The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet The Film Festival Guide
“I want to modify the reality, so I feel like a painter”. — Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Date:
April 17th–20th, 2021 (The 30th annixaversary of Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s first movie coming out.)
Location:
Alliance Française de San Francisco 1345 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA (An non-profit organization that works on promote knowledge and appreciation of the French cultures.)
Some Things to Know Before Your Departure...
Kaleidoscope of Dreams is a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film festival, which is a journey through the romantic and fantastic world that he has created. This film festival will be held at the Alliance Française de San Francisco on April 17-20, 2021, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s first feature film coming out. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s films are humorous, romantic, fantastic, but also hazy, bittersweet, and sad. The director is good at setting off the inner world of the characters and the social reality through his unique cinematography, high contrast color schemes, and realistic settings. He can closely link his personal creative ideas with elements of real-life so it resonates with viewers, making the essence of the films vivid. In his movies, marginalized characters who are in adversity are still very optimistic and maintain the good qualities of human nature. They are like a gentle light in a dark environment, which fills the audience with warmth and hope.
Contents
01
02
The Director
The Films
Biography
Delicatessen
Filmography
The City of Lost Children
Awards & Recognition
AmĂŠlie
Interview
A Very Long Engagement Micmacs The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
03
04
The Festival
References
The Theme Schedule Location Special Events
01
The Director
Biography Filmography Awards & Recognition An Interview
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Biography BORN:
September 3, 1953 PLACE OF BIRTH:
Roanne, Loire, French Fourth Republic OCCUPATION:
Film Director, Screen Writer, Film Producer, Television Director
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
YEARS ACTIVE: 1978–present
6
Jean-Pierre Jeunet was born in Roanne,
and the French New Wave. Jeunet and
France. He bought his first camera at the
Caro’s first feature film was Delicatessen
age of 17 and made short films while
(1991), a melancholy comedy set in a
studying animation at Cinémation Stu-
famine-plagued post-apocalyptic world,
dios. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer
in which an apartment building above a
and comic book artist who became his
delicatessen is ruled by a butcher who kills
longtime collaborator and co-director. They
people in order to feed his tenants. They
met at an animation festival in Annecy
next made The City of Lost Children
in the 1970s. Together, Jeunet and Caro
(1995), a dark, multi-layered fantasy film
directed award-winning animations. Their
about a mad scientist who steals children’s
first live action film was The Bunker of
dreams so that he can live indefinitely.
the Last Gunshots (1981), a short film
The success of The City of Lost Children
about soldiers in a bleak futuristic world.
led to an invitation to direct the fourth
Jeunet also directed numerous advertise-
film in the Alien series, Alien Resurrection
ments and music videos, such as Jean
(1997). This is where Jeunet and Caro
Michel Jarre’s Zoolook (together with
ended up going their separate ways
Caro). Jeunet’s films often resonate with
as Jeunet believed this to be an amazing
the late twentieth century French film
opportunity and Caro was not interested
movement, cinéma du look, and allude to
in a film that lacked creative control
themes and aesthetics involving German expressionism, French poetic realism,
CHAPTER 1: The Director
working on a big-budget Hollywood
chronicled a woman’s search for her miss-
movie. Caro ended up assisting for a few
ing lover after World War I. In 2009, he
weeks, with costumes and set design
released Micmacs which is about a man and his friends who come up with an
solo career in illustration and computer
intricate and original plan to destroy two
graphics. Jeunet directed Amélie (2001),
big weapons manufacturers. Jeunet
the story of a woman who takes pleasure
has also directed numerous commercials
in doing good deeds but has trouble
including a 2’25” film for Chanel N° 5
finding love herself, which starred Audrey
featuring his frequent collaborator
Tautou. Amélie was a huge critical and
Audrey Tautou. In 2013, Jeunet released
commercial success worldwide and was
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet an
nominated for several Academy Awards.
adaptation of Reif Larsen’s book: The
For his work on the film, Jeunet won a
Selected Works of T.S. Spivet that starred
European Film Award for Best Director.
Kyle Catlett. Since his last release, Jeunet
In 2004, Jeunet released A Very Long
has tried to get other projects funded
Engagement, an adaptation of the novel
but has found it impossible to find investors
by Sébastien Japrisot. The film, starring
willing to take a risk on his quirky films.
Audrey Tautou and Jodie Foster,
He stated in 2019 that he may go to Netflix “as a last resort.”
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
but afterwards, decided to work on a
7
CHAPTER 1: The Director
FILM THEMES AND TRADE MARKS
He can closely link his personal creative
cessful French directors of the modern
ideas with elements of real life, reflect
era. His distinctive, whimsical style that
social reality and resonate with viewers,
can be described as a throwback to cine-
making the essence of the film vividly.
matic impressionism renders his oeuvre
In his movie, characters who are in adver-
instantly recognizable. Of the several
sity are still very optimistic and maintain
unique trademarks which characterize his
a good quality of human nature. They
films—including a focus on objects, the
are like a gentle light in a dark environment,
creation of quirky characters and the
which fills the audience with warmth and
expression of a free, childlike imagination.
hope. Jeunet’s films often resonate with
Jeunet is especially known for his love
the late twentieth century French film
of wide camera angles and elaborate crane
movement, cinéma du look, and allude to
movements which allow him to portray
themes and aesthetics involving German
with full force, the profound inner conflicts
expressionism, French poetic realism,
faced by his characters. Most of Jeunet’s
and the French New Wave. His films often
films are full of humor, hope, romance,
lack a sense of realism; the vivid sense
and fantasy. The director is good at setting
of surrealism which pervades his films is
off the inner world of movie characters
created by his extensive use of color
through his unique cinematography,
grading and exaggerated color tones,
high-contrast color schemes, and realistic
riotously lighting up the screen in a hyp-
living scenes.
notic fireworks display of iridescence.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet with Audrey Tautou while filming A Very Long Engagement in 2004.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is one of the most suc-
9
I like looking back at people’s faces in the dark. I like noticing details that no one else sees. — Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Filmography
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
1989–1997
12
1989
Foutaises
Director
Writer
1991
Delicatessen
Director
Writer
1995
The City of Lost Children
Director
Writer
1997
Alien Resurrection
Director
Editor
CHAPTER 1: The Director
2001–2020 Amélie
Director
Writer
2004
Madame Édouard
Technical Advisor
A Very Long Engagement
Director
Writer
Producer
2009
Micmacs
Director
Writer
Producer
2013
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Director
Writer
Producer
2020
Bigbug
Director
Writer
Producer
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
2001
13
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Awards & Recognition Showing 36 wins and 24 nominations
Academy Awards, USA 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Writing, Screenplay Written
(Oscar)
Directly for the Screen
Nominee
Best Film not in the English Language
BAFTA Awards 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
(BAFTA Film Award)
2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Screenplay—Original
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
(BAFTA Film Award)
16
2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
David Lean Award for Direction
2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Film not in the English Language
(BAFTA Film Award)
1993
Delicatessen (1991)
Nominee (BAFTA Film Award)
Best Film not in the English Language
CHAPTER 1: The Director
Jean-Pierre Jeunet attends the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society’s 6th Annual Creative Arts Awards. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez
3D Creative Arts Awards 2015
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)
Winner
Harold Lloyd Award
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 1998
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Director
(Saturn Award)
Amanda Awards, Norway 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Foreign Feature Film
American Screenwriters Association, USA 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Discover Screenwriting Award
Nominee
Best Foreign Film
Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards 2003
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
(Silver Condor)
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
(Amanda)
17
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
French directors, screenwriters Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet receive the Best Debut Award and the Best Writing Award for their movie Delicatessen, during the 17th Cesar Awards ceremony. Photo by Eric Robert/Sygma
Association of Polish Filmmakers Critics Awards 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Foreign Film
(Honorable Mention)
Association of Polish Filmmakers Critics Awards 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Director
(ACCA)
2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Best Original Screenplay
(ACCA)
Canberra Short Film Festival
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
2001
18
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Audience Award
Nominee
Palme d’Or
Cannes Film Festival 1995
La cité des enfants perdus (1995)
CHAPTER 1: The Director
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet poses next to a movie poster March 22, 2002 in Beverly Hills, CA. Juenets film “Amelie” is the nomination from France for best foreign language film at the 74th Annual Academy Awards to be held March 24, 2002 in Hollywood, CA. Photo by Vince Bucci
