Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (born Jean-Pierre Grumbach) (October 20, 1917 – August 2, 1973) was a noted French director. He later adopted the pseudonym 'Melville' as a tribute to his favorite American author Herman Melville.
Born in Paris, France, Melville, who was Jewish, served in World War II and fought in Operation Dragoon. When he returned from the war he applied for a license to become an assistant director, but was refused. Without this support, he decided to direct his movies by his own means.
Becoming an independent film-maker, owning his own studios, he became famous for his tragic, minimalist films noirs, such as Le Samouraï and Le Cercle rouge, starring major, charismatic actors like Alain Delon (probably the definitive 'melvillian' actor), Jean-Paul Belmondo and Lino Ventura. His directorial style was influenced by American cinema and fetishized accessories like weapons, clothes and especially hats.
His independence and his "reporting" style of film-making (he was one of the first French directors to use real locations) were a major influence on the French New Wave film movement, and he appears as a minor character in Jean-Luc Godard's seminal New Wave film À bout de souffle.
Melville died from a heart attack at the age of 56. To this day he remains an important influence for directors like John Woo, Ringo Lam, Kirk Wong and Quentin Tarantino.
Jean-Pierre Melville - An American in Paris (2003) by Ginette Vincendeau (ISBN 0851709494) is a detailed, sympathetic critical study.
Filmography
Director
- 1945 - Vingt-quatre heures de la vie d'un clown
- 1947 - Le Silence de la mer
- 1950 - Les Enfants terribles
- 1955 - Bob le flambeur
- 1959 - Deux hommes dans Manhattan
- 1961 - Léon Morin, prêtre
- 1963 - Le Doulos
- 1963 - L’Aîné des Ferchaux
- 1966 - Le Deuxième souffle
- 1967 - Le Samouraï
- 1969 - L’Armée des ombres
- 1970 - Le Cercle rouge
- 1972 - Un flic
Actor
- 1949 - Orphée Gérant de l'hotel
- 1959 - Deux hommes dans Manhattan Moreau
- 1960 - À bout de souffle Parvulesco
- 1963 - Landru Georges Mandel
Further reading
External links
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