René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter, active from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was considered one of his country's leading filmmakers of the post-World War II era, and continued to work steadily through the New Wave era. He won five prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including two Best Director Awards. To date, he is the most-awarded French filmmaker at the festival.
Two of his films — The Walls of Malapaga (1949) and Forbidden Games (1952) — won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Clément's other notable films included Gervaise (1956), Purple Noon (1960), Is Paris Burning (1966), Rider on the Rain (1970), and And Hope to Die (1972). He received the Honorary César in 1984.
Clément was a co-founder and President of the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques and a President of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Early life
Born and raised in Bordeaux, Clément studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1936, he directed his first film, a 20-minute short written by and featuring Jacques Tati. Clément spent the latter part of the 1930s making documentaries in parts of the Middle East and Africa. In 1937, he and archaeologist Jules Barthou were in Yemen making preparations to film a documentary, the first ever of that country and one that includes the only known film image of Imam Yahya.
Career
Clément directed numerous short films during the 1930s and early 1940s. He was also Jean Cocteau's technical director on Beauty and the Beast (1946). Almost ten years passed before Clément directed a feature but his French Resistance film, La Bataille du rail (1945), gained much critical and commercial success. At the inaugural Cannes Film Festival, Clément was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Best Director Award. It was the first of five prizes (from 10 total nominations) Clément would receive at the festival. He was a member of the feature film jury at the 1964 festival. He directed the thriller Joy House (1964), with Delon and Jane Fonda.
In 1973 he was a member of the jury at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival. Clément continued to make a few films until his retirement in 1975, including an international success with Rider on the Rain that starred Charles Bronson and Marlène Jobert. In 1984 the French motion picture industry honored his lifetime contribution to film with a special César Award.
Clement was a founding member and a President of the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in 1968. He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1985, and served as its president in 1990.
Personal life
Clément's second wife was Irish screenwriter Johanna Harwood, whom he had met on the set of his 1954 film Monsieur Ripois.
Sexual harassment allegation
In May 2023 on Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen, Fonda alleged that Clément sexually harassed her during the film's production telling her that the film involved a love scene and that she needed to sleep with him so that he could judge her orgasm. During the production he was 51 and she was 27.
Death
Clément died in Monaco on 17 March 1996, a day before his 83rd birthday. He was buried in the local cemetery in Menton on the French Riviera, where he had spent his years in retirement.
Critical appraisal
Clément's work was often criticized by the young filmmakers of the French New Wave. François Truffaut in particular often called out Clément as indicative of the Tradition de qualité ("Tradition of Quality") that the New Wave sought to break from. Other critics have noted Clément's versatility across multiple genres, and his use of location filming.
Filmography
Feature films
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! rowspan="2" |Year
! rowspan="2" |Original title
! rowspan="2" |English title
! colspan="2" |Functioned as
! rowspan="2" |Notes
|-
!Director
!Writer
|-
| rowspan="2" |1946
|La Bataille du rail
|Battle of the Rails
|
|
|
|-
|Le Père tranquille
|Mr. Orchid
|
|
|
|-
|1947
|Les Maudits
|The Damned
|
|
|
|-
|1949
|Au-delà des grilles
|The Walls of Malapaga
|
|
|
|-
|1950
|Le Château de verre
|Glass Castle
|
|
|
|-
|1952
|Jeux interdits
|Forbidden Games
|
|
|
|-
|1954
|Knave of Hearts
|Knave of Hearts
|
|
|
|-
|1956
|Gervaise
|Gervaise
|
|
|
|-
|1957
|This Angry Age
|This Angry Age
|
|
|
|-
|1960
|Plein soleil
|Purple Noon
|
|
|Also actor; as "Waiter"
|-
|1961
|Quelle joie de vivre
|The Joy of Living
|
|
|Also actor; as "General"
|-
|1963
|Le Jour et l'Heure
|The Day and the Hour
|
|
|
|-
|1964
|Les Félins
|Joy House
|
|
|
|-
|1966
|Paris brûle-t-il?
|Is Paris Burning?
|
|
|
|-
|1969
|Le Passager de la pluie
|Rider on the Rain
|
|
|
|-
|1971
|La Maison sous les arbres
|The Deadly Trap
|
|
|
|-
|1972
|La Course du lièvre à travers les champs
|And Hope to Die
|
|
|
|-
|1975
|La Baby-Sitter
|Wanted: Babysitter
|
|
|
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Institution
!Year
!Category
!Work
!Result
!Ref.
|-
|Bodil Awards
|1954
|Best European Film
|Jeux interdits
|
|
|-
|British Academy Film Awards
|1955
|Best British Screenplay
|Knave of Hearts
|
|
|-
| rowspan="10" |Cannes Film Festival
| rowspan="4" |1946
| rowspan="2" |Palme d'Or
|Le Père tranquille
|
|
|-
|Best Director
|
|
|-
|Edgar Awards
|1962
|Best Foreign Film
|Plein soleil
|
|
|-
|French Syndicate of Cinema Critics
|1947
|Best Film
|La Bataille du rail
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |Venice Film Festival
|1952
| rowspan="2" |Golden Lion
|Jeux interdits
|
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1956
| rowspan="2" |Gervaise
|
|
|-
|FIPRESCI Prize
|
|