Chicago International Film Festival 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Audience Choice Award
(ACCA)
1991
Delicatessen (1991)
Winner
Best Feature
(ACCA)
Cinéfest Sudbury 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Audience Award
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival Foutaises (1989)
Winner
National Competition
(Audience Award)
1990
Foutaises (1989)
Winner
National Competition
(Press Award)
1991
Foutaises (1989)
Winner (Jacques Tati Award)
For its humor.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
1990
19
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Czech Lions 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Foreign Language Film
(Czech Lion)
César Awards, France 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Nominee
Best Film
(César)
2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Nominee
Best Director
(César)
2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Nominee
Best Screenplay, Original or Adaptation
(César)
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
2002
20
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Director
(César)
2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Film
(César)
2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee (César)
Best Screenplay, Original or Adaptation
CHAPTER 1: The Director
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro at an event for Delicatessen (1991)
César Awards, France 1992
Delicatessen (1991)
Winner
Best First Work
(César)
1992
Delicatessen (1991)
Winner
Best Screenplay, Original or Adaptation
(César)
1991
Foutaises (1989)
Winner
Best Short Film—Fiction
(César)
1981
Foutaises (1989)
Winner
Best Short Film—Animation
(César)
2003
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Non-American Film
(Robert)
David di Donatello Awards 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee (David)
Best Foreign Film (Miglior Film Straniero)
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Danish Film Awards (Robert)
21
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Jean-Pierre Jeunet during Cesar Awards Ceremony 2002—Press Room at Chatelet Theater in Paris, France. Photo by Tony Barson
Denver International Film Festival 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best New Feature-Length Fiction Film
(People’s Choice Award)
DVD Exclusive Awards 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Original Retrospective Documentary
(DVD Premiere Award)
Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Winner
Best Motion Picture Screenplay
(DVD Premiere Award)
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
Edinburgh International Film Festival
24
2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Audience Award
Nominee
Independent Spirit Award
Empire Awards, UK 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
CHAPTER 1: The Director
Jean-Pierre Jeunet accepts the award for Best Foreign Film for “Amelie,” at the 2002 ifp/west Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, CA. Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON
European Film Awards 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Nominee
Best European Director
(EFA People’s Choice Award)
2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best European Director
(European Film Award)
2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best European Director
(EFA People’s Choice Award)
1991
Delicatessen (1991)
Nominee
Young European Film of the Year
(European Film Award)
1992
Delicatessen (1991)
Winner
Best Film
(Audience Jury Award)
1992
Delicatessen (1991)
Winner (International Fantasy Film Award)
Best Film
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Fantasporto
25
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
“A Very Long Engagement” Tokyo Photocall Jean-Pierre Jeunet, director, and Gaspard Ulliel with Cesars Trophy Photo by Jun Sato
French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Film
(Critics Award)
Gold Derby Awards 2010
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Nominee
Original Screenplay of the Decade
(Gold Derby Award)
Golden Eagle Awards, Russia 2003
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best Foreign Film
(Golden Eagle)
Goya Awards
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
2002
26
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Best European Film
(Goya)
Guild of German Art House Cinemas 2002
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Foreign Film
(Guild Film Award—Gold)
1993
Delicatessen (1991)
Winner (Guild Film Award—Silver)
Foreign Film
CHAPTER 1: The Director
Jean-Pierre Jeunet shows the trophy dedicated to his director of photography Thomas Hardmeir for Jeunet’s movie “The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet” during the 19th Lumieres awards ceremony on January 20, 2014 at the Pierre Cardin space in Paris. Photo credit should read BERTRAND GUAY
International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA) 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Winner
Best Non-English Language Film
(INOCA)
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2001
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Winner
Crystal Globe
Winner
Best Director
Lumiere Awards, France 2005
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
(Lumiere Award)
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Winner
Best Film
(Lumiere Award)
2002
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Winner
Best Screenplay
(Lumiere Award)
Norwegian International Film Festival 2002
Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Winner (Silver Clod)
Best Foreign Film of the Year
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
2002
27
I’ve never made any concessions, so I am 100% responsible for my films. This makes me feel very proud. — Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
An Interview A CHAT WITH JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET By Simon Braund // January 22, 2016
Hammer To Nail
Having established himself as the cuddly
as a young Parisian woman who gets
enfant terrible of French art house with
her kicks doing small deeds of anonymous
1991’s sumptuously surreal, blackly comic
kindness for strangers. Amélie was a
tale of mystery meat and post-apocalyptic
huge critical and commercial success,
high-rise living Delicatessen, Jean-Pierre
enabling Jeunet to pursue a long-gestating
Jeunet’s career took some interesting
dream project, 2004’s sweeping, albeit
turns.1995’s phantasmagorical fairytale
slightly less whimsical, slightly less
The City Of Lost Children was a similarly
charming, A Very Long Engagement, again
bizarre and inventive outing (co-written
with Tatou, this time as a young woman
and directed, like Delicatessen, with col-
searching for her MIA fiancee in the
laborator Marc Caro), but after that film’s
aftermath of WWI.
relatively poor box office he veered drastically off the Euro-indie reservation, parting ways with Caro and taking the
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
helm of a Hollywood blockbuster—1997’s
30
Alien: Resurrection chapter four of the sci-fi saga that wouldn’t die. Returning to France—again without
Jeunet’s output has been more muted since then with neither underrated comedy Micmacs (2009) nor equally underrated fable The Young And Prodigious T. S. Spivet making much of an impression on either audiences or critics. But, as he revealed at the 2015 Marrakech International
Caro — he then astounded fans with the
Film Festival, Jeunet has some more
whimsical and excessively charming
surprises up his sleeve— including a
Amélie, starring an adorable Audrey Tatou
long-overdue reunion with Caro.
CHAPTER 1: The Director
Hammer to Nail: Your career as a film-
read poetry by Jacques Prévert (screen-
maker really began when you met Marc
writer of Les Enfants du Paradise). I made
Caro, are you planning to work with
all the animals in the film with stuff found
him again?
in nature.
J-PJ: We’re thinking about an exhibition of our work, because we have so many objects. For each film we build so many interesting things, and I keep everything. But that will take two or three years.
Is it stop-motion? J-PJ: No because I have a friend who did the animation in Micmacs, he transforms a still photograph in 3D into animation. He’s so good; I couldn’t do that. I took the
J-PJ: Well, it’s interesting, looking back I realize how lucky I was because I had almost complete artistic freedom. That’s very rare. Now for a Hollywood movie they have maybe ten producers standing behind the video screens. I don’t want to say it was easy because of course I had a lot of pressure on me with the money. But I had artistic freedom that I’d never
photographs and he animates them (on
have now.
Jeunet’s phone are pictures of beetles,
How do you place Alien: Resurrection
in 1978 and we started to speak. He was
frogs and phone are pictures of beetles,
in your body of work? Do you see it as
making a small fanzine about animation,
frogs and other tiny animals, intricately
something of an anomaly?
so we decided to make a short film, The
constructed from found objects). I have sixty of them. I’ll probably just show it on
J-PJ: Yeah, but they hired me for who
Escape (L’evasion), a stop-motion like Tim Burton. Right now I’m making another
my website, maybe on French TV. I do it
animation film.
for the pleasure (laughs).
special ideas and we think it’s less risky
A feature?
Can you talk a little about your experi-
to take a risk with you.”
J-PJ: . All the actors who worked for me,
ence on Alien: Resurrection, your one
If it wasn’t the horrible experience every-
Audrey Tatou, Mathieu Kassovitz, they all
and only Hollywood movie and a million
one imagines it was for you, why have
miles from animated insects?
you not made a movie in Hollywood
I am. They loved City Of Lost Children, they told me that. The said, ‘We love your
since then?
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Why did you and Caro hit it off creatively? J-PJ: We were at a festival for animation
31
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
J-PJ: I lost confidence in America because
you know him.’ He saw the film finished
I lost so much freedom; that’s the reason
and he said, ‘No no, I won’t touch a
before Delicatessen, but it was too expen-
I prefer to make my films in France.
frame.’ Then of course he brought
sive. So we were looking for an original
The last one, [The Young And Prodigious]
the pressure.
T. S. Spivet was a co-production between France and Canada to avoid America. But in the end, Gaumont sold the film to Harvey Weinstein and he fucked me.
J-PJ: Never.
morning with the chung, chung noise of the hachoir, the chopper. That was the beginning of the idea. And at the time we wanted to put everything we loved into
the film, he kept the film for two years,
before Amélie.
a film, so there are a lot of references—
then he released it with no advertising,
J-PJ: On Delicatessen. He sent [Marc
the pictures of Robert Doisneau (pioneering
nothing. It was a disaster.
