Jacques Audiard, born in Paris in 1952, is the son of famous screenwriter Michel Audiard. Initially pursuing a career as an educator of literature and philosophy, Audiard eventually ended up on a similar path to his father. In fact, his first real taste of the film world was in collaboration with his father on a film called Kisses Till Monday in 1974. Though it would have been easy to ride the coattails of his father’s work, and to use the advantages that nepotism provides to kickstart his career, Audiard began his career from the bottom by working as a minor member on movie crews.
His directorial debut was in a 1994 film called Regard les hommes tomber (See How Hard TheyFall). This debut won Audiard the César Award for Best First Film, which is the French-equivalent of an Academy Award. Since then, he has gone on to win the César Award for Best Director, the Silver Lion for Best Director, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay, and the Lumières Award for Best Director three times. In addition, his 2015 film Dheepan won the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Here, we’ve highlighted and ranked Jacques Audiard’s best movies.
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5 Paris, 13th District
Memento Films
Audiard directed and co-wrote the screenplay for his most recent film, Paris, 13th District. Starring Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba, Noémie Merlant, and Jehnny Beth, the film follows four young adults as they fall in and out of love, and in and out of each other’s lives. The relationships are complicated at best, dysfunctional at worst. It’s not at all safe to say whether their relationships are polyamorous, platonic, romantic, or casual. But if one thing can be assured, it’s that you can’t put this movie — or the characters who occupy it — into a box. Paris, 13th District was nominated for several awards, including the Palme d’Or, five César Awards, and six Cannes Awards.
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4 The Sisters Brothers
Mirror Releasing
This story about two brothers/assassins set in the year 1851 won Audiard the César Award and the Silver Lion Award for Best Director. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly, The Sisters Brothers is an American and French co-production that premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. Eli (Reilly) and Charlie (Phoenix) Sisters are hired to kill a man named Hermann Warm (Riz Ahmed), who is supposed to be handed over to them by John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal). However, the journey for the two parties to meet at a rendezvous point is not without difficulty along the way.
3 Rust and Bone
UGC Distribution
Rust and Bone, originally De rouille et d’os, is a romantic drama adapted from a story of the same name by Craig Davidson. Audiard directed, co-wrote, and produced this film about a former boxer who suddenly has his world turned upside down when he becomes a single father. Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts), while working as a bouncer at a nightclub, saves a woman from a physical altercation. After the woman, Stephanie (played by Marion Cotillard), has to have both of her legs amputated after an accident at work, she and Alain begin to develop a closer relationship. The film was awarded four César Awards, including one for Best Writing - Adaptation.
2 A Prophet
UGC Distribution
A Prophet is a film about a young Muslim man, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), who, after meeting fellow inmate and mob boss Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), rises through the ranks and becomes one of Cesar’s most respected counterparts. Released in 2009, the film was nominated for a number of César Awards (including Best Director), an Academy Award, and a BAFTA. Interestingly, an English-language remake is currently in the works, called American Son, with Russell Crowe attached to star (via Collider).
1 Dheepan
Directed and written by Audiard and released in 2015, Dheepan is a story of three people who pose as a family in the Paris housing projects in order to escape the civil war in Sri Lanka. Dheepan won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Among the various other nominations garnered by this film, Audiard was nominated for the César for Best Director and the Luminères Award for Best Director.
