François Reichenbach

Directing

François Reichenbach

Born 1921-07-03 · Paris, France

François Arnold Reichenbach (3 July 1921 – 2 February 1993) was a French film director, cinematographer producer and screenwriter. He directed 40 films between 1954 aEarly life François Reichenbach was born in 1921 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. His father Bernard Reichenbach was a successful businessman and his mother Germaine Angèle Sarah Monteux had a passion for music, which she passed on to young François. His maternal grandfather Gaston Monteux was a wealthy industrialist: he was one of the first to buy paintings by Chagall, Braque, Picasso, Soutine, Utrillo and Modigliani. In his memoirs François Reichenbach says: "At the age of five I was terrified by all the faces in the paintings. And I became a forger. I added mustaches and hairs to the nudes of Modigliani. This hoax takes on another dimension when you know that I made a film with Orson Welles about the forger Elmyr de Hory in 1973. He is the nephew of the industrialist and manuscript and book collector Jacques Guérin and the cousin of the film producer Pierre Braunberger, who encouraged him to make films. During the Second World War, François Reichenbach went to Geneva. Although he was born in France, he also has Swiss nationality because his paternal grandfather, Arnold Reichenbach, is a rich Swiss industrialist working in the embroidery industry in St. Gallen. He studied music at the Geneva Conservatory of Music, where he met the film director Gérard Oury. After the Liberation, he wrote songs, notably for Édith Piaf and Marie Dubas. Then, remembering the huge collection of paintings of his childhood, he left for the United States with an emigrant card to sell paintings. He started in New York as an advisor to American museums for the purchase of works of art in Europe, then he sold master paintings. He spent several years in the United States. On his deathbed, François Reichenbach confided to Danièle Thompson his wish to be buried in Limoges where he had spent his vacations in his youth. Faced with the protests of the screenwriter, arguing that it would be inconvenient to visit him, the filmmaker replied "Those who love me will take the train". This quote inspired Danièle Thompson to write the title of the film Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train (Those who love me will take the train) by Patrice Chéreau, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Charles Berling and Vincent Perez. François Reichenbach died on February 2, 1993, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a posh neighbourhood near the capital. He is buried in the Louyat cemetery in Limoges. This pioneer of the New Wave through the importance of his cinematographic work makes this man, with a free and respectful look at others, a privileged witness of his time. He always has a camera loaded on the back seat of his car to film immediately just in case, because he likes to "film everything that moves ". The famous magazine Cahiers du cinéma wrote: "François Reichenbach was born with a camera in his eye". ... Source: Article "François Reichenbach" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Acting credits

F for Fake poster
7.4

Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.

F for Fake

1973

J'ai tout donné poster
9.3

An intimate cinéma vérité style documentary following french mega star Johnny Hallyday's summer tour.

J'ai tout donné

1972

Life Love Death poster
5.5

François Toledo, married businessman and father, falls head-over-heels in love with Janine, a work colleague. However, he is soon found out: after three dates, he strangles some prostitutes, when, the victim of blackmail, he becomes dishonored. He is taken to court, and sentenced to be killed by a guillotine.

Life Love Death

1969

Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure poster
9.0

This documentary recounts the life of the late composer Michel Legrand, known for his works on Les Parapluies de Cherbourg or Les Demoiselles De Rochefort with the famous director Jacques Demy.

Michel Legrand, sans demi-mesure

2018

Houston, Texas poster
9.3

A film-crew follow the investigation of a cop killing.

Houston, Texas

1981

L’Indiscret poster
7.0

Study of the passengers of a steamship during a Mediterranean cruise. (uniFrance)

L’Indiscret

1974

Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson poster
NR

A documentary, originally produced in 1966 for the French TV series "Pour le plaisir," about Robert Bresson's film "Au Hasard Balthazar," featuring interviews and discussions with Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, Marguerite Duras and others.

Un metteur en ordre: Robert Bresson

1966

Behind the camera

Repeated Absences poster
4.6

François Naulet turns his bedroom into an island of drugs, loneliness and despair.

Repeated Absences

1972

F for Fake poster
7.4

Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.

F for Fake

1973

F for Fake poster
7.4

Documents the lives of infamous fakers Elmyr de Hory and Clifford Irving. De Hory, who later committed suicide to avoid more prison time, made his name by selling forged works of art by painters like Picasso and Matisse. Irving was infamous for writing a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. Welles moves between documentary and fiction as he examines the fundamental elements of fraud and the people who commit fraud at the expense of others.

F for Fake

1973

In Memory of Rock poster
8.0

The rock-wild youth of the 1960s during the apparitions of their idols.

In Memory of Rock

1963

In Memory of Rock poster
8.0

The rock-wild youth of the 1960s during the apparitions of their idols.

In Memory of Rock

1963

Portrait: Orson Welles poster
6.9

Excerpts and fragments from different interviews with Orson Welles making a statement to journalists in fluent French about his career and his conception of life.

