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Henri Decaë
Actor, Editor, Additional Credits
Born July 31, 1915Died March 7, 1987 (71 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henri Decaë (31 July 1915 – 7 March 1987) gained fame as a cinematographer entering the film industry as a sound engineer and sound editor. He was a photojournalist in the French army during World War II. After the war he began making documentary shorts, directing and photographing industrial and commercial films. In 1947 he made his first feature film.
Decaë is strongly associated with directors who strongly influenced, or were part of, the French New Wave. These include Jean-Pierre Melville, Louis Malle and Claude Chabrol. Decaë first worked as a cinematographer with Melville on Le Silence de la Mer (1949). Decaë also edited and mixed the sound. Although Decaë worked with Melville on Les enfants terribles, which as Williams commented (1992, p333) "...the work is more accurately to be viewed as a stunning demonstration of the cinematic possibilities of faithful literary adaptation in the hands of a gifted director", according to Marie (p 88) it was his distinctive camera work on Bob le flambeur which caught the attention of the Cahiers critics. Malle hired him for his first two features and Chabrol for his first three features. They had been lucky as Decaë was finding it hard to get work at that time as he was being informally shunned by many after participating in a critical film about the Korean War. By the time Decaë worked for François Truffaut on The 400 Blows he came with a reputation, which meant that he was the highest-paid person on the film.
Decaë's liking for natural light, his ability to work at speed as well as his excellent photographic sensibility led to him working with René Clément on several features beginning with Plein soleil (1960). It was Decaë "...who liberated the camera, from its fixed tripod. He made the New Wave possible, backing up Melville, Malle, Chabrol and Truffaut." (Marie, 2003 p 89)
Henri Decaë (31 July 1915 – 7 March 1987) gained fame as a cinematographer entering the film industry as a sound engineer and sound editor. He was a photojournalist in the French army during World War II. After the war he began making documentary shorts, directing and photographing industrial and commercial films. In 1947 he made his first feature film.
Decaë is strongly associated with directors who strongly influenced, or were part of, the French New Wave. These include Jean-Pierre Melville, Louis Malle and Claude Chabrol. Decaë first worked as a cinematographer with Melville on Le Silence de la Mer (1949). Decaë also edited and mixed the sound. Although Decaë worked with Melville on Les enfants terribles, which as Williams commented (1992, p333) "...the work is more accurately to be viewed as a stunning demonstration of the cinematic possibilities of faithful literary adaptation in the hands of a gifted director", according to Marie (p 88) it was his distinctive camera work on Bob le flambeur which caught the attention of the Cahiers critics. Malle hired him for his first two features and Chabrol for his first three features. They had been lucky as Decaë was finding it hard to get work at that time as he was being informally shunned by many after participating in a critical film about the Korean War. By the time Decaë worked for François Truffaut on The 400 Blows he came with a reputation, which meant that he was the highest-paid person on the film.
