Claude Sautet(1924-2000)

Noted French writer/director. First trained as a painter and sculptor, then worked as a music critic, and as a warden in an educational facility for delinquent children. Enrolled in a Parisian film school (IDHEC), 1946-48, working his way up to assistant director, screenwriter and script doctor. Turned director from 1956, first making tough, film noir-style gangster movies, later concentrating on films examining interpersonal relationships and sociological or psychological themes.

[on Minha Secretária (1995)] You put in details from your own life without actually wanting to do so expressly. I recognise that I have gone through a lot of the stages described in the film. I've known ennui, I've known misogyny, I've known misanthropy. I've gone through periods where one protects oneself as though one has been living in a fortress. I've known the moments when one is uncertain about everything in life.