Serge / UK: Bitter Reunion /
USA: Handsome Serge; 1959 Les Cousins / USA: The
Cousins; 1961 Les Godelureaux / I bellimbusti / UK and
USA: Wise Guys, France / Italy; 1986 Inspecteur Lavardin),
François Truffaut (1959 Les Quatre Cents Coups /
UK: The Four Hundred Blows / UK and USA: The 400
Blows; 1968 La Mariée était en noir / La sposa in nero
/ UK and USA: The Bride Wore Black, France / Italy),
Jean-Luc Godard (1959 Charlotte et Véronique ou Tous
les Garçons s’appellent Patrick / UK and USA: All the
Boys Are Called Patrick, short; 1961 Une Femme est une
Femme / la donna è donna / USA: A Woman Is a Woman,
France / Italy), Mauro Bolognini (1959 La notte brava
/ Les Garçons / UK: Bad Girls Don’t Cry / On Any Street
/ USA: The Big Night, France / Italy), and Luis Buñuel
(1974 Le Fantôme de la Liberté / Il fanatasma della libertà
/ UK: The Phantom of Liberty / USA: The Specter
of Freedom, France / Italy). He authored three autobiographical
books (the fi rst one was a huge success):
2000 Le Ruisseau des Singes (Editions Robert Laffont);
2004 J’ai oublié de vous dire (XO); 2006 Mon Algérie
(Timée Editions).
Filmography
1972 Eglantine (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)
1973 Les Volets clos / USA: Closed Shutters
L’Oiseau rare (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)
1974 Un Amour de Pluie
1981 Les Malheurs de Sophie (shot in 1979)
1983 Un Bon petit Diable
BRICOUT, CHRISTIAN (1952, Douai, Nord,
France–)
He directed only two features. Paradiso received the
Jean Vigo Prize in 1977.
Filmography
1977 Paradiso (also screenwriter, dialogist)
1982 Malaventura, le Sang des Tropiques (also screenwriter;
unreleased)
BRIET, CHANTAL (1961, Roubaix, Nord, France–)
The daughter of a psychiatrist, she intended to become
a writer. After completing her study of modern
letters at the University of Lille III, she enrolled in a
fi lm school, the ESRA. She teaches documentary at
the University of Marne-la-Vallée.
Filmography
1987 Inch’Allah (short; co-director with Jean-Pierre
Lenoir)
2003 Printemps à la source (documentary)
2005 Alimentation générale (documentary; also
screenwriter, cinematographer)
BRILLAT, XAVIER (March 25, 1965, Paris, France–)
From 1979 to 1981, he lived in Tokyo, Japan. Having
graduated with a diploma in modern letters, he
worked as an assistant director for fi lms (1989 Un
Dîner avec Mr Boy et la Femme qui aime Jésus, short,
Pascale Ferran) and TV (1987 Les Prisonniers de la
Dame à la Licorne, documentary, Pierre Trividic; 1989
Réfl exions sur la Puissance motrice de l’Amour, documentary,
Pierre Trividic; 1998 Un Siècle d’Ecrivains,
documentary, episode “Le Cas Howard Philips Lovecraft,”
co-director with Xavier Brillat, PierreTrividic;
2000 Un Siècle d’Ecrivains, documentary, episode “Un
parmi eux: Georges Pérec,” Pierre-Oscar Lévy). He is
mostly a TV director.
Filmography
2001 Ceci est une Pipe (short; co-director with
Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic)
2003 Dancing (co-director with Patrick-Mario Bernard,
Pierre Trividic; also co-cinematographer)
Television Filmography
1990 Ali Nikiema, Sculpteur Burkinabe (documentary;
short)
Sans Façons de voir le Vélo à Ouagadougou
(documentary; short)
1999 Archimède (documentary; short; episode “La
Voix cassée”)