Alain Corneau, 67 RIP

by Sydney Levine
August 31, 2010 12:41 PM
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Just days before the Toronto premiere of Love Crime, Alain Corneau, the celebrated French director who won the best director Cesar for Tous Les Matins Du Monde in 1992, has died from cancer. He was 67. He started out as a jazz musician before a long career in cinema. He studied at L'IDHEC (La FEMIS), France's top film school.

From MUBI: Just last week, Jordan Mintzer reviewed Corneau's latest, Crime d'amour (Love Crime), for Variety, calling it a "taut, sinister psycho-procedural." Starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier and having just opened in theaters in France, the film is set to screen in a couple of weeks at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 1992, Corneau's Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World) swept France's César Awards, winning best film, director, cinematography (Yves Angelo), supporting actress (Anne Brochet), music (Jordi Savall), costume design (Corinne Jorry) and sound. In 2004, Corneau was awarded the Prix René Clair.

"Mr Corneau's movies included science fiction, police thrillers, a look at office politics in Japan and a mood piece about ancient India," writes Douglas Martin in the New York Times.