Babier, Jean: French New Wave Cinematographer Dies at 89

February 23, 2016 by

French Cinematographer Jean Rabier, who shot more than three dozen films by famed French New Wave director Claude Chabrol, has died. He was 89.

Rabier, who also lensed Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962) for Agnes Varda and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) for Jacques Demy, died February 15 in Port-de-Bouc in southern France, his son, art director Jean-Yves Rabier, said.

Born in Paris, Rabier worked as a cameraman on Chabrol’s Les Cousins (1959), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and the two were regular collaborators into the early 1990s.

They paired on such films as Ophelia (1963), Les Biches (1968), This Man Must Die (1969), The Unfaithful Wife (1969), Le Boucher (1970), The Breach (1970), Ten Days’ Wonder (1971), Just Before Nightfall (1971), Dirty Hands (1975), Story of Women (1988), Dr. M (1990) and, Rabier’s final film, Madame Bovary (1991).

Early in his career, Rabier shot documentaries and then served as a cameraman on such impressive works as Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows (1958), Francois Truffaut’s 400 Blows (1959), Rene Clement’s Purple Noon (1960) and Chabrol’s Les Bonnes Femmes (1960).

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