PINOTEAU, CLAUDE

(1925- )

Director and screenwriter. Claude Pinoteau was born in Boulogne-sur-Seine. He began his career in cinema in the early 1950s as an assistant director to such filmmakers asJean Cocteau,Henri Decoin,Jean-Pierre Melville,Max Ophuls, andHenri Verneuil. Among his credits as assistant director are such films as Melville'sLes Enfants terribles(1950), Cocteau'sOrphée(1950), which starsJean Marais, Gilles Grangier'sL'Amant de paille(1951), Decoin andJean Delannoy'sLes Secrets d'Alcove(1952), which starsBernard Blier,Jeanne Moreau, andMartine Carol, Ophiïls'sLola Montés(1955), which also stars Carol, Verneuil's classic filmMélodie en sous-sol(1963), which starsJean GabinandAlain Delon, andClaude Lelouch'sL'Aventure,c'est l'aventure(1972), which starsLino Venturaand Jacques Brel.

In the late 1960s, Pinoteau began working as a screenwriter as well as an assistant director.He contributed to the scripts for such films as Lelouch'sUn homme qui me plaît(1969) andLe voyou(1970). Fairly early in his career, Pinoteau transitioned to directing. His first films were shorts, but he went on to release his first feature-length filmLe silencieux, starring Ventura, in 1973. ActressIsabelle Adjanireceived one of her first major roles in Pinoteau's second feature,La gifle(1974), which won the prestigiousPrix Louis-Delluc.

FollowingLa gifle, Pinoteau releasedLe grand escogriffe(1976) andL'homme en colére(1979). Both were fairly successful; however, the director's biggest commercial success to date isLa boum(1980), which sold more movie tickets than any other French film released during the same year.La boumstarred Sophie Marceau,Claude Brasseur, and Brigitte Fossey. Director and screenwriter Danièle Thompson collaborated on the script, as she would for some of his later films, including the sequelLa Boum2, which was one of the top five French films of 1982. Pinoteau later directedLa Septiéme cible(1984), which also featured Ventura. Marceau starred again inL'étudiante(1988), a film focusing on light youthful themes. Vincent Perez, a popular actor with young audiences, led the cast ofLa neige et le feu(1991). Pinoteau'sCache cash(1994) similarly features youthful protagonists; this time they are two young boys. HisLes palmes de M.Schutz(1997), adapted from the play about Marie and Pierre Curie by Jean-Noël Fenwick, starsIsabelle Adjani,Charles Berling, andPhilippe Noiret.