Chabrol, Claude (1930- )

French film director. One of the New Wave directors, he came to the fore in the late 1950s. His works centre on murder and suspense, and include Les Cousins/The Cousins (1959), Les Bonnes Femmes/The Good Women (1960), Les Biches/Girlfriends (1968), and Le Boucher/The Butcher (1969).

Chabrol was originally a critic for the French film journal Cahiers du Cinéma. A major influence on his work was the director Alfred Hitchcock, about whom he co-wrote a book with his fellow director Eric Rohmer.

Other works include Landru/BlueBeard (1962), Violette Nozière/Violette (1978), Le Cheval d'orgueil/The Horse of Pride (1979), Poulet au vinaigre/Chicken in Vinegar (1984), Le Cri du hibou/The Cry of the Owl (1987), Une Affaire de femmes/Story of Women (1988), and L'Enfer/Hell (1994).