Tavernier quit law school to write film criticism for CAHIERS DU CINEMA and other major journals, worked as an assistant director and publicist (e.g., for Jean-Pierre Melville) and authored a couple of books on American cinema before making his first feature, "The Clockmaker" (1973). Adapted from a Georges Simenon novel (and transposed from the USA to Tavernier's home town), it is an intelligent, studied debut with finely-tuned performances, which won a Special Jury Prize at the 1974 Berlin Film Festival, the Prix Louis Delluc in France, and established Tavernier's reputation. His subsequent
