Blier, Bertrand

(1939- )

   Actor, director, and screenwriter. In the late 1950s, Bertrand Blier assisted directors such as John Berry and Jean Delannoy. In the early 1960s he worked as a second assistant to George Lautner before directing his first two films, the shorts Hitler, connais pas (1963) and La Grimace (1966). His first feature film was the thriller Si j'étais un espion (1967), starring his father, the great actor Bernard Blier. Bertrand Blier emerged as a significant filmmaker in the 1970s after the release of Les Valseuses (1974), which was based on his own novel. It was followed by Calmos (1976) and Préparez vos mouchoirs (1977), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1978. Both Les Valseuses and Préparez vos mouchoirs helped to launch Gérard Depardieu's career and both costarred Patrick Dewaere.

   Depardieu played leading roles in several of Blier's films, including Buffet Froid (1979) — which also featured Bernard Blier— Tenue de soirée (1986), Trop belle pour toi (1989), Merci la vie (1991), and Les Acteurs (2000). Trop belle pour toi won Césars for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Scenario, in addition to the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes. Blier is also an accomplished screenwriter, having won Césars for Best Scenario for Buffet Froid and Notre Histoire (1984). In the 1990s films, Blier worked with actress Anouk Grinberg, who played leading roles in Merci La Vie, Un, deux, trois soleil (1993) and Mon homme (1996). His other films include Beau-père (1981), starring Dewaere; La femme de mon pote (1983), featuring Coluche and Isabelle Huppert; Les côtelettes (2003), with Philippe Noiret and Michel Bouquet; and Combien tu m'aimes? (2005), with Monica Bellucci and Bernard Campan.

   Critics have observed that Blier's films are grounded in theater. His work has been compared especially to the theater of the absurd. Scholars have noted several characteristics of the absurd in Blier's work, such as the use of incongruous plots and audience alienation, or the abandonment of traditional conflict resolutions and character development. He also worked with actors whose careers were fostered in France's café-théâtres, such as Michel Blanc and Josiane Balasko. Blier has often been accused of misogyny because of the recurrent scenes of violence against women and the negative portrayals of female characters. Other critics have recognized his reversal of conventional gender roles that complicate established notions of femininity and masculinity.