CHRISTIAN MATRAS

Born: 29 December 1903, Valence [Drôme], France, as Jean Jacques Christian Matras.

Died: 4 May 1977, Paris, France.

Career: Entered the film industry in 1925, assisting his brother who was superv at a studio specializing in trick ph and efx work. Was newsreel ph for the weekly Éclair Journal from 1926-28.

At the beginning of his career, Christian Matras quickly established a reputation as a solid technician and an expert in creating decorative and psychological ambiences which testify to his range of taste. During his career, he adapted to developing techniques, as well as to the demands of varied directors.

Using his early training as a newsreel photographer, Matras successfully applied the technique of plain observation to feature films in the '30s. His documentary style was put to good use in Renoir's 'La grande illusion', a study of war. Renoir chose to tell his story of the dry rot of inaction, not on the battlefield, but behind the lines in a prison camp. It is a story of complex themes often revealed through camera movements.

This technique would typify Matras' work prior to World War II. During this period, it was careful, painstakingly detailed, and intelligent, almost to the point of coldness. After World War II, his documentary style gave way to dazzling, flowing camera movements. Matras adapted well to color filming; his 'Barbe-Bleue' was considered the first successful French film in color.

However, it is his work with Max Ophüls for which Matras is best known. Ophüls' films demanded complex camera work - long elaborate takes with flowing camera movements. Brilliant camera use became the director's trademark; without the fluid, impressionistic skill of Matras, Ophüls would not be as highly regarded as he is. In 'La ronde', Matras' first collaboration with Ophüls, Matras used sweeping camera work that would develop into the camera choreography used in 'Lola Montès'.

The filming of 'Lola Montès' is the epitome of Matras' craftsmanship and technique. For example, in the circus scenes, Ophüls was more interested in the audience than the main action. For this, Matras uses 360 degree camera shots. Some scenes were conceived and written to constitute dynamic walkthroughs, and the camera stays with the characters, persistent and unshakeable as it stalks and prowls with them. Matras' virtuoso camera movement makes the landscape and architecture seem to move.

'Madame de...' also contained fabulous photography. The story would be tedious if not for Matras' fluid camera, which juxtaposes intimate and dramatic shots to reveal theme and character. Ophüls relied on continuous flow as opposed to collisions between shots for his storytelling, and long tracks are used not only to convey action, but to convey shifts of mood, the evolution of time, and plot development. At the heart of the film is the ball scene. The couple dances round and round through one elegant ballroom after another, and the camera stays with them recording their changing feelings as the mood of frivolity recedes. A long continuous take follows the servant as he moves from light to light, extinguishing each until he finally blankets the scene in darkness when he covers the harp. [From article by Renee Ward.]

[NOTE: It is often difficult to figure out whether or not a cph notation is appropriate, particularly as regards pre-war French films. The on-screen typography [big letters plainly indicating the cinematographer, much smaller ones plainly meant to denote the operator and assistants] clears up the matter, but were we have had to rely on printed sources, which merely list a bunch of names, we may occasionally have strayed into error.]

1926        De babord à tribord [Christian Matras] b&w; doc/?m; + ed/scrpl

1930        Au fil de l'eau [Christian Matras] b&w; short/?m

1931        Sous la terre [Christian Matras] b&w; short/?m

1931        Cent sous en ballade [Christian Matras & Emile Monniot] b&w; short/?m

1931        Le cor [Jean Epstein] b&w; short/?m; + scrpl

1931        Le crédo du paysan [Charles-Félix Tavano] b&w; short/?m; + scrpl

1931        Éperon d'or [Jean-Claude Bernard] b&w; short/?m; + scrpl

1932        Arrêtez-moi! [Charles-Félix Tavano] b&w; short/?m

1932        Un beau mariage [Charles-Félix Tavano] b&w; short/?m; + scrpl

1932        L'or des mers [Jean Epstein] b&w; doc/73m

1932        Le billet de logement/Billeting Order [Charles-Félix Tavano] b&w; + co-scrpl

1933        Les pirates du Rhône [Jean Aurenche & Pierre Charbonnier] b&w; short/?m

1933        La châtelaine du Liban [Jean Epstein & Christian Matras] b&w; cph: Armand Thirard

1933        Le paquebot Tenacity/S.S. Tenacity [Julien Duvivier] b&w; cph: Armand Thirard & Willy (Faktorovich/Gricha)

1934        L'affaire Coquelet [Jean Gourguet] b&w

1934        La maison dans la dune/The House On the Dune [Pierre Billon & Christian Matras] b&w; cph: Armand Thirard

1934        Maternité [Jean Choux] b&w

1934        Le scandale [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w; cph: Eugen Schüfftan; + asst dir

1934        Les hommes de la côte [André Pellenc] b&w

1935        La marmaille [Dominique Bernard-Deschamps] b&w

1936        L'argent [Pierre Billon] b&w

1936        Mais n'te promène donc pas toute nue [Léo Joannon] b&w; short/30m; + co-scrpl

1936        Les mutinés de l'Elseneur [Pierre Chenal] b&w; cph: Joseph-Louis Mindwiller (Jean-Paul Mundviller) & André Bac

