Claude Miller (1942-2012)

[septimus_...@q.com]

I thought I saw Claude Miller's obituary in the
New York Times, but I when I searched for it again
it cannot be found. His last 3 films (after _A
Secret_) have not been released in the U.S. yet.
Among his films I've seen, I've generally not been
taken with his more celebrated work (_The Best
Way to Walk_, _The Little Thief_, _A Secret_).
My favorites are _The Accompanist_ and _Alias
Betty_, followed perhaps by the glorious mess
that is _Mortelle Randonnee_ and the strangely
staid _La Petite Lili_, an adapation of Chekhov's
_The Seagull_ set in the present day. Looking
back, all his best films seem to be about some
sort of unusual, even twisted, relationship
between parent and offspring (surrogated/adopted
or otherwise). Towards the end of his life he
started jointly directing films with his son. Not a
towering figure of French Cinema and always a touch
sentimental, he gave Charlotte Gainsbourg her start
as an actress and was one of the reasons I got so
interested in French films in the first place.