Willy Kurant

Birth : 1934-02-15, Liège - Belgium

Death : 2021-05-03

Movies

Jealousy
Director of Photography
The professional and emotional cross-currents between two romantically entwined theater actors played by the director’s son Louis and Anna Mouglalis.
A Burning Hot Summer
Director of Photography
Paul reflects on the summer he met Angèle and Frédéric as he watches his friend being laid to rest.
The Deep
Director of Photography
A couple's honeymoon trip aboard a yacht leads to a claustrophobic drama when another vessel runs into their voyage, apparently drifting. Shot in a piecemeal fashion between 1966 and 1969 and plagued with production problems, this film never completed principal photography and never entered post-production. The original negatives are now considered to be lost, and the film only exists in two incomplete workprint versions (one color and one black-and-white), which have received isolated public screenings since 2007.
Pootie Tang
Director of Photography
Pootie Tang, the musician/actor/folk hero of the ghetto, is chronicled from his early childhood to his battles against the evil Corporate America, who try to steal his magic belt and make him sell out by endorsing addictive products to his people. Pootie must learn to find himself and defeat the evil corporation for all the young black children of America, supatime.
Delivering Milo
Director of Photography
A guardian angel has 24 hours to convince a soul that life on Earth is worth the effort.
The New Swiss Family Robinson
Director of Photography
When Angelino Jack Robinson gets a new job in Australia, he decides to take his sissy wife Ann, brave sons Shane and Todd and wining daughter Elisabeth 'Lizzy' by sailing yacht from Hong Kong to Syndney. The gun he gets thrown in by Sheldon Blake proves disabled, and for a sinister reason: near Borneo, Blake's men turn up to capture them. The family escapes but loses the yacht on a reef. They build a cool camp on an island. But the pirates keep coming back, and the boys discover why: he hid a treasure in the yacht. Shane is also discovered and captured in more then one way by French plane wreck survivor Françoise, who later teams up with the family.
Day and Night
Director of Photography
Ten years ago, distinguished French author Alexandre (Alain Delon) exchanged his stressful, hectic life in Paris for a more peaceful existence upon a Mexican hacienda with his wife Ariane (Marianne Denicourt). Lucien (Jean-Pierre Kalfon) also accompanies them. There, Alexandre meets the strange lady-oracle Sonia (Lauren Bacall). As the film opens, the melancholy Alexandre is visited by the sensuous actress Laure (Arielle Dombasle) and her producer Raoul Fillipi (Karl Zero) who is going to make a movie of one of Alexandre's best-loved books. Laure is determined to play the part of the heroine and is willing to resort to seduction to get it. At the same time, Ariane is involved in a passionate affair with French-Mexican seismologist Carlo (Xavier Beauvois). While all of these characters wrangle and tangle with their different agendas, the local residents prepare for a violent revolution. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
The Little Riders
Director of Photography
Young American Joanne Hunter is stranded in the German-occupied Holland with her Dutch grandparents. The German CO, Captain Kessel begins to wage war on the village's morale, and Joanne's house must quarter another German officer, Lt. Braun, who finds himself torn between his duty and distaste of Kessel's methods. When Kessel threatens the lead statues of 16th-century freedom fighters in the town clock, Joanne and her grandparents rally the villagers to save Kirkendam's "little riders".
White Man's Burden
Director of Photography
The story takes place in alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos. Louis Pinnock is a white worker in a chocolate factory, loving husband and father of two children. While delivering a package for black CEO Thaddeus Thomas, he is mistaken for a voyeur and, as a result, loses his job, gets beaten by black cops and his family gets evicted from their home. Desperate Pinnock takes a gun and kidnaps Thomas, demanding justice.
The Baby-Sitters Club
Director of Photography
Seven junior-high-school girls organize a daycare camp for children while at the same time experiencing classic adolescent growing pains.
The Little Boy
Director of Photography
Eight-year old Francois has moved from Paris to a quiet chateau with his parents who want to escape the stress of the war. In a nearby town, his father's mistress works as a tutor. Soon his father allows a refugee family of Polish Jews to move into the basement. Francois has a terrible crush upon their daugther. Real trouble begins when a Nazi commander and his unit also move into the house, totally unaware of the refugees living below them.
A Business Affair
Cinematography
This is the story of the lovely Kate Swallow and the loves of her life. At the start she is with Alec Bolton, a noted author, who discourages her when she wants to write a novel. Later she is swept off her feet by Alecs publisher, Vanni Corso, and leaves Alec for Vanni. She writes another novel and Vanni tells her he doesn't think the book will sell. Both of their actions are an indication of their vanity and fear of losing her.
China Moon
Cinematography
Detective Kyle Bodine falls for Rachel Munro who is trapped in a violent marriage. After shooting her husband, Kyle relucantly agrees to help hide the body, but Kyle's partner is showing an unusual flair for finding clues.
Adventure of Catherine C.
Director of Photography
In Paris, unhappy movie actress Catherine Crachat becomes infatuated with the mathematician Pierre Indemini, but then breaks up with him. After a film shoot in Vienna, Catherine stays with a rich admirer, Fanny Hohenstein. Fanny has a history of many lovers of both sexes, two of whom killed themselves over her.
