Jacques Dutronc

Biography: life and films

Jacques Dutronc was born in Paris on the 28th April 1943. The son of an engineering professor, he grew up in the capital's ninth arrondissement, which allowed him to nurture his passion for cinema. However, his main passion was rock music, and he devoted much of his adolescent years to his guitar playing. In his late teens, he formed a band, El Toro et les Cyclones, and was subsequently hired as an assistant artistic director by the record company Vogue. The success of his first record Et moi, et moi, et moi in 1966 instantly established him as one of France's leading pop musicians. In 1967, he began living with the singer Françoise Hardy, with whom he would have a son, Thomas, and marry in 1981.

It was with great reluctance that Jacques Dutronc made his entry into cinema. After four years of gentle persuasion he finally agreed to make his film debut in Jean-Marie Périer's Antoine et Sébastien (1973), starring alongside veteran actor François Périer. This was immediately followed by Claude Vital's comedy thriller OK patron (1974), for which Dutronc supplied the score and theme song, L'Aventurier, later released as a single. It was in this film that Dutronc found the kind of role with which he appeared most comfortable, that of the sympathetic hoodlum - the very role Claude Lelouch reserved for him in Le Bon et les méchants (1976). In Andrzej Zulawski's L'Important c'est d'aimer (1975), he appeared alongside Romy Schneider in a more fragile role, giving a performance that established his credentials as a serious film actor.

Throughout his career, Jacques Dutronc was happy to cultivate the image of a carefree dilettante, whether it be his film work or his music. In both arenas, he was phenomenally successful and widely respected, and not only in his native France. His talents as an actor were eagerly sought after by directors, including some of great renown. Jean-Luc Godard chose him to play his alter ego in Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980); Alain Jessua partnered him with Patrick Dewaere in Paradis pour tous (1982); and Barbet Schroeder gave him one of his most substantial screen roles, that of an inveterate gambler, in Tricheurs (1984). It was as the lead in Maurice Pialat's Van Gogh (1991) that Dutronc gave what is considered his finest screen performance, in a role that won him the Best Actor César in 1992. This was followed by an enigmatic turn as a shady villain in Michel Deville's slightly deranged thriller Toutes peines confondues (1992).

From the mid-1990s, Jacques Dutronc's appearances in cinema became less frequent, but he always brought great quality and value to the films that bore his name. There is a delectable mystique about his presence in Claude Chabrol's moody thriller Merci pour le chocolat (2000), and his portrayal of a man stricken with a terminal illness in Jean-Pierre Améris's C'est la vie (2001) is harrowingly true to life. Alas, his subsequent film appearances have not had quite the same impact, but his presence on the big screen is always appreciated, whether it be in off-the-wall mainstream comedies like Gabriel Aghion's Pédale dure (2004) or hard-hitting dramas such as Xavier De Choudens's Joseph et la fille (2010). Dutronc may consider himself a dilettante but there is nothing remotely amateurish about his work, most of which shows an acute sensitivity and thoughtful intelligence. A talented singer and an accomplished actor, we should perhaps forgive him his false modesty.

Filmography

Click here to view complete list of films...