Barbet Schroeder

"If Schroeder's films can be said to share a common impulse, it is toward examining the moral and philosophical consequences of extreme forms of extra-social, if not anti-social, freedom." --Gavin Smith writing in Film Comment, March-April 1995.

"My dream is to be like John Ford, who filmed only exactly what he needed. I can't really achieve this ideal because it would be detrimental to the actors. An actor has to play the whole scene, so if you need a closeup for a phrase, you end up playing everything that comes before it. Ford [did it his way] because he came from silent film." --Barbet Schroeder to Film Comment, March-April 1995.

Biography

Born in Tehran, Iran to a Swiss geologist father and a German-born, non-practicing physician mother, Barbet Schroeder spent his formative years traveling with his family, spending a key part of his childhood in Colombia. When his parents divorced when he was 11, he settled in France and gradually became enamored of motion pictures. Before age 30, he had had several careers, including film critic (for Cahiers du Cinema), photojournalist, and jazz impresario. In 1962, he and Eric Rohmer formed Les Films du Losange, a production company that oversaw the Rohmer's films, beginning with the as-yet-unreleased short, "La Boulangere de Monceau" (1962), which Schroeder narrated. After producing, appearing in and assisting with several other New Wave films (i.e., Godard's "Les Carabiniers" 1962) Schroeder directed his first feature, "More" (1969), a powerful depiction of heroin addiction. After "La Vallee/The Valley" (1972), in which a Frenchwoman goes native in New Guinea, the filmmaker earned acclaim for his feature-length documentaries, notably "General Idi Amin Dada" (1974), a portrait of the former Ugandan despot, and "Koko, the Talking Gorilla" (1977).

While continuing to serve as producer for such now-classics as Rohmer's "My Night at Maud's" (1969) and Jacques Rivette's "Celine and Julie Go Boating" (1974), Schroeder continued to add to his own growing reputation as a director of note. "Maitresse" (1976) was a delicious comedy about a dominatrix (portrayed by the director's wife Bulle Ogier) who decides to quit her profession when she meets her true love, while "Tricheurs" (1983) profiled a gambler (Jacques Dutronc).

Schroeder is perhaps best-known in the USA for "Barfly" (1987), an engaging account of a low-life, alcohol-sodden writer not too loosely modeled on Charles Bukowski, and "Reversal of Fortune" (1990), a complex, multi-layered account of the Claus/Sunny von Bulow scandal starring Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close. His "The Charles Bukowski Tapes" (1982-84), a series of fascinating and highly entertaining "interviews" with the author made during early work on "Barfly," were shown on French TV and at New York's Public Theatre in 1989.

Following his Academy Award nomination for his direction of "Reversal of Fortune," Schroeder helmed the intriguing and well-acted thriller "Single White Female" (1992), in which Jennifer Jason Leigh starred as a disturbed woman who begins to adopt the persona of her roommate (Bridget Fonda). The director next took on the 1995 "Kiss of Death," loosely based on the 1947 drama directed by Henry Hathaway, which divided critics. Some felt it had improved on the earlier version, while others felt it was inferior. The director retained the themes of crime and punishment for his next few features. "Before and After" (1996) told the story of a couple (Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep) coping with the arrest of their teenage son (Edward Furlong) for murder. "Desperate Measures" (1998) was a pallid thriller about a cop (Andy Garcia) who while searching for a potential bone marrow donor for his dying daughter locates a perfect match in a criminal (Michael Keaton). "Our Lady of the Assassins" (2000) was perhaps Schroeder's most personal feature in years. Filmed on location in Medellin, Colombia and based on the book by Fernando Vallejo, it told of a gay writer who returns to his hometown and discovers it is overrun with criminals and drug dealers. The author, though, begins a love affair with one of these young thugs with tragic results. Schroeder's next film was "Murder by Numbers" (2002), about a pair of high school students who commit what they think is the perfect murder and the novice FBI profiler out to track them down.

Filmography

Life Events

1962

Formed production company, Les Films du Losange, with Eric Rohmer

1962

First short film as producer, Rohmer's "La Boulangere de Monceau"

1963

Was production assistant to Jean-Luc Godard on "Les Carabiniers"; acted in one scene in the film

1965

First feature as producer, "Paris vu par.../Six in Paris", an omnibus film with segments by Douchet, Rouch, Pollet, Rohmer, Godard and Chabrol; acted in Rouch's sequence "Gare du Nord"

1969

Produced Rohmer's acclaimed "Ma Nuit Chez Maud/My Night at Maud's"

1969

Feature directing and co-writing (with Paul Gegauff) debut, "More"

1972

Reteamed with Rohmer as producer of "Chloe in the Afternoon"

1972

With Gegauff, co-wrote "La Vallee/The Valley"; also directed

1974

Served as producer of Jacques Rivette's "Celine and Julie Go Boating"; also acted in film

1974

Wrote and directed the fascinating documentary "General Idi Amin Dada"

1976

Directed and co-wrote "Maitresse"

1978

Acted in "Roberte"; Schroeder has claimed this is favorite performing job

1978

Produced Rohmer's "Perceval le Gallois/Perceval"

1981

Was producer of Rivette's film "Le Pont du Nord"

1987

Directed and produced "Barfly," based on Bukowski's life

1990

Directed Jeremy Irons in "Reversal of Fortune"; based on Claus von Bulow's trial for the attempted murder of his socialite wife; nominated for a Best Director Academy Award

1992

Directed the "roommate-from-hell" thriller "Single White Female"

1994

Acted in Patrice Chereau's "La Reine Margot/Queen Margot"

1995

Helmed "Kiss of Death"

1996

Teamed Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep in the family drama "Before and After"

1996

Portrayed the president of France in "Mars Attacks!"

1998

Helmed the thriller "Desperate Measures"

2000

Garnered praise and accolades for helming "Our Lady of the Assassins/La Virgen de los Sicarios"

2002

Directed "Murder by Numbers", about two high school students who commit a murder and are tracked by an FBI profiler

2007

Directed "Terror's advocate" about terrorism in the last 50 years seen trough the eyes of a lawyer, Jacques Vergès, and his clients; earned a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary