Catherine Breillat

Birthday: 13 July 1948, Bressuire, Deux-Sèvres, France

Catherine Breillat is a Paris based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality, gender trouble and sibling rivalry. Accused of being a "porno auteuriste", Breillat allowed for an unbiased view of sexuality and extended the language of mainstream movies. She is also a best-selling novelist and wrote her first novel, L'Homme Facile, at the age of 17. Breillat acted in Bernardo Bertolucci's Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972) and wrote the screenplay for Maurice Pialat's movie Police (1985) . Since her first own film Une vraie jeune fille (1976), which was released 23 years after its shooting, Breillat explored critically as well as in an innovative way the perceptions imposed on female sexuality, related family and coming of age issues. Show less «

I once wrote an article called 'The Importance of Being Hated', and though I would rather be loved a...Show more »

I once wrote an article called 'The Importance of Being Hated', and though I would rather be loved and adored, because I am a human being like everyone else, I think the world still needs people who can speak their truth without fearing the consequences. Show less «

It's not just freedom to do a particular act. It's not consumerism. If you think of an orgy or falli...Show more »

It's not just freedom to do a particular act. It's not consumerism. If you think of an orgy or falling in love, everyone would rather fall in love because it's really transcendental. The problem is that all governments and all religions have always been determined to make sex something dirty. Religion is afraid of the power of sex - because a person who can find the transfiguration of sex in her life is no longer a person who can be directed. Show less «

For me, the outrage is that the world needs to know about the loss of virginity. There is such guilt...Show more »

For me, the outrage is that the world needs to know about the loss of virginity. There is such guilt associated with the fact that you want to make love, that you demand that your lover speaks words of love, whether he means them or not. Show less «

If you want to preserve your virginity, it's about not wanting to belong to the human species. To ma...Show more »

If you want to preserve your virginity, it's about not wanting to belong to the human species. To make love is not just to have the pleasure of flesh, but to have the pleasure of flesh escaping flesh. The sexual act involves a mental transfiguration, too. Show less «

The problem is that censors create the concept of obscenity. By supposedly trying to protect us they...Show more »

The problem is that censors create the concept of obscenity. By supposedly trying to protect us they form an absurd concept of what is obscene. Show less «

In American cinema you find handsome men, whereas in French cinema you find male stars who are usual...Show more »

In American cinema you find handsome men, whereas in French cinema you find male stars who are usually not very good looking at all. Fifty years from now, when people watch French movies and see these absolutely ravishing actresses who fall head over heels in love with Gérard Depardieu, they'll shake their heads and wonder what exactly was wrong with France. Show less «

If I stop making films, I will die. I can tell myself that one day I will stop living. But I cannot ...Show more »

If I stop making films, I will die. I can tell myself that one day I will stop living. But I cannot bear the fact that the day will come when I will no longer be making films. Show less «

It's a joke - if men can't desire liberated women, then tough. Does it mean they can only desire a s...Show more »

It's a joke - if men can't desire liberated women, then tough. Does it mean they can only desire a slave? Men need to question the roots of their own desire. Why is it that historically men have this need to deny women to be able to desire them? Show less «

I am the pariah of French cinema. That can make things complicated for me: it is never easy to drum ...Show more »

I am the pariah of French cinema. That can make things complicated for me: it is never easy to drum up a budget or to find a distributor for my films in France. Some people refuse even to read my scripts. But it also makes me very happy because hatred is invigorating. All true artists are hated. Only conformists are ever adored. Show less «

Catherine Breillat

Catherine Breillat's FILMOGRAPHY

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