Caro and I] a list of cuts; he wanted to cut
photojournalist and contemporary of
So he buried it because you wouldn’t re-cut it to his specifications? J-PJ: Exactly. I don’t negotiate with terrorists. Kaleidoscope of Dreams
any time soon.
idea but cheaper. At the time I was living above a butcher shop and I woke up every
But you had worked with him even
Of course! Because I refused to re-edit
32
So you won’t be working with him again
J-PJ: We wrote City Of Lost Children
everything on Delicatessen! We were
Henri Cartier-Bresson), the cartoons
very patient and we said, ‘We have
of Tex Avery, Buster Keaton; everything.
another idea. You cut our names from the
Everything we loved, it’s in the film.
credits.’I was expecting to find my dog’s
You worked with him on Amélie,
head cut off on my bed (laughs). This
didn’t you?
man is…he doesn’t respect the filmmaker.”
J-PJ: Yes, but this time it was Gaumont who sold the film. I said, ‘Be careful,
It says in the credits ‘Presented by Terry Gilliam.’ What’s the story there? J-PJ: Yeah, he was also the distributor of
Delicatessen was yours and Marc Caro’s
City Of Lost Children. I did a long interview
first feature. Where did the idea for that
with him, so we know each otherI don’t
originate?
want to say we’re friends, but he came to my set for Alien: Resurrection and he
The Director
CHAPTER 1: The Director
said, ‘You think you’re okay now. Wait for
You followed up City Of Lost Children
J-PJ: It’s drawn from my experiences, my
the editing.’ But it was okay.
with Amélie.
stories, my anecdotes, my collection of
You made a pilot for Amazon with Diego
J-PJ: That was after Alien: Resurrection.
Luna, Casanova.
Of course. But your next independent
J-PJ: Yes. It is beautiful. The DP is nom-
project was Amélie, a huge change in
inated for something, I don’t know. We
direction for you—still slightly surreal but
memories and souvenirs. It’s reality but with something different, because I don’t like the real realism. For me as a director that’s not interesting to do.
nowhere near as surreal as City Of Lost
Given that it was drawn from your per-
Liaisons and Barry Lyndon, those were
Children or Delicatessen. It was also the
sonal memories and anecdotes, did its
our references. Beautiful. I don’t know
first feature you’d done without Marc Caro.
enormous success come as a surprise?
what happened. No, actually I do. They
J-PJ: The films I did with Marc Caro, we
J-PJ: Of course! When i was writing it
asked the show runner to write six epi-
had to have a common world. And Amélie
I was thinking, Who wants to see this
sodes to see if they want to make another
was absolutely not the cup of tea of Marc
bullshit? But you never know. At the end
season. And now we know we need to
Caro. After City Of Lost Children we
of the filming we could feel something
see more than one episode to decide if
needed to separate, we both needed to
special, something in the air, a buzz. And
we want to see a series.
make something more personal We are
I saw everything; I had a premonition.
not brothers like the Coens, and we are
After Delicatessen, I visited the set of
Would you like to work in TV? J-PJ: No, no. The pilot was okay for me because they gave me ten million dollars, so it was big, and I had twenty-two days
not lovers! We did an interview in San
Hook, Steven Spielberg’s movie. I don’t
Francisco and they were very disappoint-
want to say I heard a voice because I
ed that we were not lovers.
don’t believe in that bullshit, but I had the
to shoot. Nine days and three million,
In what sense was Amélie personal
it’s not for me. No thank you (laughs).
for you?
feeling. And when they called me for Alien: Resurrection, I thought, I was right.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
made something a little bit like Dangerous
35
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Audiences connected with Amélie on
Emily Watson is a wonderful actress, but
a very rare level level; it really touched
it’s hard to imagine anyone but Audrey
right now?
people’s lives. How did that feel?
Tatou in the role.
J-PJ: Yes. I’m working on something a little bit like Amélie but about sex.
J-PJ: It’s the dream of any director, of
J-PJ: I can. It would have been different,
any creator. It made a lot of people very
she would have been more, how do you
jealous (laughs). It’s difficult to understand,
say, like Bridgett Jones. Audrey gave
but there is something about generosity;
something so fresh. You can see her screen
Amélie doesn’t want anything in return
test on the DVD. After five seconds, I knew.
for the things she does for people and
I didn’t have to help her performance, it
I think that’s one of its secrets. It speaks
was just there. If some times we discussed
about the small pleasures of life, and it
something, she was always right.
probably came out at the perfect time. It was directly after September 11 in the USA. Maybe today it would not be such a
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
success, you never know.
36
And, again, it turned out as the film you wanted to make? J-PJ: Yeah, of course. Because I had a feeling that I died in another life in the
How much of its success do you put
First World War. I’ve met a lot of people
down to Audrey Tatou?
who have had the same feeling. When
J-PJ: Well, at first I wanted Emily Watson,
I was in the trench, the first day on set,
but at the last minute she dropped out
I put on a helmet and I thought, Oh my
for personal reasons. Then I found
god, I know it.
Audrey Tatou, it was written; it was fate.
Are you working on another feature
Wow. Anything else you can tell us about that? Do you have a title yet? J-PJ: No because it’s too early. We’re on the diving board ready to jump in. But I write every day. Well, I think. It’s a little bit early to write.
It’s always more interesting and more difficult to make something positive than negative. To be negative is very easy. — Jean-Pierre Jeunet
02
The Films
Delicatessen The City of Lost Children AmĂŠlie A Very Long Engagement Micmacs The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Delicatessen Dominique Pinon as Louison Marie-Laure Dougnac as Julie Clapet Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Clapet Karin Viard as Mademoiselle Plusse Ticky Holgado as Marcel Tapioca Edith Ker as Grandmother Rufus as Robert Kube Jacques Mathou as Roger Howard Vernon as Frog Man
PLOT SUMMARY
Marc Caro as Fox
In a dilapidated apartment building in a post-apocalyptic France, food is in short supply and grain is used as currency. On the ground floor is a butcher’s Country:
shop, run by the landlord, Clapet, who
France
posts job opportunities in the Hard Times
Language: French
as a cheap source of meat to sell to his tenants. Following the murder of the last
April 17, 1991 (France)
worker, unemployed circus clown Louison
Running Time:
applies for the vacant position. During
Directed By: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet Kaleidoscope of Dreams
building, whom he murders and butchers
Release Date:
99 minutes
42
paper as means to lure victims to the
his routine maintenance, he befriends Clapet’s daughter, Julie, a relationship which slowly blossoms into romance. Louison proves to be a superb worker with a
Pruduced By:
spectacular trick knife and the butcher is
Claudie Ossard
reluctant to kill him too quickly. During
Story By: Gilles Adrien, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
this time several of the tenants fall under Louison’s boyish charms, worrying others who are more anxious for their own
CHAPTER 2: The Films
FIGURE: Above: Louison (Dominique Pinon) Bottom: Clapet (Marie-Laure Dougnac Jean-Claude Dreyfus)
safety should they require meat. Aware of her father’s motives, Julie descends into the sewers to make contact with the feared Troglodistes, a group of vegetarian rebels, whom she persuades to help rescue Louison. During the apparent butchering of an old woman, the Troglodistes attack but are repelled, and Clapet, with the unsympathetic tenants, storms Louison’s room in an attempt to murder him. Louison and Julie resist by flooding themselves, floor to ceiling, in an upper floor bathroom until Clapet opens the the attackers away. Clapet returns with Louison’s knife and inadvertently kills himself. Louison and Julie play music together on the roof of the now peaceful apartment building.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
door releasing the flood and washing
43
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Movie Review:
‘DELICATESSEN’: TASTELESS BUT FILLING MORSEL
“Delicatessen” (Fine Arts) is a nightmare
simultaneously. Meanwhile, an evil apelike
BY MICHAEL WILMINGTON
comedy with a childlike center of gravity.
butcher (Jean Claude Dreyfus) prowls
April 10, 1992 // Special to The Times
Set in a truly bleak future—a post-Apoca-
the shadowy corridors of a deteriorating
lypse French city where meat-eaters
hotel, cleaver poised, hunting meat.
prey on each other and vegetarians are
Appropriately, the movie’s heroine and
underground insurgents hiding out in the
hero are the butcher’s myopic cello-playing
sewers—it adopts a bizarre, playful tone.
daughter and a small, Appropriately, the
The macabre imagery and horrific shocks
movie’s heroine and hero are the butcher’s
and jolts — the decaying hotel rooms
myopic cello-playing daughter and a
and acts of insane violence—are recorded
small, sweet-tempered clown, lured in by
with a wistful, wackily innocent eye.
a phony ad. The clown, Louison, is played
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro.
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
” D e l i catessen” is a fearsomely intense
44
by Dominique Pinon, the memorably menacing shaven-headed punk of “Diva.”
movie that mixes moods with formidable
Here, he’s not menacing at all; wisps
assurance. A Grand Prize winner at the
of golden light illumine him like a cracked
Chicago Film Festival, it’s loaded with
cherub. Jeunet and Caro have some
horrific images and macabre jolts that keep
obvious influences—Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil,”
resonating eerily in your mind’s eye. An
Tex Avery’s more surreal and violent
old man lives in a flooded room with frogs
cartoons— and the movie also suggests
and a vast heap of discarded snail shells.