Decaë's liking for natural light, his ability to work at speed as well as his excellent photographic sensibility led to him working with René Clément on several features beginning with Plein soleil (1960). It was Decaë "...who liberated the camera, from its fixed tripod. He made the New Wave possible, backing up Melville, Malle, Chabrol and Truffaut." (Marie, 2003 p 89)
Henri Decaë Filmography
| 1956 | Bob le Flambeur · as Voix |
| 1984 | La vengeance du serpent à plumes · as Director Of Photography |
| 1983 | My Other Husband · as Director Of Photography |
| 1983 | Exposed · as Director Of Photography |
| 1981 | The Professional · as Director Of Photography |
| 1981 | Est-ce bien raisonnable? · as Cinematographer |
| 1980 | Inspector Blunder · as Director Of Photography |
| 1980 | The Umbrella Coup · as Director Of Photography |
| 1980 | The Island · as Director Of Photography |
| 1980 | Le Guignolo · as Director Of Photography |
| 1980 | The Hard Way · as Director Of Photography |
| 1979 | An Almost Perfect Affair · as Director Of Photography |
| 1979 | Cop or Hood · as Director Of Photography |
| 1978 | The Boys from Brazil · as Director Of Photography |
| 1978 | These Sorcerers Are Mad · as Director Of Photography |
| 1977 | Death of a Corrupt Man · as Director Of Photography |
| 1977 | Bobby Deerfield · as Director Of Photography |
| 1977 | Focal Point · as Cinematographer |
| 1976 | Seven Nights in Japan · as Director Of Photography |
| 1975 | Operation Daybreak · as Director Of Photography |
| 1975 | La Course à l'échalote · as Director Of Photography |
| 1974 | I'm Losing My Temper · as Director Of Photography |
| 1973 | The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob · as Director Of Photography |
| 1973 | Two People · as Director Of Photography |
| 1973 | Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman · as Director Of Photography |
| 1972 | Le droit d'aimer · as Director Of Photography |
| 1971 | Delusions of Grandeur · as Director Of Photography |
| 1971 | The Light at the Edge of the World · as Director Of Photography |
| 1971 | Jo · as Director Of Photography |
| 1970 | Le cercle rouge · as Director Of Photography |
| 1970 | Hello-Goodbye · as Director Of Photography |
| 1970 | The Only Game in Town · as Director Of Photography |
| 1969 | The Sicilian Clan · as Director Of Photography |
| 1969 | Castle Keep · as Director Of Photography |
| 1967 | Diabolically Yours · as Director Of Photography |
| 1967 | The Comedians · as Director Of Photography |
| 1967 | Le Samouraï · as Director Of Photography |
| 1967 | The Thief of Paris · as Director Of Photography |
| 1967 | The Night of the Generals · as Director Of Photography |
| 1966 | Hotel Paradiso · as Director Of Photography |
| 1965 | Viva Maria! · as Director Of Photography |
| 1965 | The Sucker · as Director Of Photography |
| 1964 | Weekend at Dunkirk · as Director Of Photography |
| 1964 | Circle of Love · as Director Of Photography |
| 1964 | Joy House · as Director Of Photography |
| 1964 | The Black Tulip · as Director Of Photography |
| 1963 | Magnet of Doom · as Director Of Photography |
| 1963 | Sweet and Sour · as Director Of Photography |
| 1963 | The Bread Peddler · as Cinematographer |
| 1963 | The Day and the Hour · as Director Of Photography |
| 1962 | Sundays and Cybèle · as Director Of Photography |
| 1962 | Eva · as Director Of Photography |
| 1962 | The Seven Deadly Sins · as Director Of Photography |
| 1962 | A Very Private Affair · as Director Of Photography |
| 1961 | Lust · as Director Of Photography |
| 1961 | Léon Morin, Priest · as Director Of Photography |
| 1961 | The Joy of Living · as Director Of Photography |
| 1960 | The Good Girls · as Director Of Photography |
| 1960 | Purple Noon · as Director Of Photography |
| 1959 | Web of Passion · as Director Of Photography |
| 1959 | The 400 Blows · as Director Of Photography |
| 1959 | Witness in the City · as Director Of Photography |
| 1959 | The Cousins · as Director Of Photography |
| 1958 | The Lovers · as Director Of Photography |
| 1958 | Le Beau Serge · as Director Of Photography |
| 1958 | Elevator to the Gallows · as Director Of Photography |
| 1957 | Le désir mène les hommes · as Cinematographer |
| 1957 | S.O.S. Noronha · as Director Of Photography |
| 1956 | Bob le Flambeur · as Director Of Photography |
| 1955 | Le masque de Toutankhamon · as Director Of Photography |
| 1952 | Heart of the Casbah · as Director Of Photography |
| 1950 | The Terrible Children · as Director Of Photography |
| 1949 | The Silence of the Sea · as Director Of Photography |