Jean-Jacques Beineix (original) (raw)
Jean-Jacques Beineix(1946-2022)
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Director
A rabid movie fan when he was young, Jean-Jacques Beineix first studied medicine before entering the movie business. During the seventies, he became an established assistant director, working withClaude Berri,René Clément,Claude Zidi and evenJerry Lewis. But, like many assistants, Beineix's ultimate dream was to direct. He had a pass at it in 1977 with the shortLe chien de Monsieur Michel (1977). A promising debut, it won the first price at Trouville Festival and earned a César nomination for best short film (fiction).
In 1981, came his first long featureDiva (1981), a stylish thriller based on a book by Delacorta. When it came out, Diva was not supported by French critics and seemed at first well on its way to crash and burn. But slowly the film gained momentum due to good word of mouth and positive reactions in various festivals like Moscow and Toronto. Ultimately, the film became a great success internationally, winning four Césars along the way.
Next came the expensiveThe Moon in the Gutter (1983). An adaptation of a David Goodis novel, the film was even more radical than 'Diva' in its deliberate artificiality. Premiering in competition at the 36th Cannes Film Festival in 1983, the film was booed and most critics found it pretentious and boring. Only few voices rose up to defend the movie but it was not enough to save it. It flopped at the box office but manage to win one César for set design.
At that point, Beineix's career was in serious danger of biting the dust, but he came back in force in 1986 withBetty Blue (1986) (aka 'Betty Blue'), based on a 'Philippe Djian' novel. Despite mixed reviews, the film was another international hit, won the top price at Montréal festival, and was nominated for best foreign film at both the Oscars and Golden Globes, each time losing to Fons Rademakers' 'De Aanslag'. It also earned 9 César nominations including best film and best director ... but won only for best poster !
Beineix's next movieRoselyne and the Lions (1988), set in the circus world, came and went unnoticed. In 1992,IP5: The Island of Pachyderms (1992)got attention mostly for beingYves Montand's last role. Beineix then resurfaced where he was least expected with social documentaries. He did a film about children in Romania;Otaku (1994) was shot in Japan;Assigné à résidence (1997)was about locked-in syndrome victimJean-Dominique Bauby.
In 2001, he came back to fiction withMortal Transfer (2001), a psycho-thriller based on aJean-Pierre Gattegnonovel. Once again, critics were lukewarm and the film performed poorly at the box-office. In 2002, however, Beineix drew strong ratings with made for TV documentaryLoft Paradoxe (2002), an attempt to analyse the success of reality show 'Loft Story'.
With his intense focus on the power of images, Beineix paved the way for directors like Luc Besson,Leos Carax andJean-Pierre Jeunet. A self-proclaimed misanthropist who never hid his contempt for producers and was often deemed excessive and irascible, he will go down in the history books as a director who raised controversy not for the subjects he tackled but for his stylistic approach. Still, withDiva (1981) andBetty Blue (1986), he directed two of the few French films of the eighties that reached an international audience.
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