In nearly 40 years, Jacques Deray has made 24 films for the big screen and 5 for the small. Beginning in 1960 with Le Gigolo, his career as a director brought him into contact with the greatest monsters of French cinema, from Bourvil and Fernandel to Montand, from Belmondo and Delon to Gabin, from Romy Schneider and Charlotte Rampling to Ventura. Some of his films are now considered to be cult films, including La piscine, Borsalino and Un papillon sur l’épaule. He admits to having “experienced a beautiful era” and to having lived his passion for actors and actresses to the full. “What encounters, what emotions…” he writes.

But who was really hiding behind the impressive character he played to perfection – especially on his film sets? Little inclined to confidences, reserved without being shy, he was a generous man, curious about others, even if they were not stars… 15 years after his death, having shared his life for nearly 20 years, Agnès Vincent-Deray tells the story of the man he was in his personal life and in the cinema. To do this, she has collected numerous testimonies, some of which are expected, such as those of Alain Delon, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Charlotte Rampling… but also from witnesses to his more intimate life, such as Thierry Frémaux, Gilles Jacob and Ulysse, not forgetting film extracts and unpublished personal documents.