Chateau life 

Posted on 12.10.2024

Nourished by popular films, he knew how to share his passion... Lumière shines a spotlight on a man in the shadows of French cinema.

© DR

The subject: René Chateau (1939-2004) was most famous for his fruitful collaboration with Jean-Paul Belmondo. However, he was also a gifted communicator as well as a gratified distributor of Bruce Lee movies, an operator on the grand Parisian boulevards, nicknamed the king of (heritage) VHS. He was a jack-of-all-trades, the likes of which we rarely encounter these days. 

The method: Chateau didn't have much affection for journalists, since they generally expressed disdain for the cinema he was defending. Thus, there exist few interviews and scarcely any visual or audio references to remind us of who he was. What we do have is those close to him, including Brigitte Lahaie, his partner for a time, who recounts the story of his working-class roots, his teenage fondness for American stars (he launched a magazine called La Méthode!), and his series of odd jobs, whose trajectory would eventually propel him to the upper echelons of the film business.

Plus: Learn he was the one who organised the release of Bonnie and Clyde and convinced Serge Gainsbourg to dedicate a (magnificent) chanson to the film's pair of protagonists; discover his striking poster designs, via a collaboration with René Ferracci and then with Italian graphic designers: making Belmondo's name and face monumental, he is the star! It is also insightful to witness the inner workings of popular cinema that is perhaps ready for its critical renaissance: in fact, it instantly makes you want to run out and see Le Marginal again.

A. F.

René Chateau : panthère noire et films cultes by Jérémy Fauchoux (Documentary, 2024, 52min)
Institut Lumière (Villa) Sat 12 2:15pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Sat 12 2:30pm