Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert in 1961
Born 4 February 1900(1900-02-04)
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France1
Died 11 April 1977(1977-04-11) (aged 77)
Omonville-la-Petite, France
Occupation Poet, Screenwriter
Genres Poetry
Literary movement Surrealism, Symbolism
Signature

Jacques Prévert (French pronunciation: [ʒak pʁeˈvɛʁ]; 4 February 1900 - 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools, and some of the movies he wrote are extremely well-regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.

Contents

Life

Prévert was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine and grew up in Paris. After receiving his Certificat d'études attesting to his having completed his primary education, he quit school and went to work in Le Bon Marché department store in Paris. Then, he was called up for military service in 1918 and after the war was sent to the Near East.

Grave

He died in Omonville-la-Petite, on 11 April 1977. He had been working on the last scene of the animated movie Le Roi et l'oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) with his friend and collaborator Paul Grimault. When the film was released in 1980, it was dedicated to Prévert's memory, and on opening night, Grimault kept the seat next to him empty, for Prévert.

Poetry

Prévert participated actively in the surrealist movement and was a member of the Rue du Château group along with Raymond Queneau and Marcel Duchamp.

He was also a member of the agitprop group Groupe Octobre.

French literature
By category
French literary history

Medieval
16th century · 17th century
18th century · 19th century
20th century · Contemporary
French writers

Chronological list
Writers by category
Novelists · Playwrights
Poets · Essayists
Short story writers
France portal
Literature portal

Prévert's poems were published in his books Paroles (Words) (1946), Histoires (Stories) (1963), Spectacle (1951), La Pluie et le beau temps (Rain and Good Weather) (1955), Fatras (1971) and Choses et autres (Things and Others) (1973).

His poems are often about life in Paris and life after the Second World War. They are widely taught in schools in France and frequently appear in French language textbooks throughout the world.

Some of Prévert's poems, such as "Les Feuilles mortes" ("Autumn Leaves"), were set to music by Joseph Kosma, Germaine Tailleferre of Les Six, Christiane Verger and Hanns Eisler, and were also sung by prominent 20th century French vocalists including Yves Montand and Édith Piaf as well as by the American singers Joan Baez and Nat King Cole. In 1961, French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg paid tribute to "Les feuilles mortes" in his own song "La chanson de Prévert." The British remix DJs Coldcut released their own version in 1993.

Film

Prévert wrote a number of screenplays for the film director Marcel Carné. Among the films were Drôle de drame (Bizarre, Bizarre, 1937), Quai des brumes (Port of Shadows, 1938), Le Jour se lève (Daybreak, 1939), Les Visiteurs du soir (The Night Visitors, 1942) and Les Enfants du paradis (The Children of Paradise, 1945). The latter often appears on critics' lists of the greatest films of all time. His poems were also the basis for the movie La Seine a rencontré Paris (The Seine Meets Paris, 1957) by the film director and documentarian Joris Ivens, being read as narration during the film by singer Serge Reggiani.

Prévert had a long working relationship with Paul Grimault, also a member of Groupe Octobre, with whom he wrote the screenplays of a number of animated movies, starting with the short Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier) in 1947, and continuing until his death in 1977, when he was finishing Le Roi et l'Oiseau.

Prévert adapted several Hans Christian Andersen tales into animated or mixed live-action/animated movies, often in very loose adaptations. Two of these were with Paul Grimault, including Le Roi et l'oiseau, which is considered one of the greatest animated films of all time, while one was with his brother Pierre Prévert.

Bibliography

Selected filmography

Prévert wrote the scenarios and sometimes the dialogue in the following films:

External links