Michel Deville

Directing

Michel Deville

Born — Died

1931-04-13 — 2023-02-16

Place of birth

Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

47 titles

Deville started his filmmaking career in the late 1950s, paralleling the emergence of the French New Wave directors. He never achieved the level of critical and international recognition of some of his contemporaries such as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol, possibly because of his more conventional filmmaking style. Nevertheless, his films, especially his comedies from the 1970s and 1980s, were popular in his native France.

Known for

Film credits

Series credits

Behind the camera

Death in a French Garden poster
6.0

A wealthy wife's affair with her daughter's guitar tutor is threatened when the tutor is attacked and rescued by a hired killer, leading him to suspect their secret is out.

Death in a French Garden

1985

Death in a French Garden poster
6.0

A wealthy wife's affair with her daughter's guitar tutor is threatened when the tutor is attacked and rescued by a hired killer, leading him to suspect their secret is out.

Death in a French Garden

1985

Love at the Top poster
6.1

A shy bank employee unexpectedly invites a young woman to a café, leading to a one-night stand. When he shares this with his disillusioned friend, the writer helps him navigate a dazzling social ascent.

Love at the Top

1974

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen poster
5.2

A thief falls in love with a maid and goes on the run after stealing Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen

1966

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen poster
5.2

A thief falls in love with a maid and goes on the run after stealing Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen

1966

Dossier 51 poster
6.5

A French diplomat is surveilled by a secret service to find a weakness for political control, his private life becoming 'File No. 51'.

Dossier 51

1978

Dossier 51 poster
6.5

A French diplomat is surveilled by a secret service to find a weakness for political control, his private life becoming 'File No. 51'.

Dossier 51

1978

Lucky Jo poster
6.7

Lucky Jo and his three friends are little criminals, who try to live from small burglaries. But they never have luck - ever so often something inpredictable happens to Jo and gets one of them arrested. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future. He decides to help them secretly...and unfortunately.

Lucky Jo

1964

Lucky Jo poster
6.7

Lucky Jo and his three friends are little criminals, who try to live from small burglaries. But they never have luck - ever so often something inpredictable happens to Jo and gets one of them arrested. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future. He decides to help them secretly...and unfortunately.

Lucky Jo

1964

La Lectrice poster
6.5

A young woman passionate about reading immerses herself in the adventures of a fictional character who makes reading her profession. As she explores different neighborhoods and wintertime Provence, her imagination blends with reality, revealing the mysteries behind each word.

La Lectrice

1988

La Lectrice poster
6.5

A young woman passionate about reading immerses herself in the adventures of a fictional character who makes reading her profession. As she explores different neighborhoods and wintertime Provence, her imagination blends with reality, revealing the mysteries behind each word.

La Lectrice

1988

The Art of Breaking Up poster
5.2

Lucette and Edouard: Two lovers passionate about sex, money and life. He is a spoiled but penniless child who wants it all while she is a celebrated figure of la vie parisienne who knows what she wants and what she is worth. Edouard is marrying a young, pretty and rich heiress. He comes to confess this to Lucette and to make their parting official, but he doesn’t want to leave her. He struggles with all his might to hide his betrayal but her opportunities to learn of it are countless and unpredictable.

The Art of Breaking Up

2005

The Diary of an Innocent Boy poster
6.0

Set in 18th century France, a naive 17-year-old orphan named Benjamin is taken in by his wealthy aunt, the Countess de Valandry. There, he is seduced by a variety of women, including a few flirtatious maidservants and neighboring countesses who all want to be Benjamin's "first".

The Diary of an Innocent Boy

1968

The Diary of an Innocent Boy poster
6.0

Set in 18th century France, a naive 17-year-old orphan named Benjamin is taken in by his wealthy aunt, the Countess de Valandry. There, he is seduced by a variety of women, including a few flirtatious maidservants and neighboring countesses who all want to be Benjamin's "first".

