IEC
#1: 1918
#3: [Right] with dir Jean-Pierre Mocky [left]
Born: 23 November 1892, Indret, Loire-Atlantique, Pays-de-la-Loire, France. Also credited as L.H. or L.-H. Burel.
Died: 21 March 1977, Mougins, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
Education: University of Nantes [Art].
Career: Worked as photo-engraver and photo-typographer. Entered film industry circa 1913 dir pseudo-scientific films for Cosmographe under superv of Dr. Comandon. Ph shorts [dir by Henri Wulschléger] starring the comedian Zinel. Worked for a while with L'Éclair Laboratories. In 1914, he ph some films dir by Le Somptier. Engaged as doph [chef opérateur] by Louis Nalpas, interim director of 'Le Film d'Art', in 1915. Was official ph of the 1918 Armistice celebrations in Paris and London.
Wrote the book 'Opérations de prises de vues, développement et tirages de films'.
Appeared in the tv-doc 'Cinéma de notre temps: Abel Gance, portrait brisé' [1964, Hubert Knapp].
Awards: Venice IFF 'Best Cinematography' [1951] for 'Journal d'un curé de campagne'.
A cinematographer
is like a chameleon, in that his job is to capture whatever diverse
moods and images are required by his director. Abel Gance and Robert
Bresson are a pair of directors with profoundly different aesthetics.
So, if these two are among the most revered French filmmakers of the
pre-Nouvelle Vague, then Léonce-Henri Burel [who photographed
several films directed by Gance and Bresson] must not only be a master of
versatility, but one of the greatest of all French cinematographers.
This could be the case if only for longevity: Burel's career spans seven decades, with credits that include a healthy share of French cinema classics from Gance's 'Mater Dolorosa' in 1917 and his first version of 'J'accuse!' in 1918 through Bresson's 'Procès de Jeanne d'Arc' in 1962. Indeed, in The Parade's Gone By..., Kevin Brownlow calls the cinematographer 'brilliant'; in his book on the reconstruction of Gance's 1926 epic, 'Napoléon' [on which Burel served as a chief cameraman], Brownlow refers to him as 'one of the finest cinematographers Europe has ever known.'
Burel established his reputation as the photographer of Gance's most important early films, culminating with his work on 'Napoléon' as part of a team of cinematographers. Much of Burel's initial collaboration with Gance predates the German Expressionism of the 1920s: in close-ups in 'Barbe-Rousse', the camera is set below the actor's face, resulting in stark, expressive imagery; in 'Mater Dolorosa', light and shade are utilized to vividly emphasize facial expressions.
'J'accuse!' features images which depict the devastation of war in grand, panoramic terms. It is highlighted by the famous, allegorical 'Return of the Dead' sequence, in which thousands of deceased First World War soldiers collectively rise from the battlefields and march off to see if their sacrifices were in vain. Burel's camera captures Gance's vision in vividly eerie detail.
Whatever Burel's specific contribution to 'Napoléon', the film remains a landmark of cinematographic innovation. It is crammed with majestic images, including detailed battle sequences, and is a startling example of the creative use of the camera. There is camera movement to imitate a ship in a storm at sea; spectacular lighting; handheld cameras attached to horses, pendulums, even a toboggan; and, finally, color sequences [the latter, according to Georges Sadoul, was Burel's major contribution to 'Napoléon'].
As the Gance films feature images that portray reality in expressive, panoramic terms, and that are intended to stir the senses, Burel's films with Robert Bresson [including 'Journal d'un curé de campagne', 'Un condamné à mort s'est échappé', 'Pickpocket' and 'Procès de Jeanne d'Arc'] offer visuals that explore their characters' inner workings. His dusky blacks and glaring greys are perfect accompaniments to Bresson's highly personal vision: pastoral and intimate depictions of reality as a still-life, with the resulting emotion deriving from images that are austere, that evolve from the filmmaker's particular world view.
Contrasted with 'J'accuse!' or 'Napoléon', there is a visual monotony, but that is precisely Bresson's scheme. His concern is the characters and their sensitivities, how they look when they ask questions and give answers.
