Known for Production
Claude Berri (1 July 1934 – 12 January 2009) was a French film director, producer, screenwriter, distributor and actor. Berri was a leading figure of the French film industry both a director and as a producer. Following a short film that won an Academy Award, Berri achieved success with his first feature film, The Two of Us (1967). He then had a varied career, producing and distributing both mainstream and avant-garde films. During the 1970s, Berri's films as a director were mostly comedies but he later found increased success with several high-profile literary adaptations. In 1986, his two-part film Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring won public and critical acclaim, becoming his best-known work. He next directed Uranus (1990) and most notably Germinal (1993). In 1997, he directed the historical biopic Lucie Aubrac. Directors whose films were produced by Berri include Roman Polanski, Jacques Demy, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Claude Sautet, Miloš Forman, Claude Zidi, Jacques Rivette, Patrice Chéreau, Alain Chabat, Abdellatif Kechiche and Dany Boon. Born Claude Beri Langmann in Paris, Berri was the son of Jewish immigrant parents. His mother, Beila (née Bercu), was from Romania, and his father, Hirsch Langmann, was a furrier from Poland. In 1943, during the Nazi occupation of France, Berri's parents entrusted him for his safety to a family in the countryside. He spent the rest of the occupation being fostered by "an antisemitic couple" who were unaware that he was Jewish. His sister, screenwriter and editor Arlette Langmann, was born after the war. Berri's original vocation was to be an actor. He began a career in the early 1950s but struggled to find roles, which prompted him to turn to directing and eventually producing. In 1965, he gained notice for The Chicken, which won the Award for best short film at the 38th Academy Awards. In 1967, Berri directed The Two of Us (Le Vieil homme et l'enfant), a partially autobiographical film that told the story of a Jewish child, entrusted during World War II to a benevolent and antisemitic old farmer who remains unaware that the boy he is caring for is a Jew. The film was a great success in France and abroad. Berri also adapted the story into a novel, released the same year as the film. During the years that followed, Berri became active as a producer and film distributor while continuing to direct his own films. Also in 1967, with his associate (later brother-in-law) Jean-Pierre Rassam, Berri bought the international distribution rights for Miloš Forman's The Firemen's Ball which was a great success and was nominated to the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Berri's company, Renn Productions, which he had founded to produce The Two of Us, gradually became a major player in the French film industry. ... Source: Article "Claude Berri" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Born
July 1, 1934
Died
January 12, 2009 (age 74)
Birthplace
Paris, France
Filmography
160 films, 10 shows


Tresor
2009 · 1h 25m
country: France
Nathalie and Jean-Pierre have been together for five years, to celebrate their anniversary, Jean-Pierre prepare a surprise present for his girlfriend: a cute four month english bullgod. Nathalie loves her present and calls the puppy "Tresor"; her relationship with the dog is close and strong since the begining but causes problems in the couple.


Hunting & Gathering
2007 · 1h 37m
country: France
When Camille falls ill, she is forced to live with Philibert and Franck.


One Stays, the Other Leaves
2005 · 1h 49m
country: France
A story about two couples, longtime friends in which both husbands engage in long-term affairs and, as the title says, ultimately one remains with his wife and one makes a new life with another woman.


The Housekeeper
2002 · 1h 31m
country: France
After his wife leaves him for another man, Jacques hires a housekeeper, Laura, to keep his Paris apartment in order. As he starts increasing her hours and spending more time with her on her days off, Jacques is torn between the pleasure of Laura's company, and the headache that such an intrusion brings to his new domain of singlehood.


Hard Off
1999 · 1h 40m
country: France
This French romantic comedy-drama concerns Claude Langmann, a middle-aged auctioneer, who is in a loving marriage with his second wife of 15 years. Though he is deeply in love with his wife and has remained faithful to her, he finds himself unable to perform in bed. His wife says she is satisfied with Claude's love and tenderness, but he visits a sex specialist anyway. There he learns of Viagra, which is not yet approved in France, though it is available in Switzerland over the counter. Soon Claude is on his way to Geneva, and eager to prove his manhood, tries to bed Agnes, his very attractive and very available assistant. His daughter, who also comes along for the trip, interferes with her own problems.


Lucie Aubrac
1997 · 1h 55m
country: France
A love story or a tale of the resistance, this poignant movie tells both the haunting story of a French resistance cell in Lyon but also the love of Lucie Aubrac for her husband...


Germinal
1993 · 2h 40m
country: Belgium
It's mid 19th century, north of France. The story of a coal miner's town. They are exploited by the mine's owner. One day the decide to go on strike, and then the authorities repress them.


Uranus
1990 · 1h 40m
country: France
After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry, who only wants to be left alone to do his job, becomes a target for Communist harassment as they try and locate a particular loyalist, and he pushes back.


