Filmmaker Claude Chabrol Dies

Claude Chabrol, one of France’s most celebrated filmmakers, died on Sunday at the age of 80. He was best known for helping to pioneer the French New Wave, a revolutionary film movement in the 1950s and 1960s that challenged classic cinematic conventions. Chabrol, like his contemporary New Wave filmmakers Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, began as a critic for the influential film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, before embarking on a filmmaking career that emphasized radical editing and narrative techniques as well as a unique visual style that was heavily influenced by Italian neorealism. Chabrol was a prolific filmmaker who directed some 60 films, including Hell and The Butcher. His last film in the director’s chair was 2009’s Bellamy. “Each time that a director disappears, a particular way of looking at the world and an expression of our humanity is lost forever,” France's Association of Film Directors said in a statement.