BIOGRAPHY
1913 Born 18th March in Bordeaux, France
1920 The Clément family move to Paris
1929 René Clément enters the ‘École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs’ (Section Architecture)
1931 Shoots his first amateur film ÉVASION (ESCAPE)
Shoots CÉSAR CHEZ LES GAULOIS, (CÆSAR IN GAUL) his only cartoon
1933 His father, Maurice Clément, dies, aged 41. René Clément gives up his architectural training and starts working to support his mother and his two much younger siblings.
1934 Called up for military service and assigned to the French Army Film Unit.
1935 Shoots MANŒUVRES DE TANKS EN TEMPS DE GUERRE (WARTIME TANK
MANŒUVRES) during his military service.
1936 Military service ends.
Directs his first commercial short film, SOIGNE TON GAUCHE (WATCH YOUR LEFT HOOK) in which Jacques Tati first appears as a postman.
1937 – 1941 Directs the documentary LA BIÈVRE, FILLE PERDUE (THE LOST RIVER BIÈVRE)
Directs the documentary LA SYMPHONIE FRANÇAISE DU TRAVAIL (A SONG OF PRAISE TO FRENCH INDUSTRIALIZATION)
Cameraman on AU SEUIL DE L’ISLAM (GATEWAY TO ISLAM) shot in Tunisia.
Director Louis Fehr-Lutz.
Cameraman on a series of documentaries directed by J.K Raymond-Millet and made for the French Ministry of Agriculture. Among them : OCCITANIE (OCCITANIA); AUDE, BELLE INCONNUE (AUDE,THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER) ALBI; LA HAUTE VALLÉE DE LA GARONNE (WHERE THE GARONNE RIVER RISES); TOULOUSE CONNUE…ET INCONNUE (TOULOUSE KNOWN…AND UNKNOWN
1938 Directs L’ARABIE INTERDITE (FORBIDDEN ARABIA) in the Yemen, for the archæologist and geologist Jules Barthoux
1939 Directs LE TRIAGE DE TRAPPES (THE TRAPPES MARSHALLING YARD) for the SNCF (the French railways)
Called up at the start of the second world war (10th reconnaissance unit, St. Cloud.) and posted to Alsace
1940 Demobilized in Castres, (Tarn)
Married Bella Gurwitsch, a russian refugee
Works on films in and around Nice for the Centre artistique et technique des jeunes du cinéma (CATJC, later IDHEC, then FEMIS)
1941 2nd Unit cameraman for BLIND VENUS, directed by Abel Gance in Nice.
1942 Cameraman for LA GRANDE CHARTREUSE (CHARTREUSE ABBEY) directed by Louis Fehr-Lutz.
Directs CHEFS DE DEMAIN (LEADERS OF TOMORROW) and LA GRANDE PASTORALE (RURAL TRADITIONS) for the CATJC
1943 Seriously injured (falls from moving train) while directing CEUX DU RAIL (RAILWAYMEN) for the CATJC/SNCF
1944 1st assistant on BOX OF DREAMS, directed by Yves Allégret in Nice
When the Germans replace the Italians, take control of the south of France and impose their STO (Compulsory Work Service in Germany) he flees to Paris, where it is easier to hide.
1944 – 1946 Prepares and directs his first feature-length film BATTLE OF THE RAILS
Directs MR. ORCHID, starring French actor Noël-Noël
Technical advisor on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, directed by Jean Cocteau
1946 – 1947 Prepares and directs THE DAMNED
1948 – 1949 Prepares and directs THE WALLS OF MALAPAGA
1950 Prepares and directs GLASS CASTLE
1951 – 1952 Prepares and directs FORBIDDEN GAMES
1952 – 1954 Prepares and directs KNAVE OF HEARTS
1954 – 1956 Prepares and directs GERVAISE
1956 – 1958 Prepares and directs THE SEA WALL
1959 – 1960 Prepares and directs PURPLE NOON
1960 – 1961 Prepares and directs THE JOY OF LIVING
1961 – 1963 Prepares and directs TODAY WE LIVE
1963 – 1964 Prepares and directs THE LOVE CAGE
1964 – 1966 Prepares and directs IS PARIS BURNING ?
1966 – 1967 Preparation and location scouting for ÉCRIT SUR LE SABLE (WRITTEN ON THE SAND) in Israel.
1968 Aften ten days of shooting WRITTEN ON THE SAND in Spain, left the production. (The film was completed by André de Toth and released as PLAY DIRTY)
1969 – 1970 Prepares and directs RIDER ON THE RAIN
1970 – 1971 Prepares and directs THE DEADLY TRAP
1971 – 1972 Prepares and directs AND HOPE TO DIE
1974 – 1975 Prepares and directs WANTED : BABY SITTER
1976 – 1979 Writing the screenplay LE SECRET DES DIEUX (THE SECRET OF THE GODS)
1980 – 1982 Preparations for shooting LE SECRET DES DIEUX delayed by a heart attack
1986 Elected to L’Institut de France (Académie des Beaux-Arts)
Death of Bella Clément
1987 Married Johanna Harwood, Irish scriptwriter
1989 Last chance to shoot LE SECRET DES DIEUX falls through.
1996 Died in Monaco, March 17th. Temporary burial in Menton, Alpes-Maritimes.
1997 René Clément now rests in peace, as he had wished, in the grounds of his Foundation in south-western France.
René Clément’s grave