Manon of the Spring
1986 · 1h 55m
country: France
In this, the sequel to Jean de Florette, Manon has grown into a beautiful young shepherdess living in the idyllic Provencal countryside. She plots vengeance on the men who greedily conspired to acquire her father's land years earlier.


Jean de Florette
1986 · 2h 2m
country: France
In a rural French village, an old man and his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water for growing their flowers, and are dismayed to hear that the man who has inherited it is moving in. They block up the spring and watch as their new neighbour tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield through the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health and his wife and daughter's hearts, they think only of getting the water.


So Long, Stooge
1983 · 1h 34m
country: France
In the 18th Arrondissement of Paris, Lambert, an aloof garage manager working the night shift at a petrol station spends his time drinking on the job, content in his own company. One night, Bensoussan, a small-time drug pusher in dire straits falls in on a stolen moped pretending to need a spark plug. The two men develop an unlikely friendship.


The School Teacher
1981 · 1h 35m
country: France
After having lost his job for having saved a child accused of shop lifting, Frédéric Barbier decides to become a school teacher with some funny results.The great comedy actor Coluche is excellent as a simple school teacher.


I Love You All
1980 · 1h 40m
country: France
Alice invites her past two lovers and her current to Christmas dinner uniting them all in her house. In sentimental flashbacks she recalls the former times with each of them. While she reminisces, she also fixates on a new relationship that blooms and dies within the same calendar year leaving her to wonder if she's meant to be with anyone for any extended time.


One Wild Moment
1977 · 1h 21m
country: France
Pierre, 44, contentedly divorced, takes his teen daughter to the Côte d'Azur along with his friend Jacques and Jacques' own teen daughter, Françoise. On the topless beaches of Saint-Tropez, Jacques and Pierre discuss marriage and being parents. Then, in a wild moment at a nighttime party, Françoise starts playing with Pierre, and one thing leads to another: they become lovers. After a couple of trysts, Pierre wants out, but Françoise declares her love for him and wants to tell her father about it. She does, but leaves out Pierre's name, so Jacques enlists Pierre's help in identifying who seduced his daughter. What will Pierre do?


The First Time
1976 · 1h 23m
country: France
Claude is in his last year of high-school, but he doesn't care much for school. Instead all his thoughts circle around girls and getting laid. But since he doesn't look very studly, he has a hard time realizing his fantasies. When he's finally got an invitation to a steamy afternoon by Carole, his father intercepts the letter...


Male of the Century
1975 · 1h 28m
country: France
The wife of an extremely jealous merchant is held hostage by a bank robber.


Sex Shop
1972 · 1h 39m
country: Germany
On the advice of a friend, Claude, married to the charming Isabelle and father of two, decided to transform his library, hardly flourishing, into a sex shop. This change of activity proves to be very lucrative and sharpens his desire to spice up his married life through various erotic experiences. Claude asks his wife to share with him the audacity he dreams of. Soon, the household meets a dentist and his wife and is engaged, without much success, to new discoveries. Isabelle, full of good will, tries to follow her husband ...


Le Cinema de Papa
1971 · 1h 35m
country: France
Claude Berri plays himself as he relates his own experiences through youth and adolescence. His father owns a profitable fur shop. Initially, Claude's father hopes his son will take over the fur shop, but he later gives in to Claude's desire to become involved in filmmaking.


The Man with Connections
1970 · 1h 31m
country: France
Following "The Two of Us", Claude is now 21 years old. Content with his life, he has a girlfriend Tania and he aspires to become an actor. When he receives his draft notice, a friend convinces Claude he can get out of military service with his connections in Paris. When the connections fall through, Claude is sent for basic training outside Paris before being shipped off to Algeria. His stops in Morocco and Algeria are uneventful as far as military action goes. He returns home with few bad memories of his army life ...


Marry Me! Marry Me!
1968 · 1h 40m
country: France
Claude and Isabella met on a beach one summer and got easily involved. But while he has dreams of settling down with a family, she just wants to have fun. When Isabelle becomes pregnant, Claude is advised by both families to marry but things get more complicated when he meets an English woman.


The Two of Us
1967 · 1h 30m
country: France
A story of the caring friendship formed between a crusty, old anti-Semite and an eight-year-old Jewish boy who goes to live with him during World War II.


The Chicken
1965 · 15m
country: France
The Chicken [Le Poulet] is a 1965 French short comedy film directed by Claude Berri. The film follows a father, mother, and son who go to visit a chicken farm. The son catches and brings home a chicken. The father plans to eat it if the chicken doesn't lay eggs. The boy aims to save the chicken and comedy ensues. It won an Oscar in 1966 for Best Short Subject.


Chance at Love
1964 · 1h 45m
country: France
Four sketches revolving around the themes of luck and love.


Les baisers
1964 · 1h 37m
country: France
A portmanteau film in which the producer, instead of as usual using already well known directors with a commercial draw, allowed five new young directors to each have a crack at an episode about romance.