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Director Jacques Rozier, who was regarded as the last surviving member of the French New Wave, has died. He was 96.

French media reported that a close acquaintance of the filmmaker had confirmed his death on June 2 in his native city of Paris, after a short spell in hospital.

Rozier never achieved the renown of Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, Claude Chabrol or Eric Rohmer, but his work had its place in the French New Wave and pushed boundaries in ways that laid a path for filmmakers today.

After studying at the early French cinema school Idhec, Rozier cut his directing teeth as a TV assistant, while making his own shorts including Rentrée des Classes (1956) and Blue Jeans (1958).

The latter work played at a short film festival in the city of Tours, where it caught the attention of then-film critic Godard, who highlighted it as one of the...

Hungry for those wet Parisian streets, the city lights, and cadavres en lambeaux in the pale moonlight? Enter three highly atmospheric, star-studded Crime Noirs, one of which is a stealth classic of Gallic Pulp. Stars Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, and Annie Girardot bring the tales of à sang froid malice and mayhem to life. The films featured are Gilles Grangier’s Speaking of Murder (Le rouge est mis) and Édouard Molinaro’s Back to the Wall (Le dos au mur) and Witness in the City (Un Témoin dans la ville). Beware of French husbands when cucklolded — they show no pity. Bonne chance, victimes!

French Noir Collection

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Kl Studio Classics

1957-59 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 265 minutes / Street Date November 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95

Starring: Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, Annie Girardot, Paul Frankeur,...

Director of witty French comedy-thrillers

Since the dawn of cinema, France has simultaneously and uninterruptedly produced good mainstream movies and arthouse films. Georges Lautner, who has died aged 87, unabashedly claimed that the almost 50 films he directed from 1958 to 1992 belong to the former category. Lautner's mainly cops-and-robbers movies were among the most popular films ever made in France.

"I didn't want glory or to make masterpieces but popular films that would please the greatest number," he once explained. "International recognition didn't interest me. I was passionate at what I did with my faithful team. We made the films we wanted as quickly as possible. But with time, my commercial films appear almost intellectual."

Lautner's underestimated films were never invited to Cannes until, in 2012, the festival put together a belated "Homage to Georges Lautner". His death prompted President François Hollande to declare that his films had "become part of the cinematic heritage...