Jean Patrick Modiano (born 30 July 1945), generally known as Patrick Modiano, is a French novelist and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is a noted writer of autofiction, the blend of autobiography and historical fiction. In more than 40 books, Modiano used his fascination with the human experience of World War II in France to examine individual and collective identities, responsibilities, loyalties, memory, and loss. Because of his obsession with the past, he was sometimes compared to Marcel Proust. Modiano's works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have been celebrated in and around France, but most of his novels had not been translated into English before he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Modiano previously won the 2012 Austrian State Prize for European Literature, the 2010 Prix mondial Cino Del Duca from the Institut de France for lifetime achievement, the 1978 Prix Goncourt for Rue des boutiques obscures, and the 1972 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française for Les Boulevards de ceinture. Jean Patrick Modiano was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris on July 30, 1945. His father, Albert Modiano (1912–77, born in Paris), was of Jewish-Italian origin; on his paternal side he was descended from the well known Italo-Jewish Modiano family of Thessaloniki, Greece. His mother, Louisa Colpeyn (1918–2015), was a Belgian (Flemish) actress. Modiano's parents met in occupied Paris during World War II and began their relationship semi-clandestinely (they separated shortly after Patrick's birth). His father had refused to wear the Yellow badge and did not turn himself in when Paris Jews were rounded up for deportation to Nazi concentration camps. He was picked up in February 1942, and narrowly missed being deported, after an intervention from a friend. During the war years Albert did business on the black market and was allegedly associated with the Carlingue, the French Gestapo auxiliaries which recruited its leaders from the underworld. Albert Modiano never clearly spoke of this period to his son before his death in 1977. Patrick Modiano's childhood took place in a unique atmosphere. He was initially brought up by his maternal grandparents who taught him Flemish as his first language. The absence of his father, and frequently also of his mother, on tour, brought him closer to his two-year-younger brother, Rudy, who suddenly died of a disease at age 9 (Patrick Modiano dedicated his works from 1967 to 1982 to his brother). Recalling this tragic period in his famed memoir Un Pedigree (2005), Modiano said: "I couldn't write an autobiography, that's why I called it a 'pedigree': It's a book less on what I did than on what others, mainly my parents, did to me." ... Source: Article "Patrick Modiano" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- July 30, 1945 (81)
- Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France
- Writer and actor
- 5 on MovieCove · 9 credits in all
What are Patrick Modiano's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
Light 2 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
A split, not a type: Grounded 2 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 2
Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
Steady 3 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 1
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 1
A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Patrick Modiano's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 2 of their 5 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Patrick Modiano's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
9 credits, 5 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Lost Explorer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Babel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Des gens qui passent (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Bon Voyage(2003)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Te quiero (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Genealogies of a Crime(1997)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
The Son of Gascogne(1995)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Yvonne's Perfume(1994)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
Lacombe, Lucien(1974)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 9 titles from 1974 to 2023.
Biggest box office
Bon Voyage (2003)
Highest rated
Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
Most popular right now
Bon Voyage (2003)
Film career
- 1997Screen debut· Genealogies of a Crime
How do Patrick Modiano's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 64th percentile, the median of all 5; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 63rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 5 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 59/100 and the plot and story 51/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Patrick Modiano work with?
People who share at least 2 of Patrick Modiano's MovieCove titles; Aurore Clément shares the most, 2.
- Aurore ClémentShared titles: Bon Voyage (2003), Lacombe, Lucien (1974)See all 2 shared titles with Aurore Clément
- Pascal BonitzerShared titles: Genealogies of a Crime (1997), The Son of Gascogne (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Pascal Bonitzer
