Directed by Bertrand Tavernier • 1974 • France
Starring Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Denis
Clockmaker Michel Descombes (Philippe Noiret, in the first of many collaborations with director Bertrand Tavernier) finds his well-ordered life blown apart by the discovery that his son is wanted for murder. As the investigation proceeds, Michel befriends the police inspector (Jean Rochefort) in charge of his son’s case. Based on a novel by Georges Simenon, Tavernier’s masterful feature debut eschews the expected narrative machinations of a procedural to focus instead on the relationship that develops between the two men as Michel attempts to understand the motivations behind his son’s crime.
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier • 1976 • France
Starring Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, Isabelle Huppert
In nineteenth-century France, a crazed former soldier (Michel Galabru) embarks on a killing spree across the country. His crimes spark a frantic manhunt, and he soon becomes the prey of an a...
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier • 1980 • France
Starring Nathalie Baye, Gérard Lanvin, Flore Fitzgerald
On the verge of an emotional collapse, schoolteacher Laurence (Nathalie Baye) takes a week off from work in order to figure out her life, reconnecting with friends and family as she wrestles wi...
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier • 1980 • France, West Germany
Starring Romy Schneider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton
Part human drama, part sci-fi cautionary tale, Bertrand Tavernier’s DEATH WATCH unfolds in a future where death by disease has become extremely rare. When it is discovered that...