Polanski and the Coen brothers.
A determined but inept suicide tries to hang, poison, shoot and gas herself
CHAPTER 2: The Films
But it’s an original: It is like a nightmare.
In strategy, the movie resembles Woody
Jeunet and Caro don’t rely on dialogue:
Allen’s underrated “Shadows and Fog,”
The speeches here are written by their
another horror comedy with a sweet
collaborator, French comic-book artist
center. But it connects with its audience
Gilles Adrien, and the whole movie has
in a bloodier, gutsier way. Jeunet and
been conceived in grandiose, garishly
Caro split up their filmmaking chores,
witty comic-book images: tilted, skewed
Jeunet directs the actors, Caro is more
angles, grotesque perspectives. At one
responsible for design and effects—and
point, Louison hangs on a toilet over an
perhaps that’s why there’s such a satisfying
abyss. At another, heroine Julie (Marie-
density to “Delicatessen.” The film itself
Laure Dougnac) keeps waking, screaming,
is playful, weird, unpredictable and a bit
out of one bad dream, into another. This
tasteless. It has all the prerequisites
is a world where everything is falling apart,
of a true cult movie, which, in France, it already is. This is one foreign film that
begun to eat each other. “Delicatessen”
probably won’t languish in the usual art-
processes a lot of American movies and
house ghetto; “Delicatessen” (Times-rated:
pop culture — mostly horror movies—but
Mature, for sensuality and violence)
the movie’s look also suggests Eastern
outshocks and outplays the American
European films, while the sensibility is
horror comedies at their own game. It’s
distinctly French. “Delicatessen” suggests
a feast of fools, a banquet of frissons: a
the end of culture and human ties, the
nasty, childlike, murderously funny show.
triumph of appetite.
Louison (Dominique Pinon) and Julie Clapet (Marie-Laure Dougnac).
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
where entropy rules, where people have
FIGURE:
47
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The City of Lost Children Ron Perlman as One Judith Vittet as Miette Daniel Emilfork as Krank Joseph Lucien as Denree Dominique Pinon as the diver and the clones Geneviève Brunet as the Octopus Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Marcello Jean-Louis Trintignant as Uncle Irvin (voice)
PLOT SUMMARY
Mireille Mossé as Martha Rufus as Peeler
Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a highly intelligent
Serge Merlin as the chief of the Cyclops
but malicious being created by a vanished
Marc Caro as Brother Ange-Joseph
scientist, is unable to dream, which
Ticky Holgado as an ex-acrobat Lorella Cravotta as a woman
La cité des enfants perdus Country: France
with the scientist’s other creations: six childish clones, a dwarf named Martha, and a brain in a vat named Irvin), he uses a dream-extracting machine to steal
French
dreams from children. The children are
Release Date:
kidnapped for him from a nearby port
May 17, 1995 (France)
city by a cyborg cult called the Cyclops,
112 minutes Kaleidoscope of Dreams
on an abandoned oil-rig (which he shares
Language:
Running Time:
48
causes him to age prematurely. At his lair
who in exchange he supplies with mechanical eyes and ears. Among the kidnapped is Denree (Joseph Lucien), the
Directed By:
adopted little brother of carnival strongman
Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
One (Ron Perlman). After the caranival
Pruduced By:
manager is stabbed by a mugger, One is
Félicie Dutertre Written By: Gilles Adrien, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
hired by a criminal gang of orphans (run by a pair of Siamese twins called “the Octopus”) to help them steal a safe. The theft is successful,
CHAPTER 2: The Films
but the safe is lost in the However he
on the pier, before One can throttle her.
leaves harbor when One is distracted by
Marcello arrives and sets the fleas on
seeing Denree’s kidnappers. He, together
the Octopus, allowing One and Miette to
with one of the orphans, a little girl
escape to continue searching for Denree.
called Miette (Judith Vittet), follows the
In the dream world she meets Krank
Cyclops and infiltrates their headquarters,
and makes a deal with him to replace the
but they are captured. Meanwhile, the
boy as the source of the dream; Krank
Octopus orders circus performer Marcello
fears a trap but plays along, believing
(Jean-Claude Dreyfus) to return One
himself to be in control. Miette then uses
to them. He uses his trained fleas, which
her imagination to control the dream and
secrete a poison that causes mindless
turn it into an infinite loop, destroying
aggression, to turn the Cyclops guards
Krank’s mind. One and Miette rescue all
against each other, before rescuing One.
the children and find Denree feasting in another room while the now-deranged diver loads the rig with dynamite and
living beneath the harbor retrieves her.
straps himself to one of its legs. The diver
Miette leaves the diver’s lair to find One
regains his senses as everyone is rowing
and Marcello both drowning their sorrows
away, and pleads with his remaining
in a bar. Upon seeing Miette alive the
creations to come back to rescue him,
remorseful Marcello lets One leave with
but a seabird lands on the handle of
her. However the Octopus confronts them
the blasting machine, blowing up him and the rig.
Left: Krank (Daniel Emilfork).
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
However he leaves Miette behind, who almost drowns before an amnesiac diver
FIGURE:
49
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Movie Review:
OUT OF THE FEVER DREAMS OF A CHILD
It is a cozy Christmas Eve, and a toy
This opening scene is the first of many
soldier on the windowsill of a little boy’s
scattered throughout the movie that
bedroom comes to life and begins beating
capture the atmosphere of a child’s fevered
on his cymbal. Moments later, a Santa
nightmare with an astonishing intensity.
Claus plops into the fireplace, brushes
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc
himself off and steps into the room. He is
Caro, the French film makers who created
followed by another Santa Claus and
the 1991 cult hit “Delicatessen,” “The
another until the place is teeming with
City of Lost Children” is jampacked with
ominously jolly Santas.
surreal imagery: “Frankenstein,” “Peter
So begins the provocative but impossibly convoluted cinematic fantasy “The City of Lost Children.” As the boy’s excitement turns to apprehension, the walls begin to crinkle and everything becomes wavy Kaleidoscope of Dreams
and distorted. Suddenly the child, named
50
Denree (Joseph Lucien), finds himself on the streets of a murky harbor city peopled with carnival characters, among them his adopted brother, a half-witted circus strongman with Munster features named One (Ron Perlman).
Pan,” Jules Verne, you name it. The laboratory of Krank (Daniel Emilfork), a demonic scientist who kidnaps children for their imaginations, is equipped with electronic devices worthy of Rube Goldberg at his most extravagant. is atmospherically out of synch with its enthralling but emotionally chilly visuals. Watching the film is like leafing through a giant sketch book crammed with intriguing ideas that can’t all be comfortably fitted into the same master plan.
BY STEPHEN HOLDEN December 15, 1995 // The New York Times
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
52
Once Denree has arrived in the city, the
who continually squabble about which
movie devotes most of its attention to
one was the original, and the Cyclopses,
two sets of conflicting characters. Krank,
who do most of the kidnapping. Leading
who leads the story’s sinister forces, is
the resistance to Krank is Miette (Judith
a gaunt, mad scientist who operates his
Vittet), a plucky 9-year-old girl who teams
laboratory in a grim offshore rig that sug-
up with the strongman to rescue the little
gests a structure from “20,000 Leagues
boy. Miette lives with a band of orphans
Under the Sea.” Prematurely aged because
in an institution tended by evil Siamese
he cannot dream, this symbolic figure is
twin sisters who operate a thriving
an evil variant of the emotionless cone-
black-market business in stolen jewels.
headed voyeurs of “Star Trek” notoriety.
As fantastically picturesque as it may be,
In order to stay alive, he has resorted to
“The City of Lost Children” carries little
kidnapping children and tapping into their
allegorical resonance. While its story
dreams. Krank’s chief assistants are Miss
seems to warn about the loss of imagina-
Bismuth (Mireille Mosse), a midget-size
tion in an overly technologized world, it is
“Bride of Frankenstein”—like creature, and
too disjointed to carry much weight.
Irvin (the voice of Jean-Louis Trintignant), “The City of Lost Children” is rated R (Under a disembodied brain that lives in a chemi-
17 requires accompanying parent or adult
cal bath and communicates through
guardian). It has mild violence and a
the trumpet of an old phonograph. Krank’s
sexually suggestive scene.
staff also includes six identical Clones
CHAPTER 2: The Films
FIGURE: Miette (Judith Vittet).
FIGURE: Octopus (Geneviève Brunet and Odile Mallet).
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
53
When you’re born in the gutter you end up in the port.
