Jean-Pierre Jeunet (; born 3 September 1953) is a French film director, producer and screenwriter. His films combine fantasy, realism and science fiction to create idealized realities or to give relevance to mundane situations. Debuting as a director with the acclaimed 1991 black comedy ''

Delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

,'' with collaborator Marc Caro, Jeunet went to collaborate with Caro once again with ''

The City of Lost Children ''The City of Lost Children'' (french: La Cité des enfants perdus) is a 1995 science fantasy film directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Jeunet and Gilles Adrien, and starring Ron Perlman. An international co-production of c ...

'' (1995). His work with science fiction and horror led Jeunet to become the fourth director to helm the ''Alien'' film series with ''

Alien Resurrection ''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the ''Alien'' franchise, and wa ...

'' (1997), his first and only experience with an American film. In 2001, he achieved his biggest success with the release of '' Amélie'', gaining international acclaim and reaching BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. Widely regarded as one of the most influential and important directors in modern French cinema, his critical and commercial success earned him two

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations.

Life and career

Jean-Pierre Jeunet was born in Roanne, France. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He befriended Marc Caro, a designer and comic book artist who became his longtime collaborator and co-director. They met at an animation festival in Annecy in the 1970s. Together, Jeunet and Caro directed award-winning animations. Their first live action film was ''The Bunker of the Last Gunshots'' (1981), a short film about soldiers in a bleak futuristic world. Jeunet also directed numerous advertisements and music videos, such as Jean Michel Jarre's " Zoolook" (together with Caro). Jeunet's films often resonate with the late twentieth-century French film movement ''

cinéma du look Cinéma du look () was a French film movement of the 1980s and 1990s, analysed, for the first time, by French critic Raphaël Bassan in ''La Revue du Cinéma'' issue no. 449, May 1989, in which he classified Luc Besson, Jean-Jacques Beineix and ...

'' and allude to themes and aesthetics involving

German expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

, French poetic realism, and the

French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

. Jeunet and Caro's first feature film was ''

'' (1991), a melancholy

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

set in a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...

-plagued post-apocalyptic world, in which an apartment building above a delicatessen is ruled by a butcher who kills people in order to feed his tenants. They next made ''

'' (1995), a dark, multi-layered

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction ...

about a mad scientist who steals children's dreams so that he can live indefinitely. The success of ''The City of Lost Children'' led to an invitation to direct the fourth film in the ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' series, ''

'' (1997). This is where Jeunet and Caro ended up going their separate ways as Jeunet believed this to be an amazing opportunity and Caro was not interested in a film that lacked creative control working on a big-budget Hollywood movie. Caro ended up assisting for a few weeks, with costumes and set design but afterwards, decided to work on a solo career in illustration and computer graphics. Jeunet directed '' Amélie'' (2001), the story of a woman who takes pleasure in doing good deeds but has trouble finding love herself, which starred

Audrey Tautou Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 18 on television and her feature film debut in '' Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Cés ...

. ''Amélie'' was a huge critical and commercial success worldwide and was nominated for several

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. For his work on the film, Jeunet won a European Film Award for Best Director. In 2004, Jeunet released '' A Very Long Engagement'', an adaptation of the novel by

Sébastien Japrisot Sébastien Japrisot (4 July 1931 – 4 March 2003) was a French author, screenwriter and film director. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Renowned for subverting the rules of the crime genre, Japrisot broke down ...

. The film, starring Audrey Tautou and Jodie Foster, chronicled a woman's search for her missing lover after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 2009, he released '' Micmacs'' which is about a man and his friends who come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers. Jeunet has also directed numerous commercials including a 2'25" film for Chanel N° 5 featuring his frequent collaborator Audrey Tautou. In 2013, Jeunet released ''

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet ''The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet'' is a 2013 adventure-drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-written with Guillaume Laurant, an adaptation of the 2009 book '' The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet'' written by Reif Larsen. Th ...

'' an adaptation of

Reif Larsen Reif Larsen (born 1980) is an American author, known for '' The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet'', for which '' Vanity Fair'' claimed Larsen received just under a million dollars as an advance from Penguin Press following a bidding war between ten p ...