Burel's own career as a director - he made a trio of features between 1922 and 1932 - remains minor. But his work with Gance and Bresson - he also collaborated with a gallery of other filmmakers, including Jacques Feyder, Marcel L'Herbier, Jean Benoît-Lévy and Maurice Tourneur - is indicative of his outstanding ability to capture images that fit each filmmakers' diversely varying cinematic vision. [From article by Rob Edelman on the filmreference.com website.]
FILMS | |
---|---|
NOTE: It is often difficult to figure out whether or not a cph notation is appropriate, particularly as regards pre-war French films. In some publications, e.g. the IMDb, Burel is mentioned as doph alongside others. It's most likely that these men are his operators and/or assistants. Mr. Burel wrote to the magazine Film Dope: '...on all these films I was chef opérateur, working with an assistant. I myself never worked as assistant. I never had a collaborator in the narrow sense of the word, but colleagues for whom I was entirely responsible.' | |
1914 |
Dans les griffes de la peur [Georges-André Lacroix] b&w; short/?m |
1914 |
La dénonciatrice [Georges-André Lacroix] b&w |
1914 |
L'heure tragique [Georges-André Lacroix] b&w; short/?m |
1914 |
Le comte de Monte Cristo ['Épisode 1: Edmond Dantès', 'Épisode 2: Le trésor de Monte Cristo', 'Épisode 3: Le philanthrope', 'Épisode 4: Simbad le marin', 'Épisode 5: La conquête de Paris', 'Épisode 6: Les trois vengeances', 'Épisode 7: Les derniers exploits de Caderousse' & 'Épisode 8: Châtiments' dir by Henri Pouctal] b&w; filmed 1914-17; released in 1918 |
1915 |
Alsace [Henri Pouctal] b&w |
1915 |
L'énigme de dix heures [Abel Gance] b&w |
1915 |
Un drame au château d'Acre/Les morts reviennent-ils? [Abel Gance] b&w; short/6m |
1915 |
Strass et Compagnie [Abel Gance] b&w |
1915 |
L'héroïsme de Paddy [Abel Gance] b&w |
1915 |
La fleur des ruines [Abel Gance] b&w |
1916 |
Le fou de la falaise [Abel Gance] b&w |
1916 |
Fioritures ou Sources de beauté/La source de beauté [Abel Gance] b&w |
1916 |
Ce que les flots racontent [Abel Gance] b&w |
1916 |
Les gaz mortels/Le brouillard sur la ville [Abel Gance] b&w |
1916 |
Le droit à la vie [Abel Gance] b&w |
1916 |
La femme inconnue [Gaston Ravel] b&w |
1917 |
Les mouettes [Maurice Mariaud] b&w |
1917 |
Mater Dolorosa/The Torture of Silence [Abel Gance] b&w |
1917 |
Barbe-Rousse/Barberousse [Abel Gance] b&w |
1917 |
Les deux amours [Charles Burguet] b&w |
1917 |
La zone de la mort/The Zone of Death [Abel Gance] b&w |
1918 |
Le marchand de bonheur [Georges-André Lacroix] b&w |
1918 |
L'expiation/Le marquis de Vilbois [Camille de Morlhon] b&w |
1918 |
Ecce Homo/Le soleil noir [Abel Gance] b&w |
1918 |
La dixième symphonie [Abel Gance] b&w |
1918 |
J'accuse/I Accuse [Abel Gance] b&w; cph: M(aurice) Forster & M(arc) Bujard; 3 & 4-part versions + re-edited 1921 version |
1919 |
Mademoiselle de la Seiglière [André Antoine] b&w |
1920 |
L'hirondelle et la mésange/L'alouette et la mésange [André Antoine] b&w; unfinished; film was edited by Henri Colpi and released in 1984 in tinted version |
1920 |
La roue [Abel Gance] b&w; several versions; released in 1923 |
1920 |
Face à l'océan [René Leprince] b&w |
1921 |
L'Arlésienne [André Antoine] b&w |
1922 |
