French New Wave Pioneer Claude Chabrol Dead at 80

Claude Chabrol, the director and critic who helped found the French New Wave along with François Truffaut and Jean Luc-Godard died Sunday in Paris at 80. Many called him France's answer to Hitchcock. His films such as The Butcher, Hell, and The Cousins were stylish, suspense films that often explored French class systems and skewered the bourgeoisie. Sad news, but Chabrol had a great run, directing over 60 films in his lifetime right up to last year's Bellamy with Gerard Depardieu. He even had a late-career surge with recent well-received films like A Girl Cut in Two and The Bridesmaid.

[NYT]