The Last Tycoons - Episode 5
Distrib Films US
•
59m
Directed by Florence Strauss • Documentary • 2020 • 56 minutes
Episode 5: The Lovers
This episode focuses on producers driven by a true passion for film. Mag Bodard was a trailblazer—a woman producing films during an almost completely male-dominated era. In addition to the usual challenges of financing, she had to face the stereotype that women couldn’t handle money. But she was tenacious in sticking with projects nobody else thought would get made.
Jacques Perrin grew up in a show business family, and had been an actor before turning to production. He championed the political thriller Z at a timemwhen there was little appetite for serious political films, and perhaps put his acting skills to use faking contracts if it would help him secure bridge financing.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Mnouchkine and Georges Dancigers did whatever it took—even pitching in with costuming—if it would help get projects they loved made.
Films spotlighted in this episode:
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) / Mag Bodard / dir. Jacques Demy
Z (1969) / Jacques Perrin / dir. Costa-Gavras
That Man From Rio (1964) / Alexandre Mnouchkine and Georges Dancigers / dir. Philippe de Broca
Up Next in Distrib Films US
-
The Last Tycoons - Episode 6
Directed by Florence Strauss • Documentary • 2020 • 56 minutes
Episode 6 - The Immortals
“People told me I’d catch the bug,’ and it must be quite a bug because I’ve had it for 30 years.” — Raymond Danon
Raymond Danon projected a hard-nosed, no-nonsense persona. But that persona covered a deep ...
-
The Last Tycoons - Episode 7
Directed by Florence Strauss • Documentary • 2020 • 56 minutes
Episode 7 - Censorship
In France, as elsewhere, the 1970s were an era that expanded the bounds of the permissible in film. There was an “anything goes” attitude — at least, anything that could make it past the censors.
Emmanuelle w...
-
The Last Tycoons - Episode 8
Directed by Florence Strauss • Documentary • 2020 • 56 minutes
In this final episode, we meet a group of risk-taking producers at the tail end of a wide-open period of French cinema. Jean-Pierre Rassam lavished money on filmmakers he trusted, and didn’t bother reading scripts. (He also lived a l...
