On October 3, local time in France, renowned filmmaker Michel Blanc tragically passed away in Paris due to a medical mishap, at the age of 72. According to friends and family, he had gone to the St. Antoine Hospital in the 12th arrondissement of Paris for a routine check-up, but suffered a severe allergic reaction after receiving a contrast agent, which led to sudden shock and death.
Michel Blanc
Michel Blanc was a prominent figure in the French film industry: as an actor, he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986 for his role in "The Dinner Jacket"; eight years later, at the 47th Cannes Film Festival, he earned the Best Screenplay award for "Exhausted."
Throughout his fifty-year film career, he collaborated with many well-known directors from Europe and America, including Bertrand Blier, Robert Altman, Roman Polanski, Roberto Benigni, and Peter Greenaway. However, his most seamless collaborations were with the non-French director Patrice Leconte.
Michel Blanc won the Cannes Best Actor award for "The Dinner Jacket."
Born on April 16, 1952, in a working-class family in the suburban city of Coubron, Paris, Michel Blanc was somewhat frail as a child, which shaped his sensitive and delicate personality and sparked a deep interest in various art forms, including drama and music. While studying at Pasteur High School, he met like-minded individuals such as Thierry Lhermitte, Christian Clavier, and Gérard Juniot. They formed a student theater group, created numerous original plays, and eventually performed in various cafés and small theaters in Paris, officially establishing a comedy troupe called "Les Branquignols" in 1974. Michel Blanc, who began losing his hair at an early age, often portrayed character-driven roles of anxious, paranoid losers in their comedic works.
In 1978, their original production, "Sunny Holiday," was adapted into a film by Patrice Leconte and quickly gained popularity throughout France, spawning two sequels that became collective memories for generations of French audiences. In addition, other comedy films like "The Useless Santa Claus" and "The Resistance" that were also adapted from the "Branquignols" troupe's works and featured troupe members found success at the box office.
Entering the 1980s, Michel Blanc was the first to leave the "Branquignols" troupe, embarking on a solo career that transitioned from acting to directing. In 1984, his self-written and directed debut feature "Two Losers" (Marche à l'ombre) became the highest-grossing domestic comedy in France that year, attracting 6.1 million viewers. Two years later, he received the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his brilliant performance in Bertrand Blier's black comedy "The Dinner Jacket," sharing the honor with Bob Hoskins, the lead actor of "Mona Lisa."
The 1989 film "Monsieur Hire" stands out as a significant representation of Michel Blanc's nine collaborations with Patrice Leconte. Unlike his previous comedic roles, in this adaptation of Georges Simenon's novel, Blanc played a lonely tailor drawn into a whirlpool of life due to voyeurism.
Michel Blanc and director Patrice Leconte have collaborated nine times.
As the 1990s arrived, Michel Blanc began to step beyond French borders, receiving invitations to appear in new works by renowned international directors, including Peter Greenaway's "Prospero's Books," Robert Altman's "The Player," and Roberto Benigni's "The Monster." This exposure made him increasingly familiar to audiences outside of France.
Michel Blanc (left) in Greenaway's "Prospero's Books."
In 1994, he wrote, directed, and starred in the French comedy "Exhausted," which was nominated for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival and unexpectedly won the Best Script award. That year, the competition in the main category was exceptionally fierce, with films like "Pulp Fiction," "Taste of Cherry," "Burnt by the Sun," and "Dear Diary" all receiving accolades, while classics like "Independence Day," "Three Colors: Red," "The Shadow of the Sun," "The Station of Lost Souls," and "The Lover Under the Olive Tree" went home empty-handed. The jury, led by American director Clint Eastwood, sparked some controversy with their decision to award "Exhausted" the Best Script Award. The following year, "Exhausted" was also nominated for a Best Script award at the French César Awards but lost to "Wild Reeds," highlighting the differing tastes of various juries. Nevertheless, as both an actor and a screenwriter, Michel Blanc's dual achievements with the Cannes awards are rare in the international film scene.
"Exhausted" was written, directed, and starred by Michel Blanc.
Perhaps because of this, Michel Blanc's sudden passing has left the entire French film community in shock. Public figures, including President Macron, new Prime Minister Michel Barnier, and Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, have all expressed their condolences and praised him as "a monument of French cinema," someone who "often made us laugh through tears and moved us deeply."
Additionally, several former members of the "Branquignols" troupe, who have shared nearly sixty years of friendship, have expressed profound sorrow over his passing. Among them, actor Gérard Juniot, known to global audiences for "The Chorus," collaborated with Michel Blanc on-screen a staggering fourteen times, their theatrical collaborations innumerable. Upon learning of his friend's death, he shared a brief message on his personal social media: "Damn it, Michel... what have you done to us..." The pain contained within that statement is evident beyond words.
