Bertrand Bonello
- Film director
- screenwriter
- producer
- composer
- actor
Bertrand Bonello (French: [bɛʁtʁɑ̃ bɔnɛlo]; born 11 September 1968) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer, composer and actor. His work has been associated with the New French Extremity.[2] He wrote and directed Something Organic (1998), The Pornographer (2001), Tiresia (2003), Cindy: The Doll Is Mine (2005), On War (2008), House of Tolerance (2011), Saint Laurent (2014), Nocturama (2016), Zombi Child (2019), Coma (2022), and The Beast (2023). He also starred in Portrait of the Artist (2015), and Titane (2021). He was nominated for the César Award for Best Director for Saint Laurent, and was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2015.
Early life
Bonello's background is in classical music,[3][4] and he started playing the piano at the age of five.[3] Later on he had a band, and then he discovered punk and rock music and switched from classical to pop music.[3]
He became interested in films at the age of twelve by watching horror films from directors such as David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, George A. Romero, and Lucio Fulci.[3] He decided to become a director after watching Stranger Than Paradise (1984) by Jim Jarmusch.[3] Before working as a director, he worked as a session musician on tours and on records for other artists.[3]
Career
His feature directorial debut, Something Organic, was screened in the Panorama section of the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.[1]
His second feature film, The Pornographer, won the FIPRESCI prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.[5] His third feature film, Tiresia, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
Bonello was a member of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
His 2011 film House of Tolerance, a depiction of daily life in a fin-de-siècle Parisian bordello, premiered In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[7]
His 2014 film Saint Laurent,[8] a biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[9] It received ten César Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Director.[10] The film was selected as France's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.[11]
In 2016, Bonello released the thriller Nocturama.
Bonello was the president of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
His 2019 film, Zombi Child, was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.[5]
His 2022 film Coma competed for the Encounters Award at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Award at the festival.[12][13]
Bonello's tenth feature film, The Beast, is a sci-fi romantic drama freely inspired by Henry James' 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle.[14] It had its world premiere in official competition at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival.[15]
Bonello owns the production company My New Picture, which has produced all his films since On War (2008).[16][17]
In April 2023, Love Theme Music released a soundtrack album featuring original music by Bonello that he wrote for his films.[18]
Personal life
Bonello was in a relationship with his frequent collaborator, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, with whom he had a daughter who was born in 2003.[19][20] Bonello's 2022 film Coma was dedicated to and inspired by his daughter.[20][21] He lives between Paris and Montreal.[22]
Filmography
As filmmaker
Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Screenwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor | Role | |||
1996 | Who I Am (Qui je suis) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pylade | Short film |
1998 | Something Organic (Quelque chose d'organique) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
2001 | The Pornographer | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
2002 | The Adventures of James and David | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film | |||
2003 | Tiresia | Yes | Yes | |||||
2005 | Cindy: The Doll Is Mine | Yes | Yes | Short film | ||||
2006 | My New Picture | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film | ||
2008 | On War | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also executive producer | ||
2010 | Where the Boys Are | Yes | Yes | Short film | ||||
2011 | House of Tolerance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
2012 | Die Frau | Yes | Short film | |||||
Ingrid Caven: Music and Voice | Yes | Yes | ||||||
2014 | Where Are You, Bertrand Bonello? (Où en êtes-vous, Bertrand Bonello?) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film[23] | |||
Saint Laurent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Libération journalist | |||
Portrait of the Artist | Yes | Yes | Bertrand | |||||
2016 | Nocturama | Yes | Yes | |||||
Sarah Winchester: Ghost Opera | Yes | Yes | Short film | |||||
2019 | Zombi Child | Yes | Yes | |||||
2020 | Où en êtes-vous? (Numéro 2) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film[24] | |||
2022 | Coma | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
The Dam | Yes | |||||||
2023 | The Beast | Yes | Yes |
Acting roles
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Who I Am (Qui je suis) | Pylade | Bertrand Bonello | |
2003 | Lapin intégral | Steve | Cécilia Rouaud | Short film |
2004 | Le pont des Arts | A spectator | Eugène Green | |
2006 | We Should Not Exist (On ne devrait pas exister) | Bertrand | Hervé P. Gustave | |
2012 | Hand in Hand | Prétendant Hélène Marchal | Valérie Donzelli | |
2014 | Saint Laurent | Libération journalist | Bertrand Bonello | |
2015 | Portrait of the Artist | Bertrand | Antoine Barraud | |
2021 | Titane | Alexia's father | Julia Ducournau |
Awards and nominations
Decorations
- Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (2015)[25]
References
- ^ a b c "Bertrand Bonello". La Semaine de la Critique of Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ Quandt, James (February 2004). "Flesh & Blood: Sex and violence in recent French cinema". ArtForum. Archived from the original on 2022-07-10. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- ^ a b c d e f Weston, Hillary (11 August 2017). "Behind Closed Doors: A Conversation with Bertrand Bonello". The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "Bertrand Bonello, Président of the Cinéfondation and short films Jury". Festival de Cannes. 9 March 2018. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Festival de Cannes: Bertrand Bonello biography". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Tiresia". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes 2011: Official Selection". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
- ^ "Bertrand Bonello on Cinema". Crash Magazine. 25 April 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes 2014: Official Selection". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Saint Laurent". Académie des César (in French). Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "Oscars: France Selects 'Saint Laurent' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ^ Pearce, Leonard (2 February 2022). "First Clips and Plot Details for Bertrand Bonello's Coma, Premiering at Berlinale". The Film Stage. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Two Silver Bears for French cinema at the 72nd Berlinale". UniFrance. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Roos, Gautier (25 December 2021). "[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] Le grand entretien chaos" [[INTERVIEW BERTRAND BONELLO] The Great Chaos Interview]. Chaos Reign (in French).
- ^ Vivarelli, Nick (25 July 2023). "Venice Lineup Includes Films by Bradley Cooper, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, David Fincher and More". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
- ^ "My New Picture". UniFrance. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "My New Picture [FR]". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Bertrand Bonello Film Music Album Announced". Film Music Reporter. 6 April 2023. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "L'Apollonide - Souvenirs de la Maison Close | Conversation entre Bertrand Bonello et Laure Adler". GNCR Groupement National des Cinémas de Recherche (in French). Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Berlinale | Programme - Coma". Berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ Katz, David (15 February 2022). "Bertrand Bonello • Director of Coma". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ de Baecque, Antoine (13 August 2003). ""La ville a un aspect ultime village gaulois". Bertrand Bonello à Montréal". Libération. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "Où en êtes-vous, Bertrand Bonello?". Centre Pompidou. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Finite Rants". Fondazione Prada. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres juillet 2015". Ministère de la culture et de la communication (in French). 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.
Further reading
- Bernard Stiegler, "Tirésias et la guerre du temps: Autour d'un film de Bertrand Bonello," De la misère symbolique: Tome 1. L'époque hyperindustrielle (Paris: Galilée, 2004): 163–85.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Bertrand Bonello at IMDb
- Bertrand Bonello on UniFrance
- Bertrand Bonello on AlloCiné
- Bertrand Bonello on Cineuropa
- v
- t
- e
- Quelque chose d'organique (1998)
- The Pornographer (2001)
- Tiresia (2003)
- On War (2008)
- House of Tolerance (2011)
- Saint Laurent (2014)
- Nocturama (2016)
- Zombi Child (2019)
- Coma (2022)
- The Beast (2023)
- Cindy: The Doll Is Mine (2005)