Last modified on Wed 17 Feb 2021 13.41 EST
One of the tenets observed by the screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, who has died aged 89, was that âthe scenario is created when you and the director establish a near telepathic communication. This requires, on both sides, a receptiveness and a trust which can never be taken for granted. The scriptwriter must on occasion be prepared to submerge his ego, since ultimately itâs the directorâs film, and youâre there to help him, to facilitate him.â
Among the film directors whom Carrière âfacilitatedâ were Louis Malle, Pierre Etaix, Volker Schlöndorff, MiloÅ¡ Forman and, above all, Luis Buñuel, for and with whom he wrote six exemplary screenplays. Carrière first met Buñuel in 1963 when the latter was looking for a French co-writer on Diary of a Chambermaid, based on Octave Mirbeauâs 1900 novel. âBuñuel chose me only after eating lunch together and getting me to talk about the