—Miette (The City of Lost Children 1995)
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Amélie Audrey Tautou as Amélie PoulainFlora Guiet as young Amélie Mathieu Kassovitz as Nino Quincampoix Amaury Babault as young Nino Rufus as Raphaël Poulain, Amélie’s father Serge Merlin as Raymond Dufayel Lorella Cravotta as Amélie’s mother Clotilde Mollet as Gina, a fellow waitress
PLOT SUMMARY
Claire Maurier as Suzanne Isabelle Nanty as Georgette
Amélie Poulain is born in June 1974 and
Dominique Pinon as Joseph
brought up by eccentric parents who
Artus de Penguern as Hipolito, the writer
incorrectly believing that she has a heart
Yolande Moreau as Madeleine Wallace Urbain Cancelier as Collignon, the grocer
defect—decide to home-school her. To Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain Country: France Language: French
personality. When Amélie is six, her mother, Amandine, is killed when a suicidal Canadian tourist jumps from the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris and lands on her. As a result, her father Raphaël
April 25, 2001 (France)
(Rufus) withdraws more and more from
123 minutes Directed By: Kaleidoscope of Dreams
an active imagination and a mischievous
Release Date:
Running Time:
56
cope with her loneliness, Amélie develops
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
society. Amélie leaves home at the age of 18 and becomes a waitress at the Café des 2 Moulins in Montmartre, which is staffed and frequented by a collection of eccentrics. She is single and lets her
Pruduced By:
imagination roam freely, finding content-
Jean-Marc Deschamps
ment in simple pleasures like dipping
Claudie Ossarde
her hand into grain sacks and cracking
Story By:
crème brûlée with a spoon.
Guillaume Laurant Jean-Pierre Jeunet
CHAPTER 2: The Films
FIGURE: Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou).
This leads Amélie to resort to her own fantastical world and dreams of love and beauty. After finding a lost treasure belonging to the former occupant of her apartment, she decides to return it to him. After seeing his reaction and his new found perspective—she decides to devote her life to the people around her. Such as, her father who is obsessed with his garden-gnome, a failed writer, a hypochondriac, a man who stalks his ex girl friends, the “ghost”, a suppressed young soul, the love of her life and a man whose consuming herself with these escapades— she finds out that she is disregarding her own life and damaging her quest for love. Amélie then discovers she must become more aggressive and take a hold of her life and capture the beauty of love she has always dreamed of.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
bones are as brittle as glass. But after
57
CHAPTER 2: The Films
Movie Review:
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE AS URBAN SPRITE
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘’Amélie,’’ a sugar-rush of a movie, has what could be called meticulous clutter, a placement of imagery that covers every square centimeter of the screen. Mr. Jeunet’s sense of humor gives the movie heart; his real affection for the medium can be seen in all the funny little curlicues and jottings around the action.‘’Amélie’’ offers Mr. Jeunet a chance to show some flair without the brittle chill of his previous films like ‘’Delicatessen’’ and ‘’The City of Lost Children,’’ in which his imagination and version of felonious assault. ‘’Amélie’’ has a hypnotic sense of romance; it’s a fable filled with longing, with a heroine who constantly flirts with failure. Just because the movie has the reflexes of a predatory animal doesn’t mean it lacks a heart.
BY ELVIS MITCHELL
the biggest hits ever in France and will
November 2, 2001 // The New York Times
probably do well in the United States before its probable Oscar nomination— that is, if its American distributor, Miramax, has anything to say about it.) Mr. Jeunet has made his own Paris through sets and computer-generated art for ‘’Amélie.’’ He and Guillaume Laurant, with whom he wrote the script, tell the story of Amélie (Audrey Tautou) from her conception through her adult life, which is filled with the kind of offhand cruelty normally found in the novels of John Irving and Kurt Vonnegut. Her parents are described as ‘’a neurotic and an iceberg,’’ and part of Amélie’s charm is that she is preternaturally levelheaded and survives her youth with her dark, glowing eyes wide open.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
heartlessness combined for the film
(Or an audience. The picture is one of
59
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
FIGURE: Amélie Poulain(Audrey Tautou) and Nino Quincampoix (Mathieu Kassovitz).
She has the innocent vitality of a silent
Instead, she pulls him into an elaborate
film star; with her helmet of gorgeous
courtship dance that turns life in Paris
brunet hair, she is posed to suggest Louise
into a game of Twister with a treasure hunt
Brooks from some angles. Mr. Jeunet
added to the mix. Nino, mouth agape,
directs his protagonist so that even when
trails after Amélie, still the mystery
she is a child (played by Flora Guiet), each
woman to him, as she leaves clues about
thought and impulse shines though her
herself everywhere.
skin. (Ms. Tautou addresses the camera as if she were looking each viewer right in the eye; she has the cross-hairs focus of a movie star.) As a grown-up, Amélie, who works as a
Mr. Jeunet soaks each frame with sepia and greens. The sepia indicates that ‘’Amélie’’ takes place in a dreamscape Paris, and the wide-open streets come out of the French films of the 1930’s, which
waitress, tinkers in the lives of her friends. already idealized France. The green gives
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
She scampers around like a woodland
60
the picture a trippy atmosphere, as if it
sprite, laying out elaborate stunts and
had been dunked in absinthe. As a concep-
practical jokes as payback for those who
tion, the movie feels so scrubbed that
get on the wrong side of her buddies.
it is on the sterile side.
When she falls in love with Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), she can’t be direct and let him know how she feels.
The Films
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
It’s better to help people than garden gnomes”. —Amélie Poulain (Amélie 2001)
And Mr. Kassovitz’s presence underscores
Mr. Jeunet is not the first French director
a pivotal deficit in ‘’Amélie.’’ There are
to deal in pop-abstract terms; Louis Mal-
no people of color in this snow-globe
le’s ‘’Zazie Dans le Métro’’ (1959) was
version of Paris, and since Mr. Kassovitz
the first influential example of eye-catching
is one of the few French directors to deal
zest and was the story of a strong-willed
with racial tensions in his own work (the
princess-type, a plot point ‘’Amélie’’
social drama ‘’Hate’’), the lack becomes
shares. Jean-Jacques Beineix’s ‘’Diva’’ (1981)
impossible to ignore. Given that Mr. Jeunet
was also a stylized tour, a walk through
used a black hero in ‘’Alien: Resurrection,’’
a punk Paris that is now as quaint as
he can’t be blind to race. (Michael Haneke’s
Mr. Jeunet’s only-in-the-movies France.
‘’Code Inconnu,’’ due this month, is a
with the same meticulousness that
France, and a must.)
Amélie’s neighbor, the painter Dufayel (Serge
In ‘’Amélie,’’ the fastidious complex of Kaleidoscope of Dreams
flesh and fantasy is a dazzling achievement.
62
He painstakingly creates his urban vision
hard-edged examination of racism in
It has the impact of Wired magazine in its earliest days, when every single page looked like a ransom note put together by a kidnapper who had just downed a six-pack of Mountain Dew.
Merlin), does stroke-for-stroke recreations of Renoir paintings. (Dominique Pinon, a Jeunet regular who plays the jealous-guy Joseph in ‘’Amélie,’’ is the shaved-head punk on the ‘’Diva’’ poster.)
CHAPTER 2: The Films
Perhaps after living under a studio’s
By the climax, the movie segues into a
demands for a fourth-in-the-series ‘’Alien’’
rumination on loss and the perils of being
sequel, Mr. Jeunet decided to build his
too playful. When Dufayel straightens
own universe from the ground up.
