Maurice Pialat was a French film director known for his naturalist style and autobiographical elements in his films. He started his career in filmmaking at the age of 16, initially making documentary short films. His ambition was to become a painter, not a filmmaker.
Pialat made his feature film debut at 43 with the drama film "Naked Childhood" (1968),which explored the life of a child in the French foster care system and the French working-class life in the 1960s. His second feature film was "We Won't Grow Old Together" (1972),a loveless marriage drama that earned the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Pialat's third film was "The Mouth Agape" (1974),a realistic depiction of a woman struggling with a terminal illness, and the escapades of her husband and son. The film was noted for its lack of sentimentality and incorporated Pialat's own experiences from the death of his mother.
His fourth film was the teen drama "Graduate First" (1978),which dealt with teenagers from working-class families struggling with the end of their school lives and limited job prospects. Pialat's fifth film was "Loulou" (1980),a drama about a self-destructive affair between a married woman and a lower-class criminal, and his sixth film was "To Our Loves" (1983),a coming-of-age drama about a 15-year-old girl's struggles with sexuality and relationships.
Pialat's seventh film was the crime drama "Police" (1985),and his eighth was the romantic drama "Under the Sun of Satan" (1986),an adaptation of the novel by Georges Bernanos. The film won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival and was seen as controversial due to its subject matter.
Pialat's ninth film was the biographical film "Van Gogh" (1991),about the last months in the life of painter Vincent van Gogh, and his tenth was "The Son Of..." (1995),a family drama about a 4-year-old boy's life after his parents' divorce.
Pialat retired from filmmaking in 1995 due to poor health and died in 2003 at the age of 77. His work is considered unique among French directors, and he has had few imitators.
