Jacques Rozier Dies: Last Surviving Member Of French New Wave Was 96
06.06.2023 - 18:47
/ deadline.com
Director Jacques Rozier, who was regarded as the last surviving member of the French New Wave, has died. He was 96.
French media reported that a close acquaintance of the filmmaker had confirmed his death on June 2 in his native city of Paris, after a short spell in hospital.
Rozier never achieved the renown of Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, Claude Chabrol or Eric Rohmer but his work had its place in the French New Wave and pushed boundaries in ways that laid a path for filmmakers today.
After studying at the early French cinema school IDHEC, Rozier cut his directing teeth as a TV assistant, while making his own shorts including Rentrée Des Classes (1956) and Blue Jeans (1958).
The latter work played at a short film festival in the city of Tours, where it caught the attention of then-film critic Godard, who highlighted it as one of the stand-out works of the edition alongside shorts by Varda and Demy.
Rozier’s first feature Adieu Philippine premiered in the inaugural edition of Cannes Critics’ Week in 1962 alongside films such as U.S. director Rick Carrier’s Strangers In The City and I Nuovi Angeli by Italy’s Ugo Gregoretti.
Set in the summer of 1960, it revolves around a young TV assistant on the cusp of being sent to Algeria for his obligatory military service.
Deciding to make the most of his last days of freedom, he quits his job and heads to Corsica with two inseparable young female friends he recently met in Paris.
Featuring a young amateur cast scouted on the streets of Paris and characterized by an Italian neo-realist aesthetic, the film authentically captured the mood among French youth at the time.
This youthful vibe continued in his second film Du Côté d’Orouët (1971), an