Claude Miller, R.I.P.

French director Claude Miller [1942-2012] died aged 70 after a long illness, though he was directing to the end (a new version of THERESE DESQUEYROUX with Audrey Tatou). A student of Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, Miller carried their artistic approach into the 21st century, writing, directing and producing dozens of films. He was seen as a natural heir to his mentor François Truffaut, one of the founders of French New Wave cinema. Miller studied under him and many of his films used the same production personnel.

Miller, the son of a movie theatre employee in Paris, started his career in the 1960s as an assistant director for Marcel Carme and released his first feature film, the highly regarded THE BEST WAY TO WALK in 1976 - review at French label. Other films include LE PETITE VOLEUSE and a Patricia Highsmith adaptation THIS SWEET SICKNESS in 1977 with Gerard Depardieu,

He won the Jury Prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for LA CLASSE DE NEIGE or CLASS TRIP, the story of a boy on a skiing trip who suffers anxiety attacks that bring on nightmares. Perhaps Miller’s best known film was GARDE A VUE, a psychological thriller seen as a breakthrough movie for the director when it was released in 1981, with one of Romy Schneider's last roles.

"A true humanist, Claude Miller managed to reconcile both the public and critics around his works, which explored the human soul in a careful, anxious but benevolent way," the Elysee presidential palace said in a statement.