After piercing in Hollywood thanks to his film “Le Bateau” in the early 1980s, the German director directed world stars such as Clint Eastwood, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Glenn Close or Brad Pitt. He died, Friday August 12, at the age of 81 years.
Le Monde with AP and AFP
The German director Wolfgang Petersen, notably known for his films the endless history, Air Force One or Troy, died at the age of 81, Friday August 12, at his home in Los Angeles, carried away by a pancreatic cancer, said a spokesperson.
Wolfgang Petersen, born in 1941 in the port city of Emden, in the north of Germany, made two feature films before its breakthrough in 1982, with the boat (Das Boot), then the most expensive of the ‘ History of German cinema. The 149-minute feature film (the first version lasted 210 minutes), whose plot takes place aboard a submarine during the Second World War, received six Oscar nominations of 1983 and opened the doors to ‘Hollywood to its director.
The following year released the first film in the English language of Wolfgang Petersen, the endless story, the adaptation of a success of children’s literature telling the adventures of a boy who steals a novel in a bookstore before to be propelled into the history of the work.
a fascination for the sea
He then made action films and disaster films, especially in the line of sight, with Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich, and alert!, Who relates the struggle of the American authorities against a very virulent virus, with Dustin Hoffman.
Wolfgang Petersen also directed George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the storm (The Perfect Storm), released in 2000, which tells the true story of a fishing boat from Massachusetts lost at sea. The film will hold the Attention for its giant 30 -meter wave created virtually thanks to special computer effects .
The sea has long exercised a strong fascination on the director who grew up on the north coast of Germany. “The power of the water is incredible, he said in 2009. I have always been impressed when I was a child by its strength, all the damage that the water could do when it was driving for a few hours and crashed Against shore. “
Wolfgang Petersen then chained with Troy, a sprawling epic with Brad Pitt, based on the Iliad of Homer, who reported nearly $ 500 million worldwide. Poseidon, with Kurt Russell in 2006, was his latest Hollywood film, and did not meet the success of the committed budget. 2> “Full of joy of life”
His latest feature film, German robbery (Four Against The Bank), in 2016, was a remake of his own German TV movie from 1976.
Actress Glenn Close, who had played alongside Harrison Ford in Air Force One, said in a press release to the France-Presse (AFP) agency that was led by Wolfgang Petersen “Rest [Ait] A special memory “.
“Even if the scenario was exciting and incredibly intense, I remember a lot of laughter, especially during the scenes around the immense table in the” War Room “,” she said. “My memory is that of a man full of” joie de vivre “[in French in the press release] who did what he liked the most,” said the actress.