Bertrand Bonello

Bertrand Bonello (French: [bɛʁtʁɑ̃bɔnɛlo]; born 11 September 1968) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer, composer and actor. Most known for House of Tolerance (2011), Saint Laurent (2014), Nocturama (2016) and The Beast (2023).

His early work has been associated with the New French Extremity, Something Organic (1998), The Pornographer (2001). He also starred in Portrait of the Artist (2015) and Titane (2021). He was nominated for the César Award for Best Director for Saint Laurent, and was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2015.

Early life

Bonello's background is in classical music, and he started playing the piano at the age of five. Later on he had a band, and then he discovered punk and rock music and switched from classical to pop music.

He became interested in films at the age of twelve by watching horror films from directors such as David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, George A. Romero, and Lucio Fulci. He decided to become a director after watching Stranger Than Paradise (1984) by Jim Jarmusch. Before working as a director, he worked as a session musician on tours and on records for other artists.

Career

His feature directorial debut, Something Organic, was screened in the Panorama section of the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. His second feature film, The Pornographer, won the FIPRESCI prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. His third feature film, Tiresia, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

Bonello owns the production company My New Picture, which has produced all his films since On War (2008). Bonello was a member of the jury of the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

His 2011 film House of Tolerance, a depiction of daily life in a fin-de-siècle Parisian bordello, premiered In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. His 2014 film Saint Laurent, a biopic of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It received ten César Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. The film was selected as France's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

In 2016, Bonello released the thriller Nocturama. In 2018 he was the president of the jury for the Cinéfondation & Short Films section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. His 2019 film, Zombi Child, was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. His 2022 film Coma competed for the Encounters Award at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival and won the FIPRESCI Award at the festival.

Bonello's tenth feature film, The Beast (2023) a sci-fi romantic drama freely inspired by Henry James' 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle, had its world premiere in the official competition of the 80th Venice International Film Festival.

In April 2023, Love Theme Music released a soundtrack album featuring original music by Bonello that he wrote for his films.

In 2026, Bonello started filming his delayed project about the canonization process of Pope John Paul II, co-written by Thomas Bidegain. Starring Mark Ruffalo an American-born priest summoned by the Vatican, Charlotte Rampling as Polish-born American philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, Andrzej Chyra as Pope John Paul, Cezary Żak as Stanisław Dziwisz, Adam Bessa as Mehmet Ali Ağca, alongside Anton Lesser and Marisa Borini in supporting roles. Filming will take place in Rome, Matera, Warsaw and Szczawnica.

Personal life

Bonello was in a relationship with his frequent collaborator, French-Canadian cinematographer Josée Deshaies, with whom he had a daughter, Anna, who was born in 2003, and who co-composed the score for his film The Beast. Bonello's 2022 film Coma was dedicated to and inspired by his daughter. He lives between Paris and Montreal.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Acting roles

Awards and nominations

Decorations

• Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (2015)

Further reading

• Bernard Stiegler, "Tirésias et la guerre du temps: Autour d'un film de Bertrand Bonello," De la misère symbolique: Tome 1. L'époque hyperindustrielle (Paris: Galilée, 2004): 163–85.

External links

• at IMDb
• on UniFrance
• on AlloCiné
• on Cineuropa