Alexandre Trauner

During the German Occupation, though Jewish, Trauner managed to work uncredited on films such as Carne's somber fable "Les Visiteurs du soir/The Devil's Envoys" (1942) and the masterful 19th-century period epic, "Les Enfants du paradis/Children of Paradise" (1945). In both cases the look of Trauner's style linked the films, both read as allegories of resistance to the Nazis, with earlier moments in poetic realism, while at the same time suggesting the whimsical lightness of Clair and a great flair for dramatic fantasy. Trauner continued his penchant for working on intense films whose cathartic sadness rises to the level of tragedy when he created the stunning, baroque designs for Orson Welles' "Othello" (1952). Later, at the invitation of Billy Wilder, he moved to Hollywood, where he continued to explore the tensions between simplicity and stylization, realism and fantasy, often as filtered through the sensibilities of city life. Notable collaborations with Wilder include the romanticized Paris of "Love in the Afternoon" (1957), the gritty New York of "The Apartment" (1960), the garishly Technicolored, sensuously stylized Paris of "Irma La Douce" (1963) and the moody mausoleum look of "Fedora" (1978). Trauner has also enjoyed extended working relationships with Fred Zinnemann ("The Nun's Story" 1959), Joseph Losey ("Mr. Klein" 1976, "Trout" 1982), Claude Berri ("Tchao Pantin" 1983) and Bertrand Tavernier ("'Round Midnight" 1986). Fortunately, his durability and adaptability to both a variety of themes and diverse working environments led to a renaissance of critical esteem and professional work, and the aging master was more prolific in the 1980s than he had been in the 30s and 40s.