Claude Pignot

Movies

The Abyss
Art Direction
The Inquisition is in full swing in 16th century Flanders. Wanted for his dissident writings, the alchemist doctor Zeno has been wandering Europe under an assumed name for twenty years. But he remains a non-conformist. He returns to his native Bruges, where he thinks he has been forgotten. In this silent labyrinth where the faces of the past resurface, he rediscovers his identity and thus signs his death warrant.
Man with the Transplanted Brain
Art Direction
Professor Marcilly is a famed brain specialist who, following in-depth and extended research work, is now able to perform brain transplant surgery. One day, he finds himself in the presence of a young car accident victim for whom the only hope of survival would be a brain transplant. Marcilly, who has a heart condition and is terminally ill, decides to become the "donor". The operation is a success. But who is actually the patient discharged from the hospital: a young fellow with the brain of a young man or an old man in the body of a young one?
Faustine and the Beautiful Summer
Production Design
Faustine suffers the wounds of first love. During a summer when she is staying with her grandmother, she comes to know the nearby neighbors. Two brothers live in the large house. One is divorced and one has recently remarried, both of them live there with their teenaged and adult children. Though the boys of the household are drawn to Faustine, she grows ever more smitten with the divorced older man...
Appointment in Bray
Production Design
In 1917, the First World War is raging. Julien is from Luxemburg, so instead of having to go to war he studies piano in Paris. One day his friend Jacques, also a musician and now a fighter pilot on the front, invites him to spend a few days in his family's empty house in Bray. The housekeeper, a beautiful stoic woman lets Julien in, but his friend is late and he is obliged to wait. In the meantime, he starts reminiscing of the pre-war days spent with his friend and Jacques' girlfriend Odile.
Raphael or the Debauched One
Production Design
1830, somewhere in France. Aurore is a young, beautiful and virtuous widow. She meets Raphael, a man of leisure, a debauchee. Raphael is obsessed by the death, and wait for it by chasing women and drinking. He first tries to seduce her, but is impressed by her and gives up. But Aurore felt in love with him, and tries not to look as inacessible. A romantic drama, with dispair, cynism, disgust for life and love.
The House of the Bories
Production Design
Julien, a renowned geologist, lives with his wife Isabelle and their two children in a country house. But his sullen, uncompromising attitude leaves tensions high. The arrival of Carl-Stephane, a young German student, brings a breath of fresh air and lightness to the household.
The Bear and the Doll
Production Design
Cellist Gaspard is living in a big house in the country with his son and three nieces. He likes being quiet. One day, his modest car bumps into a Rolls-Royce, driven by Felicia, a young, beautiful, wealthy and temperamental woman. And she knows it. She is very angry at him because he seems not to be under her charm. She decides to seduce him, but Gaspard did not feel like letting his life being invaded by such a woman.
Mississippi Mermaid
Set Decoration
A man orders a mail-order bride but receives instead a con woman.
Mississippi Mermaid
Production Design
A man orders a mail-order bride but receives instead a con woman.
One Night... a Train
Production Design
The Belgian linguistics professor Matthias is going through a difficult period in relations with his girlfriend Anne. She is French, he is Belgian, and, oddly enough for an enlightened Europe and a doubly enlightened university environment, this small difference is a shadow on the couple’s personal life. One day, during a train ride, Anne disappears and Mathias goes looking for her in an unknown city.
Stolen Kisses
Production Design
The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from military service. His sweetheart Christine's father lands Antoine a job as a security guard, which he promptly loses. Stumbling into a position assisting a private detective, Antoine falls for his employers' seductive wife, Fabienne, and finds that he must choose between the older woman and Christine.
The Diary of an Innocent Boy
Production Design
Set in 18th century France, a naive 17-year-old orphan named Benjamin is taken in by his wealthy aunt, the Countess de Valandry. There, he is seduced by a variety of women, including a few flirtatious maidservants and neighboring countesses who all want to be Benjamin's "first".
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Assistant Set Decoration
Delphine and Solange are two sisters living in Rochefort. Delphine is a dancing teacher and Solange composes and teaches the piano. Maxence is a poet and a painter. He is doing his military service. Simon owns a music shop, he left Paris one month ago to come back where he fell in love 10 years ago. They are looking for love, looking for each other, without being aware that their ideal partner is very close...
The Creatures
Production Design
After a road accident, a writer, Edgar, and his wife, Mylène, take up residence on an island off the coast of France to recuperate. Edgar soon recovers from his injuries and begins writing his next novel, seeking inspiration from the local people. His wife, however, has lost her voice and can only communicate through written notes. The islanders grow suspicious of the reclusive couple, their unease soon turning to aggression. Edgar is equally anxious about his neighbors, particularly a solitary widower, Ducasse, who has taken charge of a large consignment of crates. What secret project is Ducasse engaged in – and can it explain the strange behavior of the islanders?
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Assistant Set Decoration
This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.
Mata Hari, Agent H21
Production Design
This French version of the notorious spy's life centers less on her romantic escapades, and more on those that reveal the person she actually was during WW I when her German superiors ordered her to seduce the French captain Trintignant so she can steal classified papers from him. Instead she falls in love with him, blows the cover, and ends up convicted of espionage and shot. (AllMovie)