's book '' The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet'' that starred Kyle Catlett. In 2016, Jeunet and Romain Segaud co-directed the 3-minute stop-motion animation film ''Deux escargots s'en vont'', based on a poem by

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

. Since his last release, Jeunet has tried to get other projects funded but has found it impossible to find investors willing to take a risk on his quirky films. He stated in 2019 that he may go to Netflix "as a last resort", and indeed his next film ''Big Bug'' was released by the streaming video company in 2022.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Music clips

* 1984 : ''La Fille aux bas nylon'' by Julien Clerc * 1985 : ''Zoolook'' by Jean Michel Jarre, with Marc Caro * 1987 : ' * 1987 : ''Hélène'' by Julien Clerc * 1988 : ''Souvenez-vous de nous'' by * 1989 : ''Cache ta joie'' by Claudia Phillips * 1991 : ''L'Autre Joue'' by

Lio Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos (born 17 June 1962), known professionally as Lio, is a Portuguese-Belgian singer and actress who was a pop icon in France and Belgium during the 1980s. Life and career Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furt ...

* 2017: ''Pourvu'' by Gauvain Sers

Acting

* 1981 : '' Le Bunker de la dernière rafale'', by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro * 1983 : '' Pas de repos pour Billy Brakko'', by Jean-Pierre Jeunet * 2015 :

Institut Lumière The Institut Lumière (; "Lumière Institute") is a French organisation, based in Lyon, for the promotion and preservation of aspects of French film making. The Institut Lumière is a museum that honours the contribution to filmmaking by Auguste ...

remake, by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

(short film)

Awards and nominations

Césars

* 1981 **

César Award for Best Animated Short Film The César Award for Best Animated Short Film is a French film award, that was awarded by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma from 1977 to 1990. Combined with the César Award for Best Animated Film from 2011 to 2013, this award has b ...

for ''

Le Manège "" is a 2007 song recorded by French singer and composer Stanislas. It was the first single from his debut album on which it appears as first track and was released on 25 February 2008. It was written by Amaury Salmon and composed by Stanislas. ...

'' * 1991 **

for '' Foutaises'' *

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

** César Award for Best Debut for ''

'' **

César Award for Best Writing The César Award for Best Writing (french: César du meilleur scénario, dialogues ou adaptation (1976-1982); ''César du meilleur scénario original ou adaptation'' (1986-2005) is a discontinued award given by the Académie des Arts et Techniques d ...

for ''Delicatessen'' *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

César Award for Best Film The winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film ( French: ''César du meilleur film''). Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also *Lumières Award for Best Film *Louis Delluc Prize for Best Film * ...

for '' Amélie'' ** César Award for Best Director for ''Amélie'' ** Nomination for

for ''Amélie'' *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

** Nomination for

for '' A Very Long Engagement'' ** Nomination César Award for Best Director for ''A Very Long Engagement'' ** Nomination for

for ''A Very Long Engagement''

Oscars

** Nomination for

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...

for '' Amélie'' ** Nomination for

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

for ''Amélie''

European Film Awards

* 1991 ** European Film Award for Best Film nomination for ''

'' * 2001 ** European Film Award for Best Film for '' Amélie'' **

European Film Award for Best Director The European Film Award for Best Director is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in a film industry. The award is presented by the European Film Acade ...

for ''Amélie'' **

European Film Academy People's Choice Award for Best European Film The European Film Academy Lux Award is a prize given to a competing film by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy. It is one of the European Film Awards, which were established to recognize excellence in European cinematic achieveme ...

for ''Amélie'' * 2005 ** Nomination for

for '' A Very Long Engagement''

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

* 2005 **

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

for best scenery for '' Amélie''

Collaborations

Decorations

* Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)

References

External links

*
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Official Site

GreenCine's interview with Jeunet

filmed BAFTA event
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeunet, Jean-Pierre 1953 births Living people People from Roanne French male screenwriters 20th-century French screenwriters 21st-century French screenwriters French film producers Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award winners European Film Award for Best Director winners César Award winners Edgar Award winners French film directors Best Director César Award winners Best Director Lumières Award winners Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Science fiction film directors Horror film directors French-language film directors Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People of Montmartre