1936        Les réprouvés [Jacques Séverac] b&w; cph: André Bac

1936        La grande illusion/The Grand Illusion [Jean Renoir] b&w

1937        Le chanteur de minuit [Léo Joannon] b&w

1937        Prison sans barreaux [Léonide Moguy] b&w; cph: Claude Renoir

1937        Légions d'honneur [Maurice Gleize] b&w

1938        Café de Paris [Yves Mirande & Georges Lacombe] b&w

1938        Entrée des artistes/The Curtain Rises [Marc Allégret] b&w

1938        La fin du jour [Julien Duvivier] b&w; cph: Armand Thirard

1938        Je chante [Christian Stengel] b&w

1938        Paradis perdu/Paradise Lost/Four Flights to Love [Abel Gance] b&w

1938        La piste du sud [Pierre Billon] b&w

1939        Le dernier tournant/The Last Turn [Pierre Chenal] b&w

1939        Le duel [Pierre Fresnay] b&w

1939        Mahlia la métisse [Walter Kapps] b&w; prod started in 1939, but was interrupted by the war; finished in 1942

1940        Parade en sept nuits [Marc Allégret] b&w; prod started in April 1940, but was interrupted by the war; finished

                    in March 1941

1940        La nuit merveilleuse [Jean-Paul Paulin] b&w

1941        La romance de Paris [Jean Boyer] b&w

1941        Le briseur de chaînes [Jacques Daniel-Norman] b&w

1941        La duchesse de Langeais/Wicked Duchess [Jacques de Baroncelli] b&w

1942        La loi du printemps [Jacques Daniel-Norman] b&w

1942        Pontcarral, colonel d'empire [Jean Delannoy] b&w

1943        Secrets [Pierre Blanchar] b&w

1943        Le secret de Madame Clapain [André Berthomieu] b&w; cph: Jean Bachelet

1943        L'escalier sans fin [Georges Lacombe] b&w

1943        Un seul amour [Pierre Blanchar] b&w

1943        Lucrèce [Léo Joannon] b&w

1943        Le voyageur sans bagages [Jean Anouilh] b&w

1944        Le bossu [Jean Delannoy] b&w

1945        Mademoiselle X [Pierre Billon] b&w

1945        Boule de suif/Angel and Sinner [Christian-Jaque] b&w

1945        L'idiot [Georges Lampin] b&w

1945        Seul dans la nuit [Christian Stengel] b&w

1945        La part de l'ombre/Blind Desire [Jean Delannoy] b&w; cph: Roger Hubert

1945        Tant que je vivrai/As Long As I Live [Jacques de Baroncelli] b&w

1946        Un revenant/A Lover's Return [Christian-Jaque] b&w; cph: Louis Page

1946        Il suffit d'une fois [Andrée Féix] b&w

1947        Le beau voyage [Louis Cuny] b&w

1947        Les jeux sont faits/The Chips Are Down [Jean Delannoy] b&w

1947        La révoltée/Stolen Affections [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w

1947        Éternel conflit [Georges Lampin] b&w

1947        L'aigle à deux têtes [Jean Cocteau] b&w

1948        D'homme à hommes/Man to Men [Christian-Jaque] b&w

1948        Tous les chemins mènent à Rome/All Roads Lead to Rome [Jean Boyer] b&w

1949        Singoalla [Christian-Jaque] b&w; also ph Swedish language version

1949        Singoalla/The Wind Is My Lover/Gypsy Fury [Christian-Jaque] b&w; English language version of 'Singoalla'

1949        La valse de Paris/Paris Waltz [Marcel Achard] b&w

1950        La ronde/Roundabout [Max Ophüls] b&w

1950        Souvenirs perdus [Christian-Jaque] b&w

1950        Olivia/The Pitt of Loneliness [Jacqueline Audry] b&w

1951        Barbe-Bleue [Christian-Jaque] c

1951        Blaubart [Christian-Jaque] c; German version of 'Barbe-Bleue'

1951        Le plaisir/House of Pleasure [seg #1 'Le masque' & #2 'La maison Tellier' dir by Max Ophüls] b&w; seg #3 'Le modèle'

                    ph by Philippe Agostini

1951        Fanfan la Tulipe/Soldier of Love [Christian-Jaque] b&w

1952        Adorables créatures [Christian-Jaque] b&w

1952        Violettes impériales/Violetas imperiales [Richard Pottier] c; cph: César Fraile

1952        Lucrèce Borgia/Sins of the Borgias [Christian-Jaque] c

1953        Madame de.../The Earrings of Madame de... [Max Ophüls] b&w

1953        Destinées/Daughters of Destiny/Love, Soldiers and Women [seg 'Lysistrata' dir by Christian-Jaque] b&w; cph:

                    Raffaele Masciocchi; other ph: Mario Craveri & Robert Lefebvre

1953        Secrets d'alcove/Il letto/The Bed [seg 'Le billet de logement' dir by Henri Decoin & 'Le lit de la Pompadour' dir by

