---
name: "Jean-Paul Rappeneau"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jean-paul-rappeneau"
fi1m_id: "jean-paul-rappeneau"
imdb_id: "nm0710919"
tmdb_id: 25950
wikidata_id: "Q709973"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "8 April 1932"
died: "2 September 2026"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T21:46:24.932693+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jean-Paul Rappeneau

## Identity

Jean-Paul Rappeneau

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jean-paul-rappeneau
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jean-paul-rappeneau
- **IMDb ID:** nm0710919
- **TMDB ID:** 25950
- **Wikidata ID:** Q709973
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Rappeneau, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q709973, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0710919/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25950

Director. Born 8 April 1932 in Auxerre, Yonne, France. Died 2 September 2026.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 8 April 1932, Auxerre, Yonne, France
- **Died:** 2 September 2026
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Rappeneau, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q709973, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0710919/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25950

## Streaming the US now

- **The Criterion Channel:** [*Cyrano de Bergerac*](https://film.one/film/cyrano-de-bergerac.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jean-Paul Rappeneau

> Jean-Paul Rappeneau makes elaborate romances move with the speed of comedy, without treating their feelings as a joke. We value his warmth and precision, particularly in *Cyrano de Bergerac*, though he can keep pressing an emotion after it has registered.

In *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1990), Gérard Depardieu makes speaking for someone else look easy and admitting his own feelings almost impossible. Jean-Paul Rappeneau keeps the film busy without losing sight of that embarrassment. We were moved by Cyrano’s private hesitation, because Depardieu lets us see the fear beneath his public confidence. This is where we value Rappeneau most: he makes a grand romance feel worth taking seriously.

His taste for quick dialogue and physical commotion belongs to screwball comedy, adapted to French settings. He co-wrote Philippe de Broca’s *That Man from Rio* (1964) before directing his first feature, *A Matter of Resistance* (1966). Long gaps between projects went with extensive preparation and rewriting. The international recognition of *Cyrano de Bergerac* was followed by another literary adaptation, *The Horseman on the Roof* (1995), with Juliette Binoche. *Bon Voyage* (2003), co-written with Patrick Modiano and featuring Depardieu, continued his work in comedy-drama.

With *Cyrano de Bergerac*, that comic timing serves the romance particularly well. Rappeneau and co-screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière retain the verse and make it sound like something people need to say, rather than something they have learnt to recite. Editor Noëlle Boisson gives the performances room for their rhythms without allowing the surrounding bustle to interrupt them. Depardieu has time to be proud, ashamed and difficult, and the film never asks us to find all of it charming. Speech and movement work together; nobody has to stop the film to deliver the poetry.

The reservation is there in *Cyrano de Bergerac* too: Rappeneau occasionally keeps pressing a feeling after Depardieu’s face has made it plain. At 137 minutes, the film has passages that would benefit from less insistence. Still, its warmth is welcome, and the wit keeps the romance from becoming solemn. Start there, provided verse and declarations of love are pleasures rather than obstacles.

## Biography

Jean-Paul Rappeneau was a French film director and screenwriter. Born in Auxerre in 1932, he began his career as an assistant and screenwriter, collaborating with Louis Malle on *Zazie dans le métro* (1960) and *Vie privée* (1961), and co-writing *That Man from Rio* (1964).

His directorial debut was *A Matter of Resistance* (1966). He went on to direct and write a series of films including *The Married Couple of the Year Two* (1971), *Lovers Like Us* (1975), *All Fired Up* (1982), *The Horseman on the Roof* (1995), *Bon Voyage* (2003) and *Families* (2015). Rappeneau wrote only for his own films from 1975 onwards.

