Pierre André Clémenti (28 September 1942 – 27 December 1999) was a French actor, filmmaker, and writer.Pierre Clémenti at the British Film Institute He was known for his work with several prominent European auteurs during the 1960s and '70s, including Luis Buñuel, Jacques Rivette, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Dušan Makavejev. He was regarded as something of a countercultural figure in his time, and one retrospective described him as the "ideal embodiment of all the adventures of cinematic modernity."
Early life Born in Paris to an unknown father and Rose Clémenti, a Corsican concierge whose surname he took, Clémenti had a difficult childhood and took refuge in literature and the theatre. He studied drama at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier and .
Career After beginning his acting career in theatre, Clémenti secured his first minor screen roles in Yves Allégret's Jack of Spades ("Chien de pique", 1960), performing alongside Eddie Constantine. Possibly his best remembered role was as the gangster lover/client of the bourgeois prostitute (Catherine Deneuve) in Belle de Jour (1967) directed by Luis Buñuel, in whose other film The Milky Way (1969) he played the Devil. He worked with several other European directors, including in highly regarded films of the era, such as The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963), Pigsty (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1969) and The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970, and Bertolucci's Partner, 1968). Other directors he worked with include Liliana Cavani, Glauber Rocha, Miklós Jancsó, Jacques Rivette, and Philippe Garrel.
After a stint in prison, he played the ever-optimistic sailor of the Potemkin in Dusan Makavejev's Sweet Movie (1974) and the role of Pablo, the seductive saxophone player, in Fred Haines's Steppenwolf (also 1974) adapted from the novel by Hermann Hesse. Throughout his career he continued to be active in the theatre, notably in the company of Marc'O.
Clémenti was also involved with the French underground film movement, directing several of his own films which often featured fellow underground filmmakers and actors. Visa de censure no X was an experimental work composed of two films. New Old was a feature-length work starring Viva released in 1978. He went on to direct La Révolution ce n'est qu'un début, continuons le combat, In the Shadow of the Blue Rascal and Sun.
Personal life Clémenti married actress Margareth Clémenti (née Le-Van, 1948), mother of his son Balthazar, born in July 1965. Later he was married to Nadine, mother of his second child, Valentin Clémenti-Arnoult.
Legal issues In 1972, Clémenti's career was derailed after he was sentenced to prison for allegedly possessing or using drugs. Due to insufficient evidence, he was released after 17 months; later he wrote the book A Few Personal Messages about his time in prison, where he maintains that he was innocent of the charges. The book was published in French in 1973; in 2022, the book was translated into English by Claire Foster and re-released.
Death Clémenti died of liver cancer in Paris on 27 December 1999.
Legacy Clementi had a retrospective at the Cinémathèque française in March 1998, and at the 2019 Festival Toute la mémoire du monde.
Selected filmography Year Title Role(s) Director(s) Note(s) 1960 Jack of Spades Paco Yves Allégret 1963 The Leopard Francesco Paolo Luchino Visconti 1967 Belle de Jour Marcel Luis Buñuel 1968 Benjamin Benjamin Michel Deville 1969 Pigsty Young cannibal Pier Paolo Pasolini 1969 The Year of the Cannibals Tiresia Liliana Cavani 1970 The Conformist Lino Bernardo Bertolucci 1971 The Designated Victim Count Matteo Tiepolo Maurizio Lucidi 1972 The Inner Scar Horseman/Archer Philippe Garrel 1974The Irony of ChanceAntoine DesvrièresÉdouard Molinaro 1981Le Pont du Nord JulienJacques Rivette 1987 SefirFranco Rossi 1989 Hard to Be a God KingPeter Fleischmann
Bibliography 1973 Carcere italiano. Milan: Il Formichiere. 2005 Quelques messages personnels. Paris: Gallimard. 2007 Pensieri dal carcere. Fagnano Alto: il Sirente.
References
External links
DVD Pierre Clémenti film-maker Pierre Clémenti, cinéaste, by Doris Peternel