New Wave French filmmaker Claude Chabrol dies at 80

PARIS — French director Claude Chabrol, one of the founders of the New Wave movement that revolutionized filmmaking in the late 1950s and '60s, died Sunday. He was 80. Christophe Girard, who is responsible for cultural matters at Paris City Hall, announced the death on his blog. Other City Hall officials confirmed that Chabrol passed away, but declined to provide any details, including the cause of death. A prolific director, Chabrol made more than 70 films and TV productions during his more than 50-year career. His first movie, 1958's "Le Beau Serge" won him considerable critical acclaim and was widely considered a sort of manifesto for the New Wave, or "Nouvelle Vague" movement, which also included directors like Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. His movies looked critically at the French bourgeoisie, focusing on the foibles and hypocrisy of human nature. Often suspenseful, his work drew comparisons with that of Alfred Hitchcock. His top films included "Les Biches," or "Bad Girls," from 1968 and 1970's "The Breach," as well as the 2000 mystery "Merci pour le chocolat." Chabrol's last feature film, "Bellamy," came out last year. —AP