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n the '90s Olivier Assayas emerged as one of the key figures in the new generation of French filmmakers. As a former critic for Cahiers du Cinema and a die-hard cinephile, he makes his films both personal and referential to the works of directors that he adores. His father was a director/screenwriter in the 1940s who later worked mainly for TV. When it was increasingly difficult for him to work because of a health condition, Olivier started to help him, first merely as a secretary, and then ghostwriting a few screenplays for the Maigret TV series. In the late 1970s he joined the team of influential film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, that once launched the French New Wave. While working for Cahiers he wrote essays on his favorite European filmmakers, Robert Bresson, Ingmar Bergman, Andrei Tarkovsky, and published extensive studies on American horror films and Hong Kong Cinema (the latter came out long before Hong Kong cinema became fashionable with Western filmgoers and critics). He collaborated on screenplays of two André Téchiné films, Rendez-Vous and Le Lieu du Crime, and directed a few shorts before making his feature debut in 1986 with Desordre. Though his films enjoyed considerable critical acclaim in France and at international film festivals, his name was virtually unknown in English-speaking countries until the release of his 1996 film Irma Vep, a loving tribute both to Louis Feuillade and Hong Kong cinema. Still faithful to his critical roots, he later directed a documentary on Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien.
1998.....Alice et Martin............Written by Assayas......A great French movie! Binoche and Téchiné at their best! Have you been waiting to see Juliette Binoche again in her first role after her Academy Award winning performance in "The English Patient"? Do you want to see a young actor he promises to be great French movie star? It's the story of Martin, a young man from a small town in the "province" and the way his disturbing past effects his first love to an older woman (Binoche). A highly emotional, artistic and intelligent movie, brilliantly acted and well directed. French cinema at its very best. Not to be missed by all fans of French films. ...In this romantic French drama, auteur Andre Techine offers an intense, intimate look inside the complex relationship between two emotionally dysfunctional people. Neither Alice (Juliette Binoche) nor Martin (Alexis Loret) seem emotionally healthy enough to sustain a relationship, but somehow they manage to stay together amidst their many personal problems.
1998.....Fin Aout, Debut Septembre....aka Late August, Early September........... Olivier Assayas directed this French drama, examining several relationships over a year's span, capturing varying textures and shades of feeling between people from late August of one year until early September of the next. Gabriel (Mathieu Amalric) and Jenny (Jeanne Balibar) separate, despite the affection that still binds them. A new love develops between Gabriel and young designer Anne (Virginie Ledoyen) as they overcome their fears and uncertainties. At his publishing job, much of Gabriel's emotional energy is spent on his close friend Adrien (Francois Cluzet), a once-promising novelist whose recent writing failed to repeat the critical and commercial success of his early novels. Jenny, who remains friends with Adrien, embarks on a new relationship with Jeremie (Alex Descas). When an old illness reappears, Adrien must come to terms with an early death; he begins an affair with 15-year-old schoolgirl Vera (Mia Hansen-Love). The personal tragedy of Adrien's death impacts on the fabric of friendships, as the individuals in the group reflect on death, life, and the future. Jeanne Balibar's performance won her the "Best Actress" award at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival and the 1998 New York Film Festival.
1997.....HHH: Portrait de Hou Hsiao-Hsien
1996.....Irma Vep
1994....L'Eau Froide aka Cold Water
1993...Francois Truffaut: Stolen Portraits
1993.....Une Nouvelle Vie
1991.....Paris s'éveille.....aka Paris Awakens
1989.....L'Enfant de l'Hiver
1986.....Desordre............After serving his apprenticeship as a screenwriter for director André Techiné, former movie critic Olivier Assayas wrote and directed this film. In the story, a penniless girl and two similarly impoverished boys with ambitions of becoming a successful rock group are sorely in need of some instruments to play on. They decide to break into a music store and manage to get their hands on the instruments they need -- killing the proprietor in the process. Though the police never catch up with them, something else waylays these "tough" kids -- their consciences. Despondent over the killing, one of the young men commits suicide. The others are then confronted with their own feelings about their crimes and each other and cannot easily give themselves over to their quest to become musicians. One of the film's musical highlights is a performance of the Woodentops. This teen drama won the critic's prize at the 1987 Venice Film Festival.