Portrait: Orson Welles

1968

Portrait: Orson Welles poster
6.9

Excerpts and fragments from different interviews with Orson Welles making a statement to journalists in fluent French about his career and his conception of life.

Portrait: Orson Welles

1968

Arthur Rubinstein: The Love of Life poster
6.9

Documentary about Polish-American pianist, Arthur Rubinstein.

Arthur Rubinstein: The Love of Life

1969

J'ai tout donné poster
9.3

An intimate cinéma vérité style documentary following french mega star Johnny Hallyday's summer tour.

J'ai tout donné

1972

Mexico Mexico poster
8.5

"Mexico begins where the roads end ”. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes tells us about the history of Mexico: its invasions, its revolutions, its sacred lands, its forgotten legends, its religious rituals and this frightening misery. François Reichenbach and his camera sink into the dust, on this sacred land, where "the land never ends."

Mexico Mexico

1968

The Right of the Maddest poster
6.4

The guardian of a nursing home lends a compassionate ear to the complaints of two new pensioners who love each other and have only one dream: to see the sea. To help them realize their dream, the brave man steals the car of the director. She quickly discovers the crime and drags her pale husband to the pursuit of the trio, aboard a tanker truck...

The Right of the Maddest

1973

The Right of the Maddest poster
6.4

The guardian of a nursing home lends a compassionate ear to the complaints of two new pensioners who love each other and have only one dream: to see the sea. To help them realize their dream, the brave man steals the car of the director. She quickly discovers the crime and drags her pale husband to the pursuit of the trio, aboard a tanker truck...

The Right of the Maddest

1973

Sex O’Clock USA poster
5.4

The American sexual revolution in motion through Reichenbach's sharp eye: peep shows, gay theatre, X-rated film shoots...

Sex O’Clock USA

1976

Illuminations poster
6.5

Light is everywhere. Sunlight illuminates the beauty of solitary landscapes. Twilight, on the other hand, illuminates New York City, a city both swarming with people and spectral. This is a mysterious spectacle, enhanced by Rimbaud's poetry and Michel Legrand's music.

Illuminations

1963

13 Days in France poster
6.7

This colorful documentary chronicles the events of the 1968 Winter Olympics in France. The events made international celebrities of skater Peggy Fleming and skier Jean-Claude Killy for their gold-medal performances. The camera accurately catches the speed of bobsleds and downhill racers and ski jumpers as they race for the gold. President Charles DeGaulle is shown observing the action over 13 days, which saw France earn the best performance to date in the winter games.

13 Days in France

1968

The Lovers of the France poster
9.0

Seeing an opportunity to make a financial recovery for the family, a nobleman attempts to wed his son to his wealthy friend's daughter. His plan is to send the boy for a cruise on the SS France with the prospective female. Upon arriving to meet the lovely girl, the young man switches places with his valet. Unbeknownst to him, however, is the fact that the girl has pulled a similar deception. Though Jean-Marc Ripert is responsible for much of the cinematography in this New Wave comedy, it is Francois Reichenbach who handled the camera for many of the ocean-liner scenes.

The Lovers of the France

1964

The Marines poster
5.9

François Reichenbach follows a group of young men from the day they enlist in the US Marine Corps, all the way through basic training.

The Marines

1957

Houston Texas poster
8.0

A report on this extraordinary boom town that owes its fortune to oil.

Houston Texas

1956

America as Seen by a Frenchman poster
6.9

At the end of the 1950s, French documentarian François Reichenbach spent eighteen months traveling the United States, documenting its diverse regions, their inhabitants, and their pastimes. The result is a journey through a multitude of different Americas, filtered through a French sensibility.

America as Seen by a Frenchman

1960

America as Seen by a Frenchman poster
6.9

At the end of the 1950s, French documentarian François Reichenbach spent eighteen months traveling the United States, documenting its diverse regions, their inhabitants, and their pastimes. The result is a journey through a multitude of different Americas, filtered through a French sensibility.

America as Seen by a Frenchman

1960

Medicine Ball Caravan poster
7.3

Documentary of a 154-person bus and truck tour that set out to spread the gospel of flower power to the hinterlands of the U.S.

Medicine Ball Caravan

1971

Do You Hear the Dogs Barking? poster
7.3

Carrying his son on his back, a man travels from place to place looking for a doctor to treat the sick boy. As they journey, the indio father tells the boy stories to keep him distracted. These stories reveal the life of native peoples in Mexico, both in the countryside and in cities, and they shed light on characteristic beliefs and rituals.

Do You Hear the Dogs Barking?

1974

Do You Hear the Dogs Barking? poster
7.3

Carrying his son on his back, a man travels from place to place looking for a doctor to treat the sick boy. As they journey, the indio father tells the boy stories to keep him distracted. These stories reveal the life of native peoples in Mexico, both in the countryside and in cities, and they shed light on characteristic beliefs and rituals.

Do You Hear the Dogs Barking?

1974

Houston, Texas poster
9.3

A film-crew follow the investigation of a cop killing.

Houston, Texas

1981