Stormy Summer
Director of Photography
Every year, the whole gather in the French region of Auvergne's home. During this 1944 summer, Louis falls in love with his cousin Laurence. The arrival of a British skydiver, Jack, will completely upset Laurence. Louis, jealous like crazy, will betray the skydiver who will die in front of his eyes. But his cousin François-Xavier has also seen what happened.
Under the Sun of Satan
Cinematography
Satan tempts Father Dossignan, who is trying to save the soul of a young girl who killed one of her lovers.
A State of Emergency
Director of Photography
This story is about a crusading scientist out to stop nuclear testing who is motivated by scientific fact, conscience and faith. Dr. Alex Carmody (Martin Sheen) is a physicist who becomes convinced that if the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. continue to test nuclear weapons, eventually one of these tests will set off an atomic chain reaction that will obliterate the world. Carmody travels to Portugal where he tries talks to one of the women who in 1911 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary that spoke to her and her two companions about the future. Carmody is certain that the Virgin Mary predicted the very chain reaction he and his co-worker Dr. Kenneth Parrish (Peter Firth) envision. Failing in his attempt to talk to the woman, Carmody then travels to Paris and elsewhere, warning Soviet and American officials that the tests they are planning should be cancelled before they become their last.
Tuff Turf
Director of Photography
The new guy in a Los Angeles high school, Morgan, does some singing and fights hotshot Nick over disco dancer Frankie.
Les îles
Director of Photography
The Killing of America
Cinematography
A documentary of the decline of America. Featuring footage (most exclusive to this film) from race riots to serial killers and much-much more.
Mama Dracula
Director of Photography
A female vampire must bathe in the blood of virgins in order to stay alive. The trouble is that virgins are in short supply nowadays, and she is running into major problems in finding one.
Running Scared
Director of Photography
It's 1961. Two servicemen smuggle a box of military gear to USA. Leroy tries out a military camera and accidentally takes a picture of some military facilities. Army finds one of the pictures and thinks they're communist spies.
A Grin Without a Cat
Director of Photography
French essay film focusing on global political turmoil in the 1960s and '70s, particularly the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America.
The Sitter
Director of Photography
A babysitter is menaced by mysterious and frightening phone calls.
I Love You, I Don't
Director of Photography
The petite waitress Johnny works and lives in a truck-stop, where she's lonely and longs for love. She develops a crush on the garbage truck driver Krassky, although her sleazy boss Boris warns her that he's gay.
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii
Director of Photography
Stylish film of the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd in 1971 performing a concert with no audience, in the ancient Roman Amphitheater in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy. There are two versions of the film: the concert only (around 60 minutes), and a longer version (85 minutes) featuring the concert interspersed with interviews and footage of Pink Floyd in the studio working on their next album, the Dark Side of the Moon.
Cannabis
Director of Photography
Serge Morgan is a killer working for the American Mafia. After performing a contract in New York for his employers, he takes the plane back to Paris and, during the flight, he gets to know Jane, the rich daughter of an ambassador. Once in Orly Airport he gets seriously wounded by the men of French drug kingpin Henri Emery. He manages to escape them though and takes refuge at Jane's. Passion sets in between the killer and the young lady. As of then, sex will be intertwined with blood and death. For better or worse...
The Time to Die
Director of Photography
The movie starts with a mysterious girl riding her horse into a tree. Then she's rescued by millionaire Max Topfer, who is startled to discover in her possession a video showing him being shot by a man he doesn’t know. Both the girl, who has total amnesia, and the tape appear to have come from the future. With the aid of bodyguard Helmut, Max Topfer tries to find out why a total stranger is apparently going to kill him on camera.
Tout peut arriver
Director of Photography
Back in France after a few years in the United States, a reporter goes in search of his wife.
Michael Kohlhaas - The Rebel
Cinematography
It's medieval times. Kohlhaas merchants with horses. When going to the local fair to sell his horses, is forced by a noble to leave him part of the merchandise as payment for traveling through his land, promising to give it back when the fair is over. When he returns, the horses are almost dead, and the man refuse to respond, so Kohlhass begins to fight unsuccesfuly against the injustice.
The Night of the Following Day
Director of Photography
A gang of four professional criminals kidnaps a wealthy teenage girl from an airport in Paris in a meticulous plan to extort money from the girl's wealthy father. Holding her prisoner in an isolated beach house, the gang's scheme runs perfectly until their personal demons surface and lead to a series of betrayals.
The Immortal Story
Director of Photography
An aged, wealthy trader plots with his servant to recreate a maritime tall tale, using a local woman and an unknown sailor as actors.
Wall Engravings
Director of Photography
Jeanne looks back on her love for Jean. The melancholic young man wouldn't accept the world as it was, always wishing to depart. She doesn't know that he's dead.
Mon amour, mon amour
Director of Photography
An architect has an affair with a young woman who aspires to be a pop singer. She ends up pregnant but does not tell her lover about her condition as she contemplates having an abortion.
