Henri Langlois
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Henri Langlois (; 13 November 1914 – 13 January 1977) was a French film archivist and
cinephile Cinephilia ( ; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words '' cinema'' and ''philia'', one of the four ancient Greek words ...
. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema. His film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often credited with providing the ideas that led to the development of the auteur theory. Langlois was co-founder of the
Cinémathèque Française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...
with Georges Franju and
Jean Mitry Jean-René Pierre Goetgheluck Le Rouge Tillard des Acres de Presfontaines, whose pseudonym was Jean Mitry (; 7 November 1904 – 18 January 1988), was a French Film theory, film theorist, Film criticism, critic and Filmmaking, filmmaker, a co-fo ...
and also co-founder of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) in 1938. Through close collaboration with the Cinémathèque's longtime chief archivist, Lotte Eisner, he worked to preserve films and film history in the post-war era. An eccentric who was often at the centre of controversy for his methods, he also served as a key influence on the generation of young cinephiles and critics who would become the
French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...
. In 1974, Langlois received an
Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...
for "his devotion to the art of film, his massive contributions in preserving its past and his unswerving faith in its future".


Career at the Cinémathèque Française

In 1936, Langlois, Franju and Mitry founded the ''Cinémathèque Française'' in Paris, their film theatre and museum. The collection grew from ten films in 1936 to more than 60,000 films by the early 1970s. More than an archivist, Langlois saved many films which were at risk of vanishing. Besides films, Langlois also helped to preserve other items related to cinema such as cameras, projection equipment, costumes, and vintage theatre programmes. He eventually collected so many items that he donated them in 1972 to the Musée du Cinéma in the Palais de Chaillot, where they covered a two-mile span of film artifacts and memorabilia. The collection was relocated due to damage from a fire in 1997. During the Second World War, Langlois and his colleagues helped to save many films that were at risk of being destroyed during the
Nazi occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
. Langlois influenced the
French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...
directors
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
,
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
,
Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'Amour fo ...
,
Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
and Alain Resnais among others, and the generation of filmmakers that followed. Some of these filmmakers were called ''les enfants de la cinémathèque'' ("children of the cinémathèque"), as they could often be found in the front row of packed screenings. Langlois' romantic attitude to film was in contrast to the scientific approach utilised by Ernest Lindgren at Britain's National Film Archive. Langlois' methods were unconventional. He was accused of having no rational approach to record keeping. The Cinémathèque lost a portion of its collection to a
nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitration, nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitri ...
fire on 10 July 1959. Sources are in conflict as to the cause and the extent of the loss. In September 1959, a rift developed between the Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film (FIAF) and the Cinémathèque. Langlois had been involved in the founding of FIAF. The dispute between the two bodies was resolved only some years after Langlois had died.


Removal and reinstatement

In 1968, French culture minister
André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...
tried to fire Langlois due to the latter's arrogance and iron-fisted rule of the museum. On 7 February, officially due to Langlois' mismanagement and inadequate housing of archived filmstock, the state-supported Cinémathèque board replaced Langlois with Pierre Barbin. Local and international uproar ensued, and even the prestigious
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
was halted in protest that year. Protesters in Paris included the student activist Daniel Cohn-Bendit from University of Nanterre-Paris. Support came in telegrams from renowned directors, from
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
to
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
to
Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...
to Gianni Serra. Malraux eventually reinstated Langlois after intense debate on 22 April, while reducing museum funding. The was in retrospect seen as a prelude to the larger May 68 protests. Truffaut dedicated his 1968 film '' Stolen Kisses'' to Langlois, and it opens with a shot of the shuttered and locked Cinémathèque.


Later life

In 1970, Langlois selected seventy films from the Cinémathèque's collection for inclusion in "Cinémathèque at the Metropolitan Museum," an exhibition in celebration of the Centennial of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition, co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum and the City Center of Music and Drama in New York, showed seventy films dating from the medium's first seventy-five years on thirty-five consecutive evenings from July 29 to September 3, 1970. Langlois selected films for their significance and contributions to the history of filmmaking, including work from official film industries as well as current and early avant garde directors. The program was the most diverse film exhibition held in the United States to date, and was the museum's first major undertaking in film. In 1974, Langlois received an
Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...
for his lifetime work with the Cinémathèque. He died three years later and is interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. Place Henri Langlois in the 13th arrondissement in Paris is named in his honour.


Documentaries about Langlois

In 1970, an English language documentary ''Henri Langlois'' was made about his life's work, featuring interviews with Ingrid Bergman,
Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was dubbed the "F ...
,
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
, Catherine Deneuve,
Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Mo ...
and others. The film was produced and directed by Roberto Guerra and Eila Hershon. Edgardo Cozarinsky's 1994 documentary ''Citizen Langlois'' is an essayistic biography showing Langlois' progress from amateur collector to nouvelle vague hero and friend of the stars. Bernardo Bertolucci's 2003 film '' The Dreamers'' addresses the firing of Langlois and includes period footage of the events. In 2004, Jacques Richard directed a documentary on Langlois's career, ''The Phantom of the Cinémathèque''.NY Times 12 October 2005
"It makes a persuasive case for Langlois as one of the most important figures in the history of film."
It features interviews with friends, colleagues, academics, and such movie luminaries as Simone Signoret, Godard, Chabrol, Truffaut and
Jean-Michel Arnold Jean-Michel Arnold, (April 5, 1938 – September 4, 2019) was General Secretary of the Cinémathèque Française, Vice President of UNESCO's IFTC (International Council for Film Television and Audiovisual Communication), founder of the Cinéma du ...
. In 2014, the Cinémathèque released a short documentary titled ''Henri Langlois vu par...'', in which thirteen filmmakers, including Agnès Varda,
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
,
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
,
Manoel de Oliveira Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...
, Bernardo Bertolucci,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic, author, actor, and a former professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (2005-2023). Noted for his psychological films that often focus on ambiguous narratives and on their characters' i ...
and
Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...
talk about Langlois and their relationship with him.


See also

* Musée du Cinema – Henri Langlois (no longer in existence) * Lotte Eisner *
Kashiko Kawakita was a Japanese film producer and film curator, and the wife of Nagamasa Kawakita. As vice president of Tōwa Trading, together with her husband and daughter Kazuko Kawakita she was influential in the development of the post-war Japanese film indu ...


References

Notes Bibliography * * * *


External links

* *
CinemathequeFrancaise.com

Tracing the journey and impact of Henri Langlois at Indian Auteur


{{DEFAULTSORT:Langlois, Henri 1914 births 1977 deaths Academy Honorary Award recipients César Honorary Award recipients Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery Film curators French archivists Film archivists People from İzmir French expatriates in the Ottoman Empire