Celebrity Biographies
Pierre Lhomme
She illuminated Gérard Depardieu in “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Lino Ventura in “Army of Shadows,” and Hugh Grant in “Maurice.” Frenchman Pierre Lhomme died on July 4, 2019, at the age of 89 in Arles, France, according to the French Society of Cinematographers.
Born on April 5, 1930, in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine department, Pierre Lhomme wanted to succeed as a jazz musician during his youth. He then enrolled at the École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière, where he graduated as a cinematographer in 1953. He began his professional journey as a camera operator on titles such as The Games of Love , by Philippe de Broca , Un certain La Rocca , by Jean Becker and Le Signe du lion , Eric Rohmer ‘s first film .
He gained immense kudos as cinematographer on Jean Eustache’s The Mother and the Whore for his high-contrast black-and-white work on 16mm. But he is remembered above all for The Army of Shadows , by Jean-Pierre Melville , about the French Resistance, during World War II. “Until I made that film I had not felt like a true cinematographer. Melville asked me to do things that I had never experienced, I remember that when I botched a shot that was very dark, to such a degree that nothing could be seen, Melville told me not to worry, that I would put good music in that scene”.
“I never had a preconceived idea of what my job should be like,” he recalled in a meeting with students. “One of the great qualities of a good cinematographer is being able to adapt to the style of different filmmakers. I was passionate about working with very talented people.” In the last stretch of his career he was associated with the German Volker Schlöndorff , in Voyager , the French Bruno Nuytten , in The Passion of Camille Claudel , and especially the British James Ivory , in Maurice , Quartet , Jefferson in Paris , and Le divorce . that supposed the last work of the Frenchman before he decided to retire.