Enrico, Robert

(Gino Robert Enrico / April 13, 1931, Liévin, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France - February

23, 2001, Paris, France)

   The son of modest Italian immigrant tradesmen, he grew up in Toulon, where his father, a former champion motorcyclist, owned a store selling two-wheeled vehicles. After being educated by Marist fathers, he turned down the proposition to manage the family shop and got into the IDHEC (Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques), where he spent two years studying production (1949-1951). Then he joined a medieval group at the Sorbonne University, Les Théophiliens. Taking part in his new friends' theatrical work (they performed French medieval stage repertories), he also filmed them for television (Le Brésil des Théophiliens). He collaborated as an assistant director and editor on several shorts and accepted some commissioned works filming medical and industrial documentaries. In 1956, he co-directed and edited with Luciano Emmer A Cha­cun son Paradis, a documentary made up of 16-mm movies shot by explorers / filmmakers (the origi­nal films were shown to audiences during lectures organized by Connaissance du Monde). The same year, he directed his first personal movie, Jehanne, a short documentary on Joan of Arc composed from fifteenth-century miniatures that was selected for Venice Film Festival. From 1956 to 1959, he was do­ing military service at the Service Cinématographique des Armées (cinematographical department of the army), where he mixed with future filmmakers Claude Lelouch and Jean-Gabriel Albicocco and directed five didactic films for the French armed forces. In 1960, his original approach to the biological cycle of the pine processionary caterpillar in his short Thaumetopoea earned him several awards, including the Bronze Medal of 1960 Venice Film Festival and the Golden Bear of 1961 Berlin Film Festival. His short La Rivière du Hibou, from Ambrose Bierce, who won a Palme d'Or at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival and a Hollywood Academy Award, was included as an episode of the US TV series The Twilight Zone. For his first feature film, La Belle Vie, he received in 1964 the Jean Vigo Prize. He was president of the César (French Oscar) Academy, which awarded his film Le Vieux Fusil the best French movie of 1976-1986. He edited a short (1962 Allegro ma non troppo, Paul de Roubaix) and appeared in Le Chemin d'Azatoth (short, Clément Delage). His autobiography (2005 Au Coeur de ma Vie, Editions Christian Pirot) was published four years after his death.

 Filmography

1956 ◘ Paradiso terrestre / A chacun son Paradis / USA: Earthly Paradise (documentary; co-director with Luciano Emmer; also editor; Italy / France)

        ◘ Léhanne (short)

        ◘ Détection sous marine (documentary; short)

        ◘ Eclaireur patrouilleur (documentary; short)

        ◘ Tournée de Brousse (documentary; short)

        ◘ Coopération aéro-navale (documentary; short)

        ◘ Surveillance du Sol (documentary; short)

        ◘ Ville Lumières (documentary; short; co-director with Paul de Roubaix)

        ◘ Les Trois Amis (short)

        ◘ L'Or de la Durance (documentary; short)

        ◘ C'était le Métier des Autres (short)

        ◘ BB (documentary; short)

        ◘ Thaumetopea ou La Chenille processionnaire du Pin / Thaumetopea, la Vie des Chenilles proces­sionnaires du Pin et leur Extermination contrôlée (documentary; short; also screenwriter)

1962 ◘ Au Cœur de la Vie (three shorts: "L'Oiseau moqueur", "Chikamauga / La Bataille de Chikamauga", "La Rivière du Hibou" / USA: included in The Twilight Zone TV series as "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge"; also adapter, dialogist, actor)

        ◘ Montagnes magiques (short; also screenwriter)

        ◘ Contrepoint (short; also screenwriter)

        ◘ La Belle Vie / UK: The Good Life (also screenwriter, adapter; shot in 1962)

        ◘ Daphné (short)

        ◘ Le Rempailleur de Saint-Sulpice (short)

1965 ◘ Les Grandes Gueules / Una vampata di violenza UK: Jailbird's Vacation / USA: The Wise Guys (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)

        ◘ Les Aventuriers / I tre avventurieri / UK and USA: The Last Adventure (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)

        ◘ Tante Zita / USA: Zita (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

        ◘ Ho! / Criminal Face (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; France / Italy)

        ◘ Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

        ◘ Boulevard du Rhum / La via del rhum / El bulevar del ron / USA: Rum Runners (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, lyricist; France / Italy)

        ◘ Les Caïds / UK: The Hell Below (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter)

1974 ◘ Le Secret / Il segreto / UK and USA: The Secret (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)

1975 ◘ Le Vieux Fusil / Das alte Gewehr / Abschied in der Nacht / UK and USA: The Old Gun / US video: One By One (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / West Germany)

1977 ◘ Coup de Foudre (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; unfinished)

        ◘ Plus vite que le Soleil (short)

        ◘ Les Sept Iles de Frigg (short; co-director with Paul de Roubaix)

        ◘ Un Neveu silencieux (originally shot for TV; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; shot in 1976)

1980 ◘ L'Empreinte des Géants / Giganten der Lands-trasse (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; France / West Germany)

        ◘ Lile ou Face / UK and USA: Heads or Tails (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)

1981 ◘ L'Escale (short)

1983 ◘ Au Nom de tous les miens / USA: For Those I Loved (originally shot for TV; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, producer; France / Canada)

1986 ◘ Zone rouge (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

        ◘ Le Pari (short)

        ◘ Larfum d'Aventure (documentary; short)

1987 ◘ De Guerre lasse (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

        ◘ Sportivement vôtre (documentary short; pres­entation of the application of the city of Al­bertville for the 1992 Winter Olympics)

1989 ◘ La Révolution française / La rivoluzione francese / Die franzôsische Revolution / The French

        ◘ Revolution (co-director with Richard T. Heffron; segment "Les Années Lumière" / "The Light Years"; France / Italy / West Germany / Canada)

1993 ◘ Vent d'Est (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Switzerland; shot in 1991)

1999 ◘ Fait d'Hiver (also co-screenwriter; France / Belgium / Italy)

 Television Filmography

        ◘ Le Brésil des Théophiliens (short)

        ◘ Jeanne à Rouen (short)

1965 ◘ Le Théâtre de la Jeunesse (episode "La Re­devance du Fantôme"; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter)

1983 ◘ Au Nom de tous les miens / USA: For Those I Loved (8 X 52'; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, producer; France / Canada)

1986 ◘ Le Hérisson

1990 ◘ Coeurs battants (report for Envoyé Spécial TV news hour)

        ◘ Terre brûlée (report for Envoyé spécial TV news hour)

1996 ◘ Saint-Exupéry: La Dernière Mission (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; shot in 1993)