The Departure
Director of Photography
A young Belgian car nut and hairdresser's apprentice attempts to get a Porsche by all means for his nearing debut race and meets a girl in the same time.
Trans-Europ-Express
Cinematography
A film director, Jean, his producer, Marc, and his assistant, Lucette, board the Trans-Europ-Express in Paris bound for Antwerp. Once in their compartment it occurs to them that the drama of life aboard the train presents possibilities for a film, and they begin to write a script about dope smuggling. Subsequently, they see actor Jean-Louis Trintignant walking through the station. As seen through the eyes of Jean, Marc, and Lucette, Trintignant becomes Elias, the chief character in the script. Elias is going to Antwerp to pick up a suitcase of cocaine for delivery to an international organization based in Paris.
Anna
Cinematography
Anna is working at a parisian advertising agency. The director has fallen in love with a young woman he only knows through a photograph, that of Anna.
Elsa the Rose
Director of Photography
Images and poems of the celebrated couple Louis Aragon and Elsa Triolet. Elsa’s youth as recalled by Aragon, with commentary by Elsa.
The Creatures
Director of Photography
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?
Masculin Féminin
Director of Photography
Paul, a young idealist trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, takes a job interviewing people for a marketing research firm. He moves in with aspiring pop singer Madeleine. Paul, however, is disillusioned by the growing commercialism in society, while Madeleine just wants to be successful. The story is told in a series of 15 unrelated vignettes.
4XD
Cinematography
In 1964, on the request of UniFrance, writer and director Philippe Labro filmed four young actresses – Mireille Darc, Marie Dubois, Catherine Deneuve, and Françoise Dorléac – in order to promote these young talents around the world. He took a free approach to the project, trying to capture the personality of each one, while also providing a vision of Paris as the quintessential backdrop of French cinema.
Dark Night, Calcutta
Cinematography
Marin Karmitz's avant-garde short film is a haunting tale about an alcoholic novelist facing a crippling case of writer's block.
Pehlivan
Cinematography
Pehlivan focuses on a three-day wrestling competition, an ancient tradition that dates back over a thousand years to the time of the Ottoman Empire, originating in the games the soldiers would play to entertain themselves in between battles. Maybe that's why there's more than a hint of homoeroticism in the way the wrestlers oil themselves up with grease, making sure to cover every inch of their bodies so that their opponents will be unable to get a grip. Pialat's closeups emphasize the men's muscular bodies jammed together and sliding off one another, posed in intimate, twisted arrangements, struggling desperately for a grip on each other's bodies. Arms are jammed down pants, one of the only places there's some potential for a handhold, and the whole thing is very suggestive and sensual, a form of intimate male contact that's sanctioned as a show of strength and masculinity.
Maître Galip
Cinematography
Maître Galip is the most poetic and powerful of Pialat's Turkish Chronicles, using the poems of Nazim Hikmet to accompany a series of evocative images of ordinary working class people in Istanbul. This was the film that Pialat himself claimed was the most complete realization of what he was aiming for with his Turkish documentaries. It's not difficult to see why this was his favorite: here he abandons the historical commentary and documentary observation of the other shorts in favor of an emotional emphasis on the lives of the poor and the unemployed.A short doc by Maurice Pialat.
Golden Horn
Cinematography
La Corne d'or is mostly concerned with religious ritual, examining the mosque (and former cathedral) discussed in Byzance. As a contrast against Istanbul's status as a center of historical religious conflict, Pialat — drawing here on texts by the French poet Gérard de Nerval — also describes the city as a place of strange ethnic and religious harmony, with representatives of various cultures and religions living in close contact. He emphasizes the city's hybrid culture, its blend of Southern European and Arab influences, reflected in both its people and its very construction.
Istanbul
Cinematography
All of Pialat's Turkish films are uniquely interested in the country — especially Istanbul — as it was, not just as it is at the precise moment that Pialat is filming it. History informs these films in a big way, with the voiceover narration (which incorporates excerpts from various authors) introducing tension between the images of the modern-day city and the descriptions of incidents from its long and rich history. Istanbul is probably the most conventional documentary of Pialat's Turkish series, providing a general profile of the titular city, its different neighborhoods, and the different cultures and ways of living that coexist within its sprawling borders. As the other films in the series also suggest, Pialat sees Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, as a junction point between Europe and the East, between the old and the new, between history and modernity.
Byzance
Cinematography
Byzance uses a text by Stefan Zweig to describe the Ottoman conquest of the city in 1453. Before he turned to feature filmmaking in 1968 with Naked Childhood, Pialat worked on a series of short films, many of them financed by French television. Byzance is one of Pialat’s six Turkish shorts.
Bosphore
Cinematography
Short doc by Maurice Pialat. The first film in the series set at Turkey, Bosphore, is also the only one that was shot in color.
Auto
Director of Photography
Surrealist film of the experiences of two men in a car.
Dans le vent
Director of Photography
Short subject on how fashion is created-- not by the great couturiers, but on the street.
Un jour à Paris
Director of Photography
A young man finds love on the streets of Paris, thanks to an Umbrella