Michel Subor
Michel Subor | |
---|---|
Born | Mischa Subotzki 2 February 1935 Paris, France |
Died | 17 January 2022 Toulouse, France | (aged 86)
Years active | 1955–2018 |
Michel Subor (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl sybɔʁ], born Mischa Subotzki; 2 February 1935 – 17 January 2022) was a French actor who gained initial fame with the starring role in Jean-Luc Godard's second feature, Le petit soldat (1960), but the French government banned it until 1963 because of its political content, touching on terrorism during the undeclared Algerian War. He acted in a couple of American films in the late 1960s including the role of Claude Jade's husband in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz. In 1999, he once again played Forestier in Beau Travail, a highly praised variation of Billy Budd, directed by Claire Denis. He continued to work with her.
Early life and education
He was born as Mischa Subotzki in France in 1935, to anti-Bolshevik parents from the Soviet Union who had immigrated a few years earlier. His father was an engineer in Moscow, and his mother was born in Azerbaijan. Michel Subor has a sister who moved to the United States as an adult.[1]
Career
His career started with small roles in
In 2005 Jacques Mandelbaum described Subor in Le Monde as one of the greatest actors in French cinema, but said that his roles in the 1960s and 1970s were not "as favorable, ambiguous, fascinating as the Little Soldier."[1]
Subor worked with the director
He appeared in
That year's renewal of Subor's career included a role in Claire Denis's Beau Travail, as a Foreign Legion captain named Bruno Forestier. (Denis named his character after the role he played in the Godard film.) Denis' variation of Billy Budd, set in Djibouti on the Red Sea, received high praise.[5] The next year he was in Wild Innocence (2000) directed by Philippe Garrel.[1]
Subor has since worked with Denis on other films, including The Intruder (2005).[6] She said of him: "Michel Subor is not a celebrity in L'Intrus; he is the intruder." ("Sur le plateau de L'Intrus, il a captivé tout le monde, mais personne n'a voulu percer son mystère. Michel Sobor n'est pas le personnage de L'Intrus, il est L'Intrus.")[1] He also had a major role in her White Material in 2009, which was set in an unnamed country in Africa.
Personal life and death
Subor died in a traffic collision in Toulouse on 17 January 2022, at the age of 86.[7]
Filmography
- Frou-Frou (1955) - Le jeune homme au restaurant
- Un drole de dimanche (1958) - Un élève du cours (uncredited)
- Mon pote le gitan (1959) - Bruno Pittuiti
- La Bride sur le Cou(1961) - Alain Varnier
- Vacances en enfer (1961) - André
- Jules et Jim(1962) - Récitant / Narrator (voice)
- Le Petit Soldat(1963) - Bruno Forestier
- Les Saintes Nitouches (1963) - Gerard LeGall
- La vie conjugale: Jean-Marc (1964) - Roger
- La vie conjugale: Francoise (1964) - Roger
- What's New Pussycat? (1965) - Philippe
- La dame de pique(1965) - Herman
- Le reflux (1965)
- A nous deux Paris! (1966) - Patrick Cartier
- Su nombre es Daphne (1966)
- Hallucination Sadiques (1969) - L'inspecteur
- Topaz(1969) - Francois Picard
- The Day of the Jackal (1973) - 2nd OAS Terrorist in car (uncredited)
- Docteur Francoise Gailland(1976) - Régis Cabret
- Un tueur, un flic, ainsi soit-il... (1977) - François Nicaud - dit 'le chimiste'
- The Imprecator (1977)[1] - Brignon
- Les Egouts du paradis(1978) - Biki le Targuy
- The Rebel (1980)[1] - Beaufils
- Stress (1984) - Le commissaire de police
- Le quatrieme pouvoir (1985) - Xavier Mareche
- Secret Passage (1985) - Enrique
- La Revolution Francais (1989) - Vadier (segment "Années terribles, Les")
- Braxton (1989)
- Beau Travail (1999)[6] - Commander Bruno Forestier
- Ainsi soit-il (2000)[1] - Barroux
- Fidelity (2000) - Rupert MacRoi
- Wild Innocence (2001) (Philippe Garrel)[1] - Chas
- Dear Hunter(2003) - Sam
- The Intruder (2004)[6] - Louis Trebor
- White Material (2009) - Henri Vial, le propriétaire
- L'hiver Dernier (2011) - Hélier
- Bastards (2013) - Edouard Laporte
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Michel Subor, 'Little Soldier' for Godard, has never been able to resolve the mercenary" (Michel Subor, Petit Soldat pour Godard, n'a jamais pu se resoudre au mercenariat), Le Monde, 5 March 2005, Quote: "Il n'en est pas moins un des plus grands acteurs du cinéma français.", accessed 22 June 2013, in French
- ^ "Review of the film Mon pote le gitan (1959)". 31 January 2015.
- ^ Scott Foundas, "Beauty and Controversy in Godard’s 'Le Petit Soldat': One hundred thousand truths", The Village Voice, 14 March 2013, accessed 22 June 2013
- ^ Roger Ebert, "'Le Petit Soldat'", Chicago Sun-Times, 1 March 1960 (1969, according to references in the article), hosted at Roger Ebert.com, accessed 22 June 2013
- ^ Amy Taubin, "Body Language/Claire Denis’s Band of Outsiders", The Village Voice, 28 March 2000, accessed 22 June 2013
- ^ a b c Dennis Lim, "'Troubled in Paradise:' A metaphysical adventure tale, Claire Denis's latest is a masterwork of poetic elusiveness", The Village Voice, 13 December 2005, accessed 22 June 2013
- ^ "Mort de Michel Subor: le «Petit Soldat» rend les armes". 17 January 2022.
External links
- Michel Subor at IMDb