LÉONCE-HENRI BUREL

GREAT CINEMATOGRAPHERS

#1: 1918

#3: [Right] with dir Jean-Pierre Mocky [left]

LÉONCE-HENRI BUREL

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