                    Jean Delannoy] b&w; 4 seg; other ph: Léonce-Henri Burel, Michel Kelber & Enzo Serafin

1954        Madame du Barry [Christian-Jaque] c

1954        Nana [Christian-Jaque] c

1955        Lola Montès/Lola Montez [Max Ophüls] cs/c; also ph German and English language versions

1955        Les carnets de Major Thompson/The Diary of Major Thompson/The French, They Are a Funny Race [Preston

                    Sturges] b&w; ph Martine Carol seq; ph: Maurice Barry & Jean Lallier; 2nd cinematographer: André Domage

1955        Rencontre à Paris [Georges Lampin] b&w

1956        Les aventures de Till l'Espiègle/Die Abenteuer des Till Ulenspiegel/Bold Adventure [Gérard Philipe & Joris Ivens] c

1956        Oeil pour oeil/An Eye for an Eye [André Cayatte] vv/c

1957        Rendez-vous avec Maurice Chevalier [Maurice Régamey] comp of 6 shorts

1957        Les espions [Henri-Georges Clouzot] b&w

1957        Une manche et la belle/The Evil That Is Eve/What Price Murder? [Henri Verneuil] b&w

1957        Montparnasse 19/Les amants de Montparnasse/Modigliani of Montparnasse [Jacques Becker] b&w

1958        Le miroir à deux faces/The Mirror Has Two Faces [André Cayatte] b&w

1958        Maxime [Henri Verneuil] b&w

1958        Christine [Pierre Gaspard-Huit] c

1958        Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?/Too Late to Love [Henri Decoin] b&w

1959        La bête à l'affût [Pierre Chenal] b&w

1959        Le chemin des écoliers/Way of Youth [Michel Boisrond] b&w

1959        Die schöne Lügnerin/Sissi/La belle et l'empereur [Axel von Ambesser] c

1959        Vers l'extase [René Wheeler] b&w

1960        Les magiciennes/Double Deception [Serge Friedman] b&w

1960        Le coeur battant/The French Game [Jacques Doniol-Valcroze] b&w

1961        Les lions sont lâchés/The Lions Are Loose [Henri Verneuil] ds/b&w

1961        Paris Blues [Martin Ritt] b&w

1961        Le jeu de la vérité/The Game of Truth [Robert Hossein] ds/b&w

1961        Cartouche/Swords of Blood [Philippe de Broca] ds/c

1962        Le crime ne paie pas/Crime Does Not Pay/Gentle Art of Murder [Gérard Oury] ds/b&w; 4 seg

1962        Thérèse Desqueyroux [Georges Franju] b&w

1962        Virginie [Jean Boyer] b&w

1962        Shéhérazade [Pierre Gaspard-Huit] scope (35mm & 70mm)/c; cph: André Domage

1963        Casablanca, nid d'espions [Henri Decoin] c

1963        Coup de bambou [Jean Boyer] b&w

1963        Journal d'un fou/Diary of a Madman [Roger Coggio] c

1964        Les amitiés particulières/This Special Friendship [Jean Delannoy] b&w

1964        Le repas des fauves [Christian-Jaque] b&w; or ph Pierre Petit

1964        Samba [Rafael Gil] c; cph: Gábor Pogány

1964        Le majordome [Jean Delannoy] b&w

1965        Los pistoleros de Arizona/El rancho de los implacables/5.000 dollari sul lasso/Die Gejagten der Sierra Nevada

                    [Alfonso Balcázar] ts/c; cph: Carlo Carlini & Roberto Reale

1965        La dama de Beirut/Aventure à Beyrouth/The Woman from Beirut [Ladislao Vajda] c

1965        Les fêtes galantes/The Lace Wars [René Clair] c

1965        Beatrice [Jean-José Richer] ?

1966        La mujer perdida/Quel nostro grande amore [Tulio Demicheli] c

1967        Women Times Seven/Sept fois femme [Vittorio De Sica] c

1967        Les risques du métier/Risky Business [André Cayatte] c

1967        Lettre à Carla [Jean-José Richer] b&w

1967        Más allá de las montañas/Flucht aus der Taiga/La fuga di Marek/The Desperate Ones [Alexander Ramati] c

1967        Les oiseaux vont mourir au Pérou/Birds in Peru [Romain Gary] fs/c

1968        La voie lactée/The Milky Way [Luis Buñuel] c

1969        Esa mujer [Mario Camus] c

1969        Las leandras [Eugenio Martin] c

1969        Le bal du comte d'Orgel [Marc Allégret] c

1971        Variétés [Juan Antonio Bardem] c

1972        Pas folle la guêpe/Not Dumb, the Bird [Jean Delannoy] c