Jean-Pierre Jeunet
| Jean-Pierre Jeunet | |
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| Born | September 3, 1953 Roanne, Loire, France |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Spouse | Liza Sullivan |
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ pjɛʁ ʒœnɛ]; born September 3, 1953) is a French film director.
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Life and career
Jean-Pierre Jeunet was born in Roanne, Loire, France. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his longtime collaborator and co-director.
Together, Jeunet and Caro directed award-winning animations. Their first live action film was The Bunker of the Last Gunshots (1981), a short film about soldiers in a bleak futuristic world. Jeunet also directed numerous advertisements and music videos, such as Jean Michel Jarre's Zoolook (together with Caro).
Jeunet and Caro's first feature film was Delicatessen (1991), a black comedy set in a famine-plagued post-apocalyptic world, in which a block of flats above a delicatessen is ruled by a butcher who kills people in order to feed his tenants.
They next made The City of Lost Children (1995), a dark, multi-layered fantasy film about a mad scientist who kidnaps children in order to steal their dreams thus preventing him from aging prematurely.
The success of The City of Lost Children led to an invitation to direct the fourth movie in the Alien series–Alien Resurrection (1997). Like his subsequent films, this one is credited only to Jeunet, although Caro did some work on the art design. Though not well received by critics, Alien Resurrection turned a profit at the box office.
Jeunet returned to France. The clout of having a Hollywood film under his belt gave him free rein on his next project, Amélie, starring Audrey Tautou. Amélie diverges in tone from his earlier films, as it has romantic and comedic elements and lacks his previous films' dark mise-en-scene. This change is sometimes attributed to Caro's minimal participation. This story, about a woman who takes pleasure in doing good deeds but cannot find love herself, was a huge critical and commercial success worldwide and was nominated for several Academy Awards. For this film, Jeunet also gained a European Film Award for Best Director.
In 2004, Jeunet released A Very Long Engagement, an adaptation of the novel by Sébastien Japrisot. The film, starring Audrey Tautou, chronicled a woman's search for her missing lover after World War I.
In 2007, Jeunet pulled out of directing Yann Martel's novel Life of Pi for budgetary reasons.
In 2009 he released Micmacs à tire-larigot.
Jeunet has also directed numerous commercials including a 2'25" film for Chanel N° 5 featuring his frequently used actress Audrey Tautou.
Collaborators
Jeunet likes to work with the same team of filmmakers and repeatedly casts similar actors. His usual 'team' includes the following:
- Aline Bonetto was the set designer for Delicatessen, Amélie, A Very Long Engagement and Micmacs.
- Jean-Claude Dreyfus has appeared in all of his feature-length films except Alien Resurrection, Amélie and Micmacs.
- Bruno Delbonnel was the cinematographer on Amélie and A Very Long Engagement.
- Darius Khondji was the cinematographer on Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children and Alien.
- Yolande Moreau is in Amélie and Micmacs.
- Ron Perlman appears in both The City of Lost Children and Alien Resurrection.
- Dominique Pinon has appeared in all of Jeunet's feature-length films.
- Rufus and Ticky Holgado appear in all of his feature-length films except Alien Resurrection and Micmacs.
- Hervé Schneid was the editor for all Jeunet's feature-length films.
- Audrey Tautou appears in both Amélie and A Very Long Engagement.
Filmography
Director
- Delicatessen (1991)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- Alien Resurrection (1997)
- Amélie (2001)
- A Very Long Engagement (2004)
- Micmacs (2009)
Writer
- Delicatessen (1991)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- Amélie (2001)
- A Very Long Engagement (2004)
- Micmacs (2009)
External links
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet at the Internet Movie Database
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet Official Site
- GreenCine's interview with Jeunet
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet - A Life in Pictures, filmed BAFTA event
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