He achieved international recognition with his 1990 adaptation of *Cyrano de Bergerac*, starring Gérard Depardieu, which won him the César Awards for Best Director and Best Film, among ten Césars overall. The film was also nominated for five Academy Awards.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, deadline.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1990), Fi1m 88, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/cyrano-de-bergerac.md)

## Complete filmography (19)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Families* (2015), Director, Writer
- *Henri Langlois vu par...* (2014), Director
- *Bon Voyage* (2003), Director, Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Horseman on the Roof* (1995), Screenplay, Director
- *Cyrano de Bergerac* (1990), Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/cyrano-de-bergerac.md)
- *All Fired Up* (1982), Director, Screenplay
- *Lovers Like Us* (1975), Director, Writer
- *The Magnificent One* (1973), Writer
- *The Married Couple of the Year Two* (1971), Director, Writer
- *A Matter of Resistance* (1966), Screenplay, Director
- *Marco the Magnificent* (1965), Writer
- *That Man from Rio* (1964), Writer
- *Le Combat dans l'île* (1962), Writer
- *A Very Private Affair* (1962), Writer
- *Saint-Tropez Blues* (1961), Writer
- *Zazie dans le Métro* (1960), Screenplay
- *Provincial Chronicle* (1958), Director, Screenplay
- *Appelez le 17* (1957), First Assistant Director
- *That Man from Rio*, Original Film Writer

## Gallery

- ![Jean-Paul Rappeneau at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/77906/gallery-00cd40aebc0b.jpg) Jean-Paul Rappeneau at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015) — Pablo Tupin-Noriega, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_03.jpg/1280px-FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_03.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Paul Rappeneau at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/77906/gallery-eb0ed0326ca1.jpg) Jean-Paul Rappeneau at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015) — Pablo Tupin-Noriega, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_04.jpg/1280px-FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_04.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Paul Rappeneau at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/77906/gallery-ab96e607a7ec.jpg) Jean-Paul Rappeneau at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015) — Pablo Tupin-Noriega, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_07.jpg/1280px-FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_07.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Team of the french movie "Belles Familles" at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/77906/gallery-a35e7b72e5fa.jpg) Team of the french movie "Belles Familles" at grand hotel opéra, Toulouse, France (2015) — Pablo Tupin-Noriega, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_10.jpg/1280px-FilleCh%C3%A9-2274_10.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Paul Rappeneau présentant "Le Sauvage" à la Cinémathèque française, en décembre 2021.](https://film.one/media/person/77906/gallery-e6de2000b28b.jpg) Jean-Paul Rappeneau présentant "Le Sauvage" à la Cinémathèque française, en décembre 2021. — ManoSolo13241324, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Jean-Paul_Rappeneau_2021.jpg/1280px-Jean-Paul_Rappeneau_2021.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Paul Rappeneau présentant son film "Cyrano de Bergerac" aux Publicis Cinémas en juin 2022.](https://film.one/media/person/77906/gallery-a1174ca2a6be.jpg) Jean-Paul Rappeneau présentant son film "Cyrano de Bergerac" aux Publicis Cinémas en juin 2022. — ManoSolo13241324, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Jean-Paul_Rappeneau_2022.jpg/1280px-Jean-Paul_Rappeneau_2022.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1965: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *That Man from Rio*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1992: Best Film Not in the English Language (nominated), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- 1992: Best Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*

### Other awards — 7 won, 9 nominated

- César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation 2005: César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (nominated), for *36 Quai des Orfèvres*
- César Award for Best Director 2004: César Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Bon Voyage*
- César Award for Best Film 2004: César Award for Best Film (nominated), for *Bon Voyage*
- César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation 2004: César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (nominated), for *Bon Voyage*
- César Award for Best Director 1996: César Award for Best Director (nominated), for *The Horseman on the Roof*
- César Award for Best Film 1996: César Award for Best Film (nominated), for *The Horseman on the Roof*
- Officer of the National Order of Merit 1996: Officer of the National Order of Merit (won)
- César des Césars 1995: César des Césars (won), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- Jean-Le-Duc award 1993: Jean-Le-Duc award (won)
- César Award for Best Director 1991: César Award for Best Director (won), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- César Award for Best Film 1991: César Award for Best Film (won), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation 1991: César Award for Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation (nominated), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- European Film Award for Best Film 1990: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1990: National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film (won), for *Cyrano de Bergerac*
- César Award for Best Director 1976: César Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Lovers Like Us*
- Louis Delluc Prize 1965: Louis Delluc Prize (won), for *A Matter of Resistance*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jean-paul-rappeneau