Amélie out, we see it in a monologue on
Maybe, too, after the violence—spiritual and physical— of his earlier films, he wanted his latest tale to glisten with optimism. This balletic mix of whimsy and fairy tale could potentially err on the side of self-infatuation, but Mr. Jeunet moves so fast that the movie never stops to ogle its beautiful reflection. Mr. Jeunet a television shows a man doing back flips while a friendly doggy runs in place on his stomach, an image replaced by the gospel whirlwind Sister Rosetta Tharpe, twanging her way through ‘’Up Above My Head.’’ The film’s pacing is athletic, though the pulse of the narrative is gradually slowed.
has kept the world at arm’s length, but the scene evokes ‘’Krapp’s Last Tape’’; in close-up, Dufayel resembles Samuel Beckett. By this point, the director brakes the action so that thought, and possibly regret, can filter through. The film’s oriinal French title was ‘’Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain,’’ and Mr. Jeunet deflates the self-mocking pomposity of the title by the last third of the movie. Yet there is no denying that ‘’Amélie’’ is, to paraphrase its title, fabulous.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
loves video stimulation. In a single scene,
videotape. Here Mr. Jeunet uses video as a device to demonstrate how Amélie
63
She doesn’t relate to other people. She was always a lonely child. —Amélie Poulain (Amélie 2001)
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
A Very Long Engagement Audrey Tautou as Mathilde Donnay Gaspard Ulliel as Manech Langonnet Dominique Pinon as Mathilde’s uncle Chantal Neuwirth as Mathilde’s aunt Jean-Pierre Becker as Sergeant Daniel Esperanza Dominique Bettenfeld as Angel Bassignano Clovis Cornillac as Benoît Notre-Dame Marion Cotillard as Tina Lombardi
PLOT SUMMARY
Jean-Pierre Darroussin as Corporal Benjamin Julie Depardieu as Véronique Passavant
Five French soldiers are convicted of self-mutilation in order to escape military
Jean-Claude Dreyfus as Major François Lavrouye
service during World War I. They are
André Dussollier as Pierre-Marie Rouvières
condemned to face near-certain death in
Un long dimanche de fiançailles Country: France, United States
all of them were killed in a subsequent battle, but Mathilde, the fiancée of one of the soldiers, refuses to give up hope
French
and begins to uncover clues as to what
Release Date:
actually took place on the battlefield. She
Running Time: 133 minutes Kaleidoscope of Dreams
and German trench lines. It appears that
Language:
October 27, 2004
68
the no man’s land between the French
is all the while driven by the constant reminder of what her fiancé had carved into one of the bells of the church near their home, MMM for Manech Aime
Directed By:
Mathilde (Manech Loves Mathilde; a pun
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
on the French word aime, which is
Pruduced By: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Francis Boespflug Story By: Florence Thomassin
pronounced like the letter “M”. In the English-language version, this is changed to “Manech’s Marrying Mathilde”).
CHAPTER 2: The Films
Along the way, she discovers the brutally corrupt system used by the French government to deal with those who tried to escape the front. She also discovers the stories of the other men who were sentenced to the no man’s land as a punishment. She, with the help of a private
FIGURE: Mathilde Donnay (Audrey Tautou).
investigator, attempts to find out what happened to her fiancé. The story is told both from the point of view of the fiancée in Paris and the French countryside—mostly Brittany—of the 1920s, and through flashbacks to the battlefield.
is alive, but he suffers from amnesia. Seeing Mathilde, Manech seems to be oblivious of her. At this, Mathilde sits on the garden chair silently watching Manech with tears in her eyes and smile on her lips.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Eventually, Mathilde finds out her fiancé
69
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Movie Review:
A LOVE THAT WON’T SURRENDER TO WAR, DEATH AND
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
OBLIVION
70
BY MANOHLA DARGIS
If you like battleground carnage delivered
It’s January 1917, three years into the
November 26, 2004 // The New York Times
with aesthetic brio, the kind that ensures
Great War, and the men are marching
that when a soldier explodes into confetti
toward death, having been court-martialed
his flesh will dapple a trench mate as
for self-mutilation. Among the five is
decoratively as pink rosettes on a cake,
Mathilde’s young fiancé, Manech (Gaspard
the new French film “A Very Long
Ulliel), a gentle creature called Cornflower,
Engagement” will serve you nicely. Set
who had been reduced to a catatonic
during World War I and directed by the cult
state after an explosion covered him in
favorite Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the film
another man’s blood and viscera. It’s a
follows the adventures of a young woman,
scene that Japrisot captures quickly and
Mathilde, played by Audrey Tautou, who
without embellishment: “He’d spat out
holds fast to the hope that her fiancé
the horror and shrieked his head off.”
will return home. Even when death seems
Soon after he stops screaming, Manech
to do them part, the cord of her love
is tossed onto the battlefield and left
remains unbroken.
for dead. Several years later, after the
Like the book on which it’s based, by the crime novelist and screenwriter JeanBaptiste Rossi, who wrote under the name Sébastien Japrisot, “A Very Long Engagement” opens with five French soldiers snaking through muddy trenches.
trenches of Europe have been turned into manicured graveyards, Mathilde learns that Manech may still be alive. Springing into action, somewhat cumbersomely since polio has left her with one lame leg, she begins searching for her fiancé,
The Films
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
FIGURE: Left: Mathilde Donnay (Audrey Tautou).
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
Middle: Manech Langonnet (Gaspard Ulliel)and Captain Etienne Favo u r i e r ( Tc h é k y Ka r yo) .
72
poring through letters and over clues, and
In films like “Delicatessen” and “The City
tracking down anyone who can explain
of Lost Children,” both released in the
what happened and why. With the pluck
1990’s, the two men fashioned meticulous
of Nancy Drew and the cunning of Hercule
dark worlds that were part Rube Goldberg,
Poirot, she digs into the histories of
part F.A.O. Schwarz, and generally enjoy-
the other condemned men, inquiries that
able for about 15 minutes. Watching
take her from her bucolic oceanside
gears and wheels whir inside a clock, no
home all the way to bustling Paris. Slowly,
matter how precisely calibrated the
slowly, very slowly, Mathilde peels away
mechanism, quickly loses its appeal,
the layers of memory and misdirection
and the same is true of these films. The
provided by the four men’s friends and
collaborators parted ways when Mr. Jeunet
lovers, eventually uncovering some kind
went solo to direct the fourth and
of truth. Best known for “Amélie,” a modern
most miserable installment of the “Alien”
fairy tale also starring Ms. Tautou, Mr.
franchise, a debacle that was soon forgot-
Jeunet is in the possession of a distinc-
ten with the international success
tive visual style developed during his
of “Amélie.” With “A Very Long Engagement,”
longtime collaboration with his former
Mr. Jeunet has again proved himself
filmmaking partner, Marc Caro. In films
an admirable
like Marc Caro.
CHAPTER 2: The Films
watchmaker. Armed with an enormous
An existential romance by way of mystery,
bag of special-effects tricks, he recreates
Japrisot’s novel is at once about the horror
a bygone era with digital wizardry, manic
of war and a woman’s refusal to surrender
energy, a fastidious attention to detail
to its madness, and is unequivocally
and only the faintest of heartbeats. Unlike
human from first page to last. Through
children who bring even the most chewed-
sheer force of will and a strong heart,
up teddy bear to life, Mr. Jeunet shows
Mathilde fights in the name of love and
no interest in animating the characters in
life, not hate and death. What gives the
his dollhouse world, and even Mathilde
book its force, beyond Japrisot’s sense of
and her tears remain fundamentally
people and place, is the rage—both the
decorative, as arid as the computer
author’s and his heroine’s—that boils like
assisted cinematography. Only when Jodie
molten rock beneath the unsweetened
Foster materializes midstory, delivering the mistress of one of the condemned men, does the film spring to life. Watching this woman discover and then lose love, her eyes crinkling as delicately as tissue paper, do you at last feel the human touch.
prose. Japrisot writes that Mathilde has a “cheerful disposition,” but he never slaps on a happy face, as does Mr. Jeunet.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
a beautiful, pocket-size performance as
73
Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Fest Catalogue
A Guide to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s World
CHAPTER 2: The Films
FIGURE: Left: Mathilde Donnay (Audrey Tautou) and Manech Langonnet (Gaspard Ulliel) .
And when, in the novel, Mathilde says
“A Very Long Engagement,” it so happens,
that if the metaphoric line connecting her
was paid for by Warner Brothers, leading
to Manech ever breaks, “she can always
some critics to question its French
use it to hang herself,” there’s no evading
credentials; Mr. Jeunet has had no such
the darkness of her words. After it was
qualms and told one interviewer that
published in France in 1991, Japrisot’s
he had made “a big American film, in
novel became a best seller, and it’s easy
France, with French actors and with the
to see why. There’s the story itself, of
final cut.” And so he has.
course, richly detailed and engaging, but there is also the war, which robbed France of millions of men but, unlike the world calamity that followed, not its honor. Now, Mr. Jeunet has scored a hit in his country moviegoers sidestepping the customary debates about cultural nationalism to enjoy the vision of Amélie at war. “A Very Long Engagement,” it so happens,
(Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). The film features graphic war violence of bodies being blown to bits. Ms. Tautou also drops her drawers.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
with his bright adaptation, with most
“A Very Long Engagement” is rated R
75
In the sweetness of the air, in the light of the garden, Mathilde looks at him. She looks at him... —Narrator (A Very Long Engagement 2001)
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Micmacs Dany Boon as Bazil Yolande Moreau as Mama Chow André Dussollier as Nicolas Thibault Nicolas Marié as François Marconi Julie Ferrier as Elastic Girl Omar Sy as Remington Dominique Pinon as Buster Marie-Julie Baup as Calculator
PLOT SUMMARY
Michel Crémadès as Tiny Pete Jean-Pierre Marielle as Slammer
Avid movie-watcher and video store clerk
Urbain Cancelier as Urbain
Bazil has had his life all but ruined by weapons of war. His father was killed by a landmine in Morocco and one fateful
MicMacs à tire-larigot Country: France
on the verge of instantaneous death. Losing his job and his home, Bazil wanders the streets until he meets Slammer, a
French
pardoned convict who introduces him
Release Date:
to a band of eccentric junkyard dealers
October 28, 2009 (France)
including Calculator, a math expert and
105 minutes Kaleidoscope of Dreams
embeds itself in his skull, leaving him
Language:
Running Time:
78
night a stray bullet from a nearby shootout
statistician, Buster, a record holder in human cannonball feats, Tiny Pete, an artistic craftsman of automatons, and
Directed By:
Elastic Girl, a sassy contortionist. When
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
chance reveals to Bazil the two weapons
Pruduced By: Frédéric Brillion, Gilles Legrand
manufacturers responsible for building the instruments of his destruction, he constructs a complex scheme for revenge
Written By:
that his newfound family is all too happy
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurent
to help set in motion.