La conquête des Gaules [Léonce-Henri Burel, Yan B. Dyl & Marcel Yonnet] b&w; 47m; + small part |
1922 |
Crainquebille/Bill/Coster Bill of Paris [Jacques Feyder] tinted |
1922 |
Visages d'enfants/Faces of Children [Jacques Feyder] tinted; released in 1925; restored in 1993 |
1923 |
Paternité [Gennaro Dini] b&w; 55m |
1923 |
Das Bildnis/L'image [Jacques Feyder] b&w |
1924 |
Salammbô/Der Kampf um Karthago [Pierre Marodon] b&w |
1925 |
Michel Strogoff [Viktor Tourjansky] b&w-c |
1926 |
Napoléon/Napoléon vu par Abel Gance/Abel Gance's Napoleon [Abel Gance] b&w/tinted; originally in Polyvision (triptych format); 330m; as tech asst (superv the 2u ph - e.g. Roger Hubert - working under dir Viktor Tourjansky, Blaise Cendrars, a.o.); ph: Jules Kruger; vfx superv + co-sfx: Eugen Schüfftan; there are many versions of this film, e.g. in 1981 (235m); filmed January-June 1925 & January-August 1926; released in 1927 |
1926 |
Autour de Napoléon [Abel Gance] b&w; behind-the-scenes doc/?m; released in 1928 |
1927 |
Casanova/Prince of Adventurers/The Loves of Casanova [Alexandre Volkoff] b&w-c |
1927 |
Die Apachen von Paris/Paname n'est pas Paris/Schon wieder eine Seele.../Apaches of Paris [Nikolai Malikoff] b&w; as tech adv; ph: Roger Hubert (1st version) & Jules Kruger (2nd version) |
1927 |
Morgane la sirène/Morgane the Enchantress [Léonce Perret] b&w |
1927 |
La danseuse Orchidée/The Orchid Dancer/Woman of Destiny [Léonce Perret] b&w |
1928 |
The Three Passions/Les trois passions [Rex Ingram] b&w |
1928 |
L'équipage/The Crew/The Last Flight [Maurice Tourneur] b&w |
1928 |
Nuits de princes [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w |
1929 |
Le requin [Henri Chomette] b&w |
1929 |
Vénus [Louis Mercanton] b&w |
1930 |
L'étrangère [Gaston Ravel] b&w |
1930 |
La straniera [Amleto Palermi & Gaston Ravel] b&w; Italian-language version of 'L'étrangère' |
1930 |
Die Fremde [Fred Sauer] b&w; German-language version of 'L'étrangère' |
1930 |
La femme d'une nuit [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w |
1930 |
Die Königin einer Nacht [Fritz Wendhausen] b&w; cph: Günther Krampf; German-language version of 'La femme d'une nuit' |
1930 |
La donna di una notte [Amleto Palermi (superv) & Marcel L'Herbier (asked for his name to be removed)] b&w; Italian-language version of 'La femme d'une nuit' |
1930 |
Le mystère de la chambre jaune/The Mystery of the Yellow Room [Marcel L'Herbier] b&w; + small part |
1930 |
Un soir de rafle/Dragnet Night [Carmine Gallone] b&w |
1931 |
L'aiglon [Viktor Tourjansky] b&w; cph: Franz Planer; French-language version of 'Der Herzog von Reichstadt' (1931, Victor Tourjansky; ph: F. Planer) |
1931 |
Danton [Hans Behrendt] b&w |
1932 |
Il a été perdu une mariée [Léo Joannon] b&w |
1932 |
Baroud/Love in Morocco [Rex Ingram & Alice Terry] b&w; 65m; English-language version |
1932 |
Baroud/Les hommes bleus [André Jaeger-Schmidt] b&w; French-language version |
1932 |
La femme nue/The Nude Woman [Jean-Paul Paulin] b&w |
1932 |
Perfect Understanding [Cyril Gardner] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Curt Courant |
1933 |
Son autre amour/Dédé, son père et l'amour [Alfred Machard & Constant Rémy] b&w |
1933 |
Pas besoin d'argent [Jean-Paul Paulin] b&w; French-language version of 'Man braucht kein Geld' (1931, Carl Boese; ph: Willy Goldberger) |
