One of the most stylish directors currently working in France, Patrice Leconte
leapt to international attention with the highly acclaimed MONSIEUR HIRE.
It was his ninth feature -- but his first drama -- and it followed more
than a decades worth of comedies known for their swift pace and visual elegance.
A graduate of IDHEC, France's most prestigious film school, Leconte worked
as a cartoonist for the satirical publication PILOTE, while making, at the
same time, a series of well-received short films. In 1975, he made his
feature debut with LES VECES ETAIENT FERMES D' L'INTERIEUR (starring Jean
Rochefort), which brought the spirit of the contemporary comic-strip to
the screen. Leconte worked in television for the next few years and also
made a umber of commercials. In 1978, at the invitation of the well-known
"Cafe-Theatre," Le Splendide, Leconte directed the Splendid company
in LES BRONZÉS, which went on to become a huge success. It also
launched the screen careers of such stars as Michel Blanc, Josiane Balasko,
and Thierry Lhermitte, among others, and spawned a popular sequel, LES BRONZÉS
FONT DU SKI.
Leconte went on to do three successful films with Cannes award-winning actor
Michel Blanc, which they wrote as a team. His 1985 film, L ES SPECIALISTES,
was his first without Blanc and was one of the biggest box office hits of
the year. 1987's TANDEM was his second collaboration with RIDICULE star
Jean Rochefort. But it was MONSIEUR HIRE, which had it's world premiere
at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, that cemented Leconte's reputation, both
as a film stylist of international stature and as an observer of romance
and its idiosyncrasies. After T H E HAIRDRESSER'S HUSBAND, was the romantic
comedy TANGO, starring Philippe Noiret, Michel Piccoli, Thierry Lhermitte
and Richard Bohringer. In 1994, Leconte directed YVONNE'S PERFUME which
starred JeanPierre Marielle, Hippolyte Girardot and Sandra Majani, and Leconte'
s THE GRAND DUKES, starring Jean-Pierre Marielle, Philippe Noiret, Jean
Rochefort, and Catherine Jacob was released in 1995. RIDICULE, his most
recent film, stars Fanny Ardant, Charles Berling, Bernard Giraudeau, Judith
Godreche, and Jean Rochefort.
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