The Diary of an Innocent Boy

1968

Les Capricieux poster
8.3

In post-revolutionary France, two neighbouring aristocrats embark on a dangerous game when they agree to help a Polish agent.

Les Capricieux

1984

Summer Night in Town poster
5.6

Unable to sleep in the sweltering heat, a young couple bares their bodies --- and their souls --- to each other over one life-changing night. They didn't know each other when the night began. It got hot, they stayed in. Now they know each other better than most.

Summer Night in Town

1990

A Sweet Journey poster
6.3

Two lifelong best friends spend a weekend at a secluded cabin. Through intimate conversations and silent moments, they explore their deep understanding of each other's personalities and desires.

A Sweet Journey

1980

A Sweet Journey poster
6.3

Two lifelong best friends spend a weekend at a secluded cabin. Through intimate conversations and silent moments, they explore their deep understanding of each other's personalities and desires.

A Sweet Journey

1980

Lest We Forget poster
7.0

A compilation of 30 French filmmakers, Alain Resnais and Jean Luc Godard among them, who use film to make a plea on behalf of a political prisoner. Jean Luc Godard and Anne Marie Mieville's film concerns the plight of Thomas Wanggai, West Papuan activist who has since died in prison. The short films were commissioned by Amnesty International.

Lest We Forget

1991

Almost Peaceful poster
5.7

Set during the largely unexplored period immediately following World War II, the film follows a group of mostly Jewish Parisians who attempt to restart their lives and rekindle their capacity for happiness in the shadow of unspeakable horrors. Variety called it "thoroughly charming. Sad, gentle, and funny in the best French tradition of high quality cinema." A film by Marcelo Gomes

Almost Peaceful

2002

Raphael or the Debauched One poster
6.1

In 1830s France, a virtuous widow falls for a self-destructive debauchee obsessed with death. Initial resistance gives way to a desperate and cynical romance.

Raphael or the Debauched One

1971

The Nonentity poster
6.0

Each evening, four men – a doctor, a journalist, a professor and a merchant – meet up in a deserted bar to play cards. As they play, the bar’s owner, her downtrodden barman (nicknamed “le paltoquet”) and a strange woman in white watch from a distance. One night, the card game is disturbed when a police inspector suddenly appears and declares that a dead body has been found nearby. Certain that one of the four men is the murderer, the inspector starts his investigation. All the evidence suggests that the doctor did the deed, but we soon learn that nothing is quite what it seems…

The Nonentity

1986

The Nonentity poster
6.0

Each evening, four men – a doctor, a journalist, a professor and a merchant – meet up in a deserted bar to play cards. As they play, the bar’s owner, her downtrodden barman (nicknamed “le paltoquet”) and a strange woman in white watch from a distance. One night, the card game is disturbed when a police inspector suddenly appears and declares that a dead body has been found nearby. Certain that one of the four men is the murderer, the inspector starts his investigation. All the evidence suggests that the doctor did the deed, but we soon learn that nothing is quite what it seems…

The Nonentity

1986

Life's Little Treasures poster
5.2

This movie is about love affairs, simple pleasures of a few men and women who will gather for a few days in a villa, around a piano and the music of Gottschalk who is perhaps the main actor.

Life's Little Treasures

1994

The Woman in Blue poster
5.7

Leading man Michel Piccoli plays Pierre, a young musician who briefly catches sight of a beautiful woman dressed in blue and soon spends all of his time trying to track her down. After roaming the streets of Paris in search of the mystery woman, he recruits an old friend to help find her.

The Woman in Blue

1973

The Woman in Blue poster
5.7

Leading man Michel Piccoli plays Pierre, a young musician who briefly catches sight of a beautiful woman dressed in blue and soon spends all of his time trying to track her down. After roaming the streets of Paris in search of the mystery woman, he recruits an old friend to help find her.