1933 |
Mariage à responsabilité limitée [Jean de Limur] b&w; French-language version of 'Ehe m.b.H./Ehe mit beschränkter Haftung' (1931, Franz Wenzler; ph: Carl Drews) |
1933 |
Le fakir du Grand Hôtel [Pierre Billon] b&w |
1933 |
Les deux "Monsieur" de Madame [Abel Jacquin & Georges Pallu] b&w |
1933 |
Coralie et Cie. [Alberto Cavalcanti] b&w |
1933 |
L'abbé Constantin [Jean-Paul Paulin] b&w |
1934 |
L'auberge du Petit Dragon [Jean de Limur] b&w |
1934 |
Un homme en or/A Man and His Wife [Jean Dréville] b&w |
1934 |
Napoléon Bonaparte [Abel Gance] b&w; ph new footage: Roger Hubert; re-edited & abridged version of 1926 film + soundtrack (140m) |
1934 |
Le petit Jacques [Gaston Roudès] b&w |
1934 |
Toboggan/Battling-Géo [Henri Decoin] b&w |
1934 |
L'homme à l'oreille cassée [Robert Boudrioz] b&w |
1935 |
Touche-à-tout [Jean Dréville] b&w |
1935 |
La gondole aux chimères [Augusto Genina] b&w |
1935 |
La gondola delle chimere [Augusto Genina] b&w; cph: Anchise Brizzi; Italian-language version of 'La gondole aux chimères' |
1936 |
Hélène [Jean Benoît-Lévy & Marie Epstein] b&w |
1936 |
Les petites alliées [Jean Dréville] b&w |
1936 |
La dernière valse [Leo Mittler] b&w |
1936 |
Mademoiselle ma mère [Henri Decoin] b&w |
1937 |
Mirages/Mirages de Paris/Si tu m'aimes [Alexandre Ryder] b&w |
1937 |
La mort du cygne/Ballerina [Jean Benoît-Lévy & Marie Epstein] b&w |
1937 |
Les filles du Rhône [Jean-Paul Paulin] b&w |
1937 |
Abus de confiance/Abused Confidence [Henri Decoin] b&w |
1938 |
Retour à l'aube/She Returned at Dawn [Henri Decoin] b&w |
1938 |
Carrefour/L'homme de la nuit/Crossroads [Kurt Bernhardt] b&w |
1938 |
Éducation de prince/Bargekeepers Daughter [Alexander Esway] b&w |
1939 |
L'homme du Niger/Forbidden Love [Jacques de Baroncelli] b&w |
1939 |
Pour le maillot jaune [Jean Stelli] b&w; cph: Pierre Montazel & Roger Dormoy |
1940 |
Vénus aveugle/Blind Venus [Abel Gance] b&w; 2uc (+ c.op): Henri Alekan |
1941 |
Le club des soupirants/Nine Bachelors [Maurice Gleize] b&w |
1941 |
Une femme dans la nuit [Edmond T. Gréville (started by Abel Gance)] b&w |
1942 |
La belle aventure/Twilight [Marc Allégret] b&w |
1942 |
Feu sacré [Maurice Cloche & Jean Choux] b&w |
1942 |
Ne le criez pas sur les toits [Jacques Daniel-Norman] b&w |
1943 |
Les mystères de Paris [Jacques de Baroncelli] b&w |
1945 |
Étrange destin [Louis Cuny] b&w |
1945 |
La route du bagne [Léon Mathot] b&w |
1945 |
La colère des dieux [Carl Lamac] b&w |
1946 |
Rocambole [Jacques de Baroncelli] b&w |
1946 |
La revanche de Baccarat [Jacques de Baroncelli] b&w |
1946 |
Le fugitif [Robert Bibal] b&w |
1946 |
Pour une nuit d'amour [Edmond T. Gréville] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Jacques Lemare |
1946 |
Dernier refuge [Marc Maurette] b&w; cph: Jean Bachelet |
1947 |
Carrefour du crime [Jean Sacha] b&w |
1948 |
Métier de fous [André Hunebelle] b&w |
1948 |
Tous les deux [Louis Cuny] b&w |
1948 |
Les casse-pieds/The Spice of Life [Jean Dréville] b&w |
1948 |
Valse brillante [Jean Boyer] b&w |
1948 |
Suzanne et ses brigands [Yves Ciampi] b&w |
1948 |
Le mystère Barton [Charles Spaak] b&w |
1949 |
La ronde des heures [Alexandre Ryder] b&w |
1950 |
Journal d'un curé de campagne/Diary of a Country Priest [Robert Bresson] b&w |
