Figure of a rebellious cinema that has remained in part confidential, the artist, who had made melodrama his favorite territory, died at the age of 92 years.
By Mathieu Macheret
The acute consciousness of death at work lived in the films of Paul Vecchiali, a figure of a rebellious, reflexive and hypersentimental cinema, as there are few examples in France. The filmmaker died Wednesday, January 18 at the age of 92, announced his producer and one of his relatives in the world. Without having always encountered the recognition it deserved, her work is nonetheless prized by connoisseurs and even claimed as a major influence by a whole nebula of young disciples (Axelle Ropert, Laurent Achard, Serge Bozon, Yann Gonzalez, etc. .).
His favorite territory was that of melodrama, a genus conducive to emotional thunderstorms as well as all kinds of differences and exaggerations. He delivered some tormented, dark, painful and immodest flagships, such as the magnificent bodies at heart (1978), Rosa La Rose, public girl (1985) or Once More (1987). He especially bequeathed a real model of artistic independence, having produced and distributed not only his own films, but also those of others, thanks to his company, Diagonale, seat of one of the few collective experiences of creation within French cinema.
Born on April 28, 1930 in Ajaccio, Paul Vecchiali grew up in Toulon, with a mother teacher and a miraculous father of the Great War who, after the next, will be accused of collaborationism. His meeting with the cinema was made early, from the age of 6, and took the form of a shock: in front of Mayerling (1936), of Anatole Litvak, he fell in Patoison in front of the sparkling Danielle Darrieux, in which he will therefore devote an ardent cult. He will entrust to the legendary actress, forty-seven years later, the first role from above the steps (1983): that of his own mother, whom he imagines to return to Toulon to accomplish his vendetta against the enemies of the past.
Formed in the ranks of the Polytechnic School, it was called in Algeria in 1956, where it led several construction sites, sharpening there a sense of organization which he would later reinvest on the sets. Back in Polytechnique in 1961, but this time as an instructor, he frequented the Parnasse studio, a high place of Parisian moviegoers, where he notably meets the future filmmaker Jean Eustache. The same year, he turned a first feature film with Nicole Courcel and Michel Piccoli, Les Petits Dramas, unfortunately lost during finishing.
Critic, production and realization
Over the 1960s, Vecchiali is divided between several activities which will always remain at home intrinsically linked. In 1963, he entered the Cahiers du Cinéma, the prestigious review with yellow coverage, and wrote on his favorite filmmakers (Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Demy). He also produced the first films of his friend “Parnassien” Jean Eustache, the bad frequentations (1964) and Santa Claus has blue eyes (1966). He finally devoted himself to his own films, cheerfully from short to the feature film and the big screen to the little skylight. Critique, production and realization are in his hands as many ways to take cinema in pincers, by his thought, his gesture, as much as his figures. To which are also added food work on many photos novels, far from being anecdotal, since he will meet one of his favorite actresses, Hélène Surgère.
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