CHAPTER 2: The Films
FIGURE: Above: The young Bazil Right: Bazil (Dany Boon), Calculator (Marie-Julie Baup) and Remington (Omar Sy).
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
79
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Movie Review:
MISFITS BATTLE THE MASTERS OF WAR
Bazil, the hero of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s
whose passion is collecting the body parts
BY A.O. SCOTT
new film, “Micmacs,” is a mild-mannered
of historical figures, like Marilyn Monroe’s
May 27, 2010 // The New York Times
fellow with a serious grudge. When he
molar. His nemesis, Marconi (Nicolas
was a child, he lost his father, a member
Marié), is a more modern type, with
of the French Foreign Legion, to a land
fashionable stubble on his face, an ultra-
mine. Sometime later, after a stint in an
modern apartment and a young son
orphanage, the adult Bazil (Dany Boon) is
being raised mainly by a taciturn African
minding his own business, working the
nanny. As is the movie itself, which aims
night shift at a video store and reciting
for (and intermittently achieves) a ruefully
Humphrey Bogart’s French-dubbed
comical, formally elegant humanism in
dialogue in “The Big Sleep,” when a stray
the tradition of Charlie Chaplin, Buster
bullet pierces his forehead, nearly killing him. Both disasters might be classified as accidents, but Bazil traces the mine
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
and the bullet to rival armaments companies,
80
whose offices sit across from each other in an industrial zone on the fringe of Paris, and whose chief executives are contrasting studies in corporate arrogance. Fenouillet (André Dussollier) is an old fashioned haute-bourgeois stuffed shirt,
Keaton and Jacques Tati. The story unfolds largely through a series of carefully realized set pieces, visual jokes that produce low-key chuckles and occasional bursts of amazed laughter. “Micmacs” finds Mr. Jeunet, still best known in this country for “Amélie,” in a contemplative mood, his impish sensibility shadowed by melancholy and anger
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
82
at the violent state of the world. Some
Their handiwork and their natural, good
of the extravagant visual eccentricity of
humored ingenuity contrast with the
his debut feature, “Delicatessen” (still
sleek and deadly mass-produced weapons
his best and strangest film), of which he
their adversaries produce. And the film’s
was co-director, is echoed in the smoky
message, at once irresistible and naïve,
streetscapes, weird mechanical gizmos
is that improvisation, impish craftiness
and comic-grotesque human figures on
and have-not solidarity can triumph over
display here.
greed and cruelty.
But his pacing is more deliberate, almost
Who would wish to quarrel with such a
classical in its precise calibration of cause
sweet and noble sentiment? There is
and effect. There are cellphones and
no question that the heart of “Micmacs”
online videos in his world, but it nonethe-
is inthe right place, but the movie is
less feels charmingly anachronistic, as
also a little thin. Mr. Jeunet pushes the
if the digital universe had been invaded by
simplicity of his influences a bit too far in the
time travelers from a planet of pre-World
direction of simple-mindedness, partly
War II French movies and music-hall
by allowing himself to be distracted by the
acts. The use of soundtrack music by Max
clever cuteness of his own conceits. For
Steiner, one of the great composers of
all its moral fervor, the film roams and
old Hollywood, underscores this out
rambles and sometimes stalls, straining
of time quality.
for a charm that should come effortlessly.
FIGURE: Bazil (Dany Boon) and Slammer (Jean-Pierre Marielle).
CHAPTER 2: The Films
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Clair Spivet Judy Davis as G. H. Jibsen Callum Keith Rennie as Tecumseh Elijah Spivet Kyle Catlett as T.S. Spivet Niamh Wilson as Gracie Spivet Jakob Davies as Layton Spivet
PLOT SUMMARY
Rick Mercer as Roy Dominique Pinon as Two Clouds
T.S. Spivet (Kyle Catlett) is a 10-year-old
Julian Richings as Ricky
prodigy with a passion for cartography
Richard Jutras as Mr. Stenpock
and scientific inventions. He lives on a ranch in Montana with his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) who is obsessed with the morphology of beetles; his father Country: France, Canada
sister (Niamh Wilson) who dreams of becoming Miss America. His twin brother
English
Layton (Jakob Davies) died in an accident
Release Date:
involving a firearm in the family’s barn,
July 31, 2015 (US) Running Time: Kaleidoscope of Dreams
hundred years too late; and his 14-year-old
Language:
October 16, 2013 (France)
86
(Callum Keith Rennie), a cowboy born a
105 minutes Directed By: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
which no one ever speaks of. T.S. was with him, measuring the scale of the gunshots for an experiment, and he doesn’t understand what happened. One day, T.S. receives an unexpected call from the Smithsonian Institution, telling him that he is the winner of the very
Pruduced By:
prestigious Baird prize for his invention of
Frédéric Brillion, Gilles Legrand
a perpetual motion machine and that
CHAPTER 2: The Films
FIGURE: Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet (Kyle Catlett).
he is invited to a reception in his honor where he is expected to give a speech. Without telling anyone, he sets out on a freight train across the United States to reach Washington, D.C. During his journey, he meets a hobo in the trainyards of the midwest, outruns or outwits a number of railroad security guards, and then is picked up hitchhiking by an 18-wheeler trucker who lets him off at the Smithsonian in Washington. He ultimately gives his speech for the Baird guests, and discusses the death of his brother. After the speech is over, T.S’s mother and father arrive down in D.C and interrupt him while he is on a talk show. His mother tells T.S it wasn’t his fault, to which the TV interviewer pesters them with questions up until T.S’s father punches him and they leave.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
prize to a room full of well-dressed
87
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Movie Review:
ROAD MOVIE TINGED WITH SADNESS
This weekend, “The Young and Prodigious
It’s also ironically about being seen and
T.S. Spivet,” the latest comedic-fantasy
BY SIMON ABRAMS
rarely heard. But while some of the film’s
August 3, 2015 // Rogerebert.com
by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet,
wide emotional turns—from over-caffein-
was quietly dumped into two handfuls
ated road movie to magically-realistic
of theaters across the country. The film’s
melodrama and back again—are not
current release is minuscule because
handled with care, the film is more than
Jeunet reportedly refused to make cuts
the sum of its unequal parts.
that were suggested by notoriously difficult distributor mogul Harvey Weinstein (for more details, check out Sam Adams’s Criticwire piece on the film.) This distribution debacle is especially disheartening because “T.S. Spivet” is too small of a movie to shoulder the weight of any kind
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
of controversy. The film follows Spivet,
88
a ten year-old inventor from Montana who travels to Washington D.C. to accept an award from the Smithsonian Institute. “T.S. Spivet” is a messy, warm comedy about grief, family and imagination.
At the start of his adventure, T.S Spivet (new-comer Kyle Catlett) is kind of annoying. He eagerly shows viewers around his family’s ranch, regaling us with stories about his emotionally distant cowboy dad (Callum Keith Rennie), and emotionally unavailable scientist mom (Helena Bonham Carter). It’s not immediately clear why Spivet’s family doesn’t notice when he hops a train to the other side of the country.
CHAPTER 2: The Films
Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
87
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
How beautiful the sun when newly risen, and explodes in the morning greetings happy as the man who can lovingly salute its rising more glorious than a dream.
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
—T.S. Spivet
90
But everything, particularly the film’s
concern the difference between Spivet’s
frequent, elliptically edited flashbacks,
whimsical surroundings, eccentric
snaps into stark relief once Spivet reveals
perspective. Catlett consequently has
(In an early scene! Not a spoiler!) why
to deliver a lot of voiceover narration that
he’s really running away from home:
gives us a direct line to his unbelievably
brother Layton (Jakob Davies) died in
naive, but over-heated imagination. Some
an unfortunate accident, and Spivet has
of Catlett’s dialogue is toxically quirky,
never forgiven himself for it. Everyone
like the scene where he identifies three
in the film is touched by Layton’s death,
different routes he could take to cross his
even people who didn’t know him since
family ranch—just to answer the phone.
