- Coutard, Raoul
- (September 16, 1924, Paris, France - )A reporter and photographer, he learned his craft in the French army's Cinematographic Service. From 1945 to 1956, he was a member of the French expeditionary forces as a correspondent and photographer and published his reports in such magazines as Life, Paris-Match, and Radar. He befriended Pierre Schoendoerffer, who offered him work as a cinematographer on his first movies (1957 Than le Pêcheur, short; 1958 La Passe du Diable / I figli di Gengis-Khan / El desfiladero del diablo, France / Italy / Spain, shot in 1956; 1959 Ramuntcho; Pêcheur d'Islande). His filmography as a cinematographer includes almost eighty movies, notably directed by Jean-Luc Godard (1960 A Bout de Souffle / UK: By a Tether / UK and USA: Breathless; 1961 Une Femme est une Femme / La donna è donna / USA: A Woman Is a Woman; 1962 Vivre sa Vie: Film en Douze Tableaux / Vivre sa Vie / UK: It's My Life / USA: My Life to Live; 1963 Le Petit Soldat / UK and USA: The Little Soldier; Les Carabiniers / UK: The Soldiers, France / Italy; Le Mépris / Il disprezzo / USA: Contempt, France / Italy; 1964 Bande à Part / UK: The Outsiders / USA: Band of Outsiders; Les plus belles Escroqueries du Monde / Le più belle truffe del mondo / De Wereld wil bedrogen worden / UK and USA: The Beautiful Swindlers / The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers / World's Greatest Swindlers, episode "Le Grand Escroc", France / Italy / Netherlands / Japan; Une Femme mariée: Suite de Fragments tournés en 1964 / Une Femme mariée / UK and USA: A Married Woman; 1965 Alphaville, une étrange Aventure de Lemmy Caution / Agente Lemmy Caution, missione Alphaville / UK: Alphaville, a Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution / Al-phaville, a Strange Case of Lemmy Caution / USA: Dick Tracy on Mars, France / Italy; Pierrot le Fou / Il bandito delle ore undici / Il bandito delle undici / UK: Crazy Pete / Pierrot Goes Wild / UK and USA: Pierrot le Fou, France / Italy; 1966 Made in U.S.A.; 1967 Deux ou Trois Choses que je sais d'elle / UK and USA: Two or Three Things I Know About Her; La Chinoise; Week-End / Week-End, un uomo e una donna dal sabato alla domenica / USA: Weekend, France / Italy; 1982 Passion / USA: Godard's Passion, France / Switzerland; 1983 Prénom Carmen / USA: First Name: Carmen), François Truffaut (1960 Tirez sur le Pianiste / UK: Shoot the Pianist / USA and Canada: Shoot the Piano Player; 1962 Jules et Jim / UK and USA: Jules and Jim; L'Amour a Vingt Ans / L'amore a vent'anni / Liebe mit Zwanzig / Hatachi no koi / Milosc dwudziestolatkow / USA: Love at Twenty, episode "Antoine et Colette", France / Italy / West Germany / Japan / Netherlands; 1964 La Peau douce / Angustia / USA: The Soft Skin, France / Portugal; 1968 La Mariée était en noir / La sposa in nero / UK and USA: The Bride Wore Black, France / Italy), Jacques Demy (1961 Lola / Donna di vita, France / Italy), and Costa-Gavras (1969 Z, also actor, France / Algeria; 1970 L'Aveu / La confes-sione / UK and USA: The Confession, France / Italy). He also was the cinematographer of several Briitish and American productions (1965 Scruggs / A Game Called Scruggs, David Hart, UK; 1967 The Sailor from Gibraltar, Tony Richardson, UK; 1968 Rocky Road to Dublin, documentary, Peter Lennon, Ireland; 1969 The Southern Star / L'Etoile du Sud, Sidney Hayers, UK / France; 1972 Embassy / Target Embassy, Gordon Hessler, UK; The Jerusalem File / Jerusalem, Jerusalem, John Flynn, USA) and two Pierre Schoendoerffer masterpieces (1965 La 317e Section / Sangre en Indochina / UK and USA: 317th Platoon / 317th Section, France / Spain; 1977 Le Crabe-Tambour / US video: Drummer-Crab). He served as technical supervisor (1980 Tout dépend des Filles, Pierre Fabre) and authored an autobiography (2007 L'Impériale de Van Su: Comment je suis entré dans le Cinéma en dégustant une Soupe chinoise, Editions Ramsay).Filmography1970 ◘ Hoah-Binh / USA: Hoa Binh / The Bamboo Incident (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)1980 ◘ La Légion saute sur Kolwezi / Operation Legrand / US video: Military Coup in Kolwezi1982 ◘ S.A.S. à San Salvador / S.A.S., Malko im Auftrag des Pentagon / UK video: Terminate With Extreme Prejudice (France / West Germany)
Encyclopedia of French film directors . Philippe Rège. 2011.
