Happy 74th Birthday, Jean-Jacques Beineix! Born today in 1945, this French film director is generally seen as the best example of what came to be called the cinéma du look.
This was a French film movement of the 1980s and 1990s, analyzed, for the first time, by French film critic and journalist Raphaël Bassan in La Revue du Cinéma issue n° 448, May 1989.
Therein, he classified Beineix, French film director, screenwriter, and producer Luc Besson ('The Last Battle'), and French film director, critic, and writer Leos Carax as directors of the "look".
Besson, like Beineix, was much maligned by the critical establishment during the 1980s, while Carax was much admired.
French-born British-based academic and professor Ginette Vincendeau defined the films made by Beineix and others as "youth-oriented films with high production values...
The look of the cinéma du look refers to the films' high investment in non-naturalistic, self-conscious aesthetics, notably intense colours and lighting effects.
Their spectacular (studio based) and technically brilliant mise-en-scène is usually put to the service of romantic plots."
A rabid cinephile growing up, Beineix spent three years in medical school. While there, he soon realized that film was his true calling in life.
In 1964, Beineix started his career as French film director, screenwriter and actor Jean Becker's assistant director on the famous French black and white/color comedy television series, Les Saintes chéries (The Holy Darlings) (1965–1970). This was until the end of 1967.
During the 1970s, he became an established assistant director, working with Jerry Lewis. As a child, Beineix described himself as "a great Jerry Lewis fan" and was thrilled to be hired on Lewis' unreleased film, 'The Day the Clown Cried' as an assistant director.
Later, Beineix also worked with French film director and screenwriter René Clément ('Forbidden Games'), French film director and screenwriter Claude Zidi, and French film director, writer, producer, actor and distributor Claude Berri. However, like many assistants, Beineix's ultimate dream was to direct.
In the late 1970s, Beineix had a pass at directing. This was in writing and directing the fourteen-minute 1977 French comedy short film 'Le Chien de Monsieur Michel ('Mr. Michel's Dog').
A promising debut, the short received a César Award nomination for Best Short Film - Fiction. This occurred at the 4th César Awards in early February 1979.
Two years later, Beineix co-wrote and directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 1981 French thriller/mystery film 'Diva'. The film was adapted from Swiss author and screenwriter Daniel Odier's (under the pseudonym Delacorta) eponymous 1979 humour crime action fiction novel.
The film tells of a young mail carrier named Jules (Frederic Andrei). He soon becomes entranced with the voice of American diva Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmenia Fernandez). However, she doesn't believe in being recorded, but Jules secretly records her singing on a tape.
Later on, his recording gets mixed up with another tape that incriminates a police chief, who is working with the mob.
Afterwards, Jules quickly becomes the target of mob gangsters, and he must find a way to get himself out of the situation alive.
Upon release, ‘Diva' was not supported by French critics and seemed at first well on its way to crash and burn.
However, the film made a successful debut in France, and also had success in the United States the following year. Over time, it became a cult classic, and was also internationally acclaimed.
When it came out, the film slowly gained momentum due to good word of mouth and positive reactions, given new life at the 7th Toronto Film Festival in September 1982.
Ultimately, the film became a great success internationally. One year after its release, 'Diva' won four César Awards, including Best First Work, Best Cinematography, Best Music, and Best Sound. This occurred at the 7th César Awards in late February 1982.
Five years later, Beineix was a member of the Dramatic Jury at the 9th Sundance Film Festival in January 1987.
In late 2006, Beineix published a first volume of his autobiography, Les Chantiers de la gloire (in French only). The title alluded to the French title of Stanley Kubrick's film,
Beineix's favorite films include 'To Have and Have Not' (1944), 'Children of Paradise' (1945), 'The Fire Within' (1963), and 'In the White City' (1983).
In late 2006, Beineix published a first volume of his autobiography, Les Chantiers de la gloire (in French only). The title alluded to the French title of Stanley Kubrick's 1957 American black and white anti-war drama film 'Paths of Glory'.
Among his other credits, Beineix is also known for directing 'Moon in the Gutter' (1983), 'Betty Blue' (1986), 'Roselyne et les lions' ('Roselyne and the Lions') (1989) and 'Mortel Transfert' ('Mortel Transfer') (2001).
The following year after the release of ‘Betty Blue’, the film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. However, it did not win. This occurred at the 59th Academy Awards in late March 1987.
Although the 192-minute story of a jack-of-all-trades traveling and having sex with a mentally unsound woman while the characters both wait for her to crack up, was edited for theatres and is available in its full version only on video.
With his intense focus on the power of images, Beineix paved the way for directors like Carax, Bresson, and French film director, producer, and screenwriter Jean-Pierre Jeunet ('Delicatessen', 'Amélie', 'A Very Long Engagement').
Beineix has been active from 1977–present.
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