Crossword Genius

French director contracted to include element of Elizabethan costume (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

truffaut

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'french director' is the definition.
'truffaut' can be an answer for 'director' (Francois Truffaut, 1932-1984). I'm unsure of the 'french' bit.

'contracted to include element of elizabethan costume' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'element' could be 'ru' (Ru is an example) and 'ru' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for truffaut that I've seen before include "Filmmaker" , "Franois -, French film producer" , "film director" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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