Jean yves escoffier biography

A French cinema veteran who shot such American indies as “Gummo” and “Nurse Betty” as well as the Oscar-decorated “Good Will Hunting,” Jean-Yves Escoffier tragically passed away in April at 52, shortly after completing post-production on “The Human Stain.”

The film’s director, Robert Benton, was heartbroken by Escoffier’s death, saying he had hoped to collaborate with Escoffier for years to come in the same kind of partnership Benton once had with the late d.p.

Nestor Almendros, who helped Benton win a directing Oscar for “Kramer vs. Kramer” in 1979.

Escoffier’s work on “The Human Stain,” a dark and tragic story, makes extensive use of muted colors, mixes flashbacks with present-day material, and subtly makes distinctions about race apparent in the cinematography.

Although Escoffier followed Benton’s basic visual template, the director credits Escoffier wit