Michel Audiard's professional journey began anew after the Liberation, as he transitioned into a career as a moviemagazine writer. Utilizing the pseudonym Jacques Potier, he contributed to short-lived publications such as "L'Etoile du Soir" and "Cinévie".
One fateful day, renowned French filmmaker André Hunebelle approached Audiard with a request: to write an adventure story for him. Audiard's response was a resounding "yes", and his debut script, "Mission à Tanger" (1949),garnered reasonable success. This accomplishment led to a slew of offers to write original screenplays, adaptations, and dialogues over the course of thirty-five years.
While the quality of his work was inconsistent, Audiard's scripts always boasted at least a few memorable lines, delivered with gusto by the actors. His unique blend of biting humor, lucid vision of society, and human behavior, combined with a flair for crowd-pleasing cinema, soon earned him a devoted following. Notably, the public remained loyal to the end, ignoring the scathing reviews from Parisian film critics who had made Audiard one of their favorite targets.
In 1968, Audiard attempted to direct his own films, but ultimately grew dissatisfied with the results. He subsequently returned to writing, a path he remained committed to until his untimely passing.
