The Films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
A Biography of the Distinctive French Film Director of Amelie Fame
A look at the individualistic director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and his contributions to cinema past, present and future.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the French director behind the wonderfully imaginative films Delicatessen (1991), The City Of Lost Children (1995) and Amelie (2001). His name is inextricably linked with that of friend and luminary Marc Caro. The two met in 1974 at an animation festival in Annency, realized they shared a certain artistic vision, and began to collaborate. They produced a number of short films, which were well received at festivals, before moving on to full length features. Caro has a number of strings to his bow as a talented graphic designer, composer, illustrator, comic book artist and draughtsman. His flair and expertise is put to good use in films, designing posters, storyboards costumes and masks. Jeunet's aptitude as a director comes from his personal drive and desire to achieve films that are different from the norm. He is completely self taught, and made his first few shorts whilst still holding down a 'proper' job as a postman.
Jeunet was born in 1953 in Roannes, France. According to his amusingly written biography, from his official website, he started making films at the age of 9, inventing his own sets for puppets, which he lit with flashlights. He moved on to experimenting with cine-cameras in his teenage years, before meeting Caro and setting about making shorts and animations. His first real (solo) success was achieved with the short film Foutaises (1989), which garnered many prizes. Foutaises (known in Britain and America as Things I like, Things I Don't Like), also united Jeunet with actor Dominique Pinon for the first time. The rubber faced Pinon has since featured in every one of Jeunet's feature films to date.
Delicatessen
The success and exposure afforded by Foutaises put Jeunet and Caro in a financial position where work could begin on their first feature film. What they created was the stunning post apocalyptic satire Delicatessen. The story segues between nightmare and fairytale, as it follows the residents of an apartment block above a butchers shop. With animal meat in short supply, the menacing butcher has begun to look elsewhere for fresh stock. Unfortunately for him, his lovelorn daughter alerts the troglodytes -a group of sewer-dwelling vegetarian rebels - to his cannibalistic goings on.
Delicatessen was a refreshing mixture of dark humor, fantasy and romance, which met with considerable critical and box office success.
The City of Lost Children
The next film Jeunet and Caro collaborated on, The City of Lost Children, was almost 4 years in the making. The epic futuristic fantasy introduced lavish sets, special effects and even more bizarre characters. The repulsive but piteous Krank is unable to dream, so he kidnaps children in order to steal their dreams instead. Hidden away on his isolated oil rig, his plans backfire as the traumatised children all suffer nightmares.
Hollywood Comes Calling
The success of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children led to Jeunet's brief sojourn in Hollywood, where he was asked to direct the 4th Alien film, Alien: Resurrection (1997). Caro didn't have a major role on this project, but he did work as design supervisor. Although the film was critically panned, the box office receipts were reasonable, and Jeunet was able to return to France enriched by his experience and ready to start work again on his own idiosyncratic plans.
Onwards and Upwards
Jeunet's next film, Amelie, was a quirky, romantic comedy and one of the biggest ever hits in French cinema history. Audrey Tautou was catapulted to global fame playing the sweet natured girl who seeks to inject happiness into the lives of all her friends. Jeunet took his leading lady with him to his next project, A Very Long Engagement (2004). Based on Sebastien Japrisot's novel, the film benefited from Jeunet's trademark surreality and visual poetics.
Coming Soon
Jeunet currently has two films in production, slated for possible releases in 2009. They are the arms trade satire Dodgy Dealings By The Dozen and Life of Pi, an adaption of Yann Martel's Booker winning novel.
Further articles related to Jean-Pierre Jeunet include a review of Delicatessen and a review of Amelie
Reference: Jean-Pierre Jeunet's official website
