Claude Autant-Lara worked in film at a period when the medium itself was still changing shape.
The record lists Claude Autant-Lara as French film director (1901–2000).
Claude Autant-Lara was born at Luzarches in 1901. His recorded nationality is France. He trained at École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs and Lycée Janson-de-Sailly.
The studio system was at its height in this period: contracts were long, the output was industrial, and a handful of studios decided who worked.
Claude Autant-Lara is credited as screenwriter, film director and politician.
Among his best-known works are Devil in the Flesh, Keep an Eye on Amelia and The Red Inn. The screen flattens effort: a performance that took months reads as a few unhurried minutes.
That the work was made from France shaped it: national industries differ in what they finance, who they cast and which audiences they can reach.
Claude Autant-Lara died in 2000, aged 99. The films remain, which is the only form in which a screen career survives.
Achievements
- Notable work: Devil in the Flesh
- Notable work: Keep an Eye on Amelia
- Notable work: The Red Inn
- Notable work: La Traversée de Paris
- Worked as screenwriter, film director and politician