The Woman in Blue

1973

A Bullet in the Gun Barrel poster
5.4

Back from Indochina, Tony and Dick, two French soldiers, are now in possession of more than 20 million, entrusted by a trafficker. They buy a nightclub in the district of Montparnasse but are soon hunted by the thug who wants to recover his money.

A Bullet in the Gun Barrel

1958

A Bullet in the Gun Barrel poster
5.4

Back from Indochina, Tony and Dick, two French soldiers, are now in possession of more than 20 million, entrusted by a trafficker. They buy a nightclub in the district of Montparnasse but are soon hunted by the thug who wants to recover his money.

A Bullet in the Gun Barrel

1958

Tender Sharks poster
9.0

While an admiral's son is hunted by secret agents, his sister plays his part on a warship.

Tender Sharks

1967

Deep Water poster
6.1

On the island of Jersey, off the French coast, Mélanie, a beautiful woman gifted with a captivating personality, enjoys having unimportant love affairs that her husband Victor, a perfumer older than her, seems to endure with total indifference.

Deep Water

1981

Deep Water poster
6.1

On the island of Jersey, off the French coast, Mélanie, a beautiful woman gifted with a captivating personality, enjoys having unimportant love affairs that her husband Victor, a perfumer older than her, seems to endure with total indifference.

Deep Water

1981

The Bear and the Doll poster
6.2

A quiet cellist living in the countryside has his life disrupted when he accidentally bumps into a wealthy, temperamental woman in a Rolls-Royce. Angered by his indifference to her charm, she attempts to seduce him, but he resists her attempts to invade his peaceful life.

The Bear and the Doll

1970

The Bear and the Doll poster
6.2

A quiet cellist living in the countryside has his life disrupted when he accidentally bumps into a wealthy, temperamental woman in a Rolls-Royce. Angered by his indifference to her charm, she attempts to seduce him, but he resists her attempts to invade his peaceful life.

The Bear and the Doll

1970

Tonight or Never poster
5.6

A theatrical director's relationship with his aspiring actress girlfriend begins to unravel when she fails to land a role in his play.

Tonight or Never

1961

Tonight or Never poster
5.6

A theatrical director's relationship with his aspiring actress girlfriend begins to unravel when she fails to land a role in his play.

Tonight or Never

1961

Sachs' Disease poster
6.5

Dr. Bruno Sachs, the only medical practitioner in a small French town, seems on the surface to be compassionate and dedicated. However, in private he is not happy in his work and does not like most of his patients. Here he meets Pauline Kasser, a young woman, and they are attracted to each other...

Sachs' Disease

1999

Sachs' Disease poster
6.5

Dr. Bruno Sachs, the only medical practitioner in a small French town, seems on the surface to be compassionate and dedicated. However, in private he is not happy in his work and does not like most of his patients. Here he meets Pauline Kasser, a young woman, and they are attracted to each other...

Sachs' Disease

1999

The Gods Must Be Daring poster
4.5

A priceless statuette "Dancing God" is transfered from Africa to France. Scoundrels of all stripes are dreaming of steeling it. The most clever of them are trying to replace the original with the copy. Chases, adventures, breathtaking stunts, shootouts - life is not worth a penny, when the priceless treasure is on stake.

The Gods Must Be Daring

1997

The Gods Must Be Daring poster
4.5

A priceless statuette "Dancing God" is transfered from Africa to France. Scoundrels of all stripes are dreaming of steeling it. The most clever of them are trying to replace the original with the copy. Chases, adventures, breathtaking stunts, shootouts - life is not worth a penny, when the priceless treasure is on stake.

The Gods Must Be Daring

1997

Because, Because of a Woman poster
5.1

A young man is a collector of feminine conquests. One morning, leaving one of his mistresses he is addressed by one of his past flirts. As revenge, she denounces him later to the police as the murderer of her fiance who was found dead the same morning. With the help of his mistresses and some new ones he makes on the road, the young man goes in search of the man he thinks is the killer, then his blond consort with whom he fell in love at the first sight the evening before.

Because, Because of a Woman

1963