born Dec. 3, 1930, Paris, France
French film director.
He wrote film criticism for the influential journal Cahiers du cinéma before impressing audiences with his first feature film, the improvisatory and original Breathless (1960), which established him as the apostle of the New Wave . He continued to explore new techniques in films such as My Life to Live (1962), Pierrot le fou (1965), Alphaville (1965), and Weekend (1968), using the camera creatively to express political commentary. He returned to themes of more universal concern with Every Man for Himself (1979) and Passion (1982) but stirred controversy with his updated nativity story in Hail Mary! (1985). He received wide critical acclaim for Histoire(s) du Cinéma (1997), a video study of French film, and In Praise of Love (2001).