Spivet’s actions are defined by his grief.
And a lot of Catlett’s dialogue is too
But again: in the beginning, Spivet is kind
emotionally nuanced for an inexperienced
of annoying, thanks in no small part to
child actor. I use “nuanced” in a general
Catlett’s shaky performance. Many of the
sense here. Catlett is most consis-
jokes featured in the film’s first half hour
tently well-used when he’s treated as a kid-shaped cypher.
CHAPTER 2: The Films
He does all of his best acting in silhouette
On the one hand, the hobo’s story illus-
or profile, as in the scene where Spivet
trates one of the film’s main themes as
fantasizes about calling home while he’s
it’s baldly expressed in an earlier scene:
on the road. Spivet runs the scenario
science starts where imagination ends.
through his head, but stops right before
On the other hand, Pignon’s line-delivery
he gets into an adjacent phone booth.
is unintentionally stilted, presumably
We watch Spivet stare at the phone box
because English is his second language.
from over Catlett’s shoulder, then see
In order to enjoy this scene, you have
Catlett beat a hasty retreat. Compare this
to be more invested in the idea of the scene
scene, one of the film’s best, with the
than the actual scene itself. You similarly
scene where Spivet visits Layton’s room
won’t get much of an emotional charge
just before he leaves home. Take for
out of “The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet” otherwise, but you’ll probably find
hobo (Jeunet regular Dominique Pignon)
the effort worthwhile.
tells Spivet a tall tale about a sparrow and a pine tree.
Left: T.S. Spivet with his sister and his mother. Meddle: T.S. Spivet’s mother (Helena Bonham Carter). Right: Two Clouds (Helena Bonham Carter).
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
example the scene where a railroad-riding
FIGURE:
91
The amazing thing about water drops is that they always take the path of least resistance. For humans it’s exactly the opposite. —T.S. Spivet ( The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet 2013)
03
The Festival
The Theme Schedule Location Special Events
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
The Theme
The film festival Kaleidoscope of Dreams is a journey into Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s amazing film world. The purpose is to engage audiences and share the sparkling delights of ordinary life. The films can also inspire people to maintain a kind and optimistic heart like those movie characters. The whole festival will be positive, lively and playful, showing guests the gorgeous colors and unique appeal of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s films. During the festival, we will not only screen six classic feature films, but also hold activities such as a movie concert, an exhibition,
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
and a commemorative photo session. We
96
hope that you can feel the hope and positive strength in the films.
Movie Screening Sequence April 17 , 2021 Delicatessen The City of Lost Children
April 18, 2021 Amélie A Very Long Engagement
April 19, 2021 Micmacs The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
The Festival
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Schedule
DAY 1
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
April 17, 2021
98
9:00–10:00 am
Film Festival Opening Ceremony
10:00–11:00 am
Knowing the director
11:30 am–1:00 pm
Lunch Break
1:00–1:30 pm
Introduction of today’s films
1:30–3:30 pm
Enjoy the Movie Delicatessen
4:00–6:00 pm
Enjoy the Movie The City of Lost Children
6:00–7:30 pm
Film Review Seminar
7:30–9:00 pm
Dinner Break
CHAPTER 3: The Festival
DAY 2
DAY 3
April 18, 2021
April 19, 2021
9:00–11:30 am
The Exhibition of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Films
9:00–9:30 am
Introduction of today’s films
9:30–11:30 am
Enjoy the Movie Micmacs
11:30 am–1:00 pm
Lunch Break
11:30 am–1:00 pm
Lunch Break
1:00–1:30 pm
Introduction of today’s films
1:00–3:00 pm
Enjoy the Movie
1:30–3:30 pm
Enjoy the Movie Amélie
4:00–6:00 pm
Enjoy the Movie A Very Long Engagement
3:00–4:30 pm
Film Review Seminar
6:00–7:00 pm
Film Review Seminar
4:30–6:30 pm
Take Film Theme Commemorative Photos
7:30–9:00 pm
Dinner Break
7:00–9:00 pm
Dinner Break
9:00–11:00 pm
Film Soundtrack Concert
9:00–11:30 pm
Film Festival Closing Ceremony
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Night Party
99
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Location ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE SAN FRANCISCO 1345 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA
Our mission is to promote knowledge and appreciation of the French language and Francophone cultures,
The Alliance Française of San Francisco is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the State of California since 1889. Whether you are a native or fluent French speaker, a student of the language, or an interested non-French speaker, you are welcome to participate in the wide range of activities offered throughout the year. We at AFSF offer a wide range of classes and individual instruction in French, both on and off-site, from
to encourage friendship,
absolute beginners with no previous knowledge of the language
and collaboration with
Our class sizes range between 4-12 students and are taught
the French-speaking world.
in the Bay Area, and largest collection of French books West
to students at an advanced level.
by native speakers.We also house the oldest French library Mississippi, which is open to the public.
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
The Alliance Française of San Francisco is part of a dynamic net-
100
—Alliance Française of San Francisco
work of local, independent chapters passionate about promoting the French language and celebrating francophone cultures. Over 800 Alliance chapters operate worldwide, in 132 countries. More than 500,000 students around the world 107 chapters operating in the United States, 73 offering French classes.
THE THEATER Capacity : 75 seats or 150 standing Amenities : Video projector, screen, audio system, open spaces for conferences or concerts, WiFi internet access Theater rentals start at $250.00 for a minimum of 2hours.
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
101
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Special Events JEUNET’S FILM EXHIBITION HALL
On the morning of the second day of the film festival, we will hold the Jean-Pierre Jeunet film exhibition. The exhibition will display the costumes, movie props, and representative artistic works in Jeunet’s classic films. The exhibition will not only satisfy the needs of Jeunet movie fans, but will also attract sci-fi fans and art movie fans. These exquisite
TIME April 18, 2021
9:00–11:30 am
exhibits will make you feel Jeunet’s imagination and creativity in a more real way, and offer a deeper understanding of the artistic value and cultural connotations contained in the films. You will have the
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
morning to visit the exhibition, which
104
is open for two and a half hours.
CHAPTER 3: The Festival
JEUNET’S FILM SOUNDTRACK CONCERT
At nine o’clock that night, we will hold a two-hour soundtrack concert. The concert will feature 24 famous selections from the six feature movies we will screen. Many of these tracks won international awards. While the live band is playing, the big screen will play the movie clip video, so that you will have a wonderful viewing and listening experience. With the music, you can better feel the emotions and atmosphere of the films. At the same
TIME April 18, 2021
9:00–11:00 pm
time, you will also feel the creativity and perfectionism of Jean-Pierre Jeunet. A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
105
When you are in love with a story, you have to take your time to follow it and to fall in love again one time. — Jean-Pierre Jeunet
04
References
The Whimsical World of Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Kaleidoscope of Dreams
References
200
Page 6–7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet
Page 8–9
https://www.ecufilmfestival.com/spotlight-jean-pierre-jeunet/
Page 16–21
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000466/
Page 30–36
Simon Braund, A CHAT WITH JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET, Hammer To Nail, JAN. 22, 2016
Page 42–43
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101700/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Page 44–47
Michael Wilmington, ‘Delicatessen’: Tasteless But Filling Morsel, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES, APR. 10, 1992
Page 48–49
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112682/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Page 50–52
Stephen Holden, Out of the Fever Dreams of a Child, The New York Times, Dec. 15, 1995
Page 56–57
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211915/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Page 59–63
Elvis Mitchell, Little Miss Sunshine as Urban Sprite, The New York Times, Nov. 2, 2001
Page 68–69
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344510/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Page 70–75
Manohla Dargis, A Love That Won’t Surrender to War, Death and Oblivion, The New York Times, Nov. 26, 2004
Page 78–79
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149361/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Page 80–82
A.O. Scott, Misfits Battle the Masters of War, The New York Times, May 27, 2010
Page 86–87
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981107/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Page 88–91
Simon Abrams, Reviews: The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet, rogerebert.com, AUG. 3, 2015
Page 100–101
www.afsf.com
CHAPTER 4: References
Type Latienne Pro Museo Azo Sans
Image: Unsplash Pexels Google
Design: Xing (Stella) Fan
Course: GR 612 01: Integrated Communications
Hunter Wimmer
Contact: stellafandesign@gmail.com 571-352-3931
A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival
Instructor:
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A Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film Festival kaleidoscopeofdreams.net