1950 |
Banco de prince [Michel Dulud] b&w |
1950 |
Bille de clown [Jean Wall] b&w |
1950 |
La vie chantée [Noël-Noël] b&w |
1951 |
La vérité sur Bébé Donge/The Truth of Our Marriage [Henri Decoin] b&w |
1951 |
La demoiselle et son revenant [Marc Allégret] b&w |
1952 |
Mon gosse de père [Léon Mathot] b&w |
1953 |
L'envers du paradis [Edmond T. Gréville] b&w; cph: Jacques Lemare |
1953 |
Secrets d'alcove/Il letto/The Bed [seg 'Riviera-Express' dir by Ralph Habib] b&w; 4 seg; cph: Michel Kelber; other ph: Christian Matras (2 seg) & Enzo Serafin (1 seg) |
1953 |
La route Napoléon [Jean Delannoy] b&w |
1953 |
L'étrange désir de Monsieur Bard [Géza von Radványi] b&w |
1954 |
Marianne de ma Jeunesse/Marianne of My Youth [Julien Duvivier] b&w; sfx ph: Eugen Schüfftan |
1954 |
Marianne, meine Jugendliebe [Julien Duvivier] b&w; uncred cph: Georg Krause; sfx ph: Eugen Schüfftan; German-language version of 'Marianne de ma Jeunesse' |
1955 |
La madone des sleepings [Henri Diamant-Berger] b&w |
1955 |
Tant qu'il y aura des femmes [Edmond T. Gréville] b&w |
1955 |
Toute la ville accuse/Les mille et un millions [Claude Boissol] b&w |
1955 |
Bonjour sourire/Sourire aux lèvres [Claude Sautet] b&w |
1955 |
Vous pigez?/Diamond Machine [Pierre Chevalier] b&w |
1956 |
Mon curé chez les pauvres [Henri Diamant-Berger] b&w |
1956 |
Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut/A Man Escaped [Robert Bresson] b&w |
1956 |
Magirama [Abel Gance & Nelly Kaplan] ?; includes extracts from 'J'accuse!' (1918) and 'Napoléon' (1926) |
1957 |
Les fanatiques/A Bomb for a Dictator/The Fanatics [Alex Joffé] b&w |
1957 |
Quand sonnera midi [Edmond T. Gréville] b&w |
1958 |
Cette nuit-là/Night Heat [Maurice Cazeneuve] b&w |
1959 |
Pickpocket [Robert Bresson] b&w |
1961 |
Un soir sur la plage [Michel Boisrond] b&w |
1962 |
Procès de Jeanne d'Arc [Robert Bresson] b&w |
1963 |
Un drôle de paroissien/Deo gratias/Heaven Sent/Light-Fingered George/Thank Heaven for Small Favors [Jean-Pierre Mocky] b&w-c |
1963 |
Chair de poule/Highway Pick-Up [Julien Duvivier] b&w |
1964 |
Dernier tiercé [Richard Pottier] b&w |
1966 |
Les compagnons de la marguerite/Order of the Daisy [Jean-Pierre Mocky] b&w |
1971 |
Bonaparte et la révolution [Abel Gance] b&w; 275m & (tv-version) 180m; ph new footage: Jean Collomb (?); reworking of 1926 & 1934 films |
FILMS AS DIRECTOR | |
---|---|
1913 |
Les rapaces diurnes et nocturnes [short/?m] |
1913 |
L'industrie du verre [doc/?m] |
1913 |
La pousse des plantes [short/?m] |
1913 |
La floraison [short/?m] |
1922 |
La conquête des Gaules [co-d: Yan B. Dyl & Marcel Yonnet; + ph/small part] see Films |
1929 |
L'évadée [co-d: Henri Ménessier] ph: ? Luttke & Jean Manoussi |
1932 |
Le fada [short/53m] |
NOTE: The following films are sometimes attributed to Burel, but he deleted them from a list submitted to him by the magazine 'Film Dope' in 1974: |
|
1915 |
La folie du Docteur Tube/The Madness of Dr. Tube [Abel Gance] b&w; short/11m; ph: ? |
1915 |
Le périscope [Abel Gance] b&w; ph: ? |
1919 |
La terre [André Antoine] b&w; ph: René Gaveau & René Guichard |
1928 |
Marines et cristaux [Abel Gance] triple-screen/b&w; doc/?m; ph: ? |
1932 |
Boudu sauvé des eaux [Jean Renoir] b&w; ph: Marcel Lucien; Burel never worked with Renoir |