Claude Chabrol, l’artisan (2009) 53 mins

It is hard to know where to start when making a documentary about director with over fifty films to his name. In 2003 Patrick Le Gall, during the filming of Chabrol’s then latest feature La Fleur du mal (The Flower of Evil), decided to focus on the man himself in a quest to discover the personality that would become imprinted over his body of work.

An undisputed auteur, Le Gall’s title is telling: Chabrol’s films aren’t manufactured on a studio line, rather he is an artisan, who injects ostensible, personal traits to all his works. The filmmaker reminisces over the origins and genesis of this style, from his childhood to the beginnings of La Nouvelle Vague and his first feature Le Beau Serge. He continues through to his more recent work, detailing relationships with his team of recurrent actors and colleagues, his love of the French provinces and an indefatigable desire to make films.

With contributions from key figures in Chabrol’s career, including actors Isabelle Huppert, Nathalie Baye and François Cluzet, his producer Marin Karmitz and critic Jean Douchet, this is a fascinating portrait of one of the greatest figures in French cinema.