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 theorist,

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, a co-founder of France's first film society, and, in 1938, 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 ...

Work

Goetgheluck le Rouge Rillard des Acres de Presfontaines was born in

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

and was the first lecturer of film

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

in France, Mitry was one of the first intellectuals responsible for taking film studies out of the era of the film club and into that of the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Mitry was one of few major film theorists who worked in film production himself. He edited

Alexandre Astruc Alexandre Astruc (; 13July 192319May 2016) was a French film critic and film director. Biography Before becoming a film director, he was a journalist, novelist and film critic. His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion of th ...

's short film ''Le Rideau Cramoisi'' (1953) and directed two films of his own, '' Pacific 231'' (1949), set to

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

's music, and ''Images pour Debussy'' (1952), set to the music of

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

. He died in

La Garenne-Colombes La Garenne-Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from Notre Dame de Paris, France's kilometre zero. Name The commune used to be part of the neighbouring city of Colombes. At t ...

in 1988.

Selected filmography

* ''

The Enigma of the Folies-Bergere ''The Enigma of the Folies-Bergere'' (French: ''Enigme aux Folies-Bergère'') is a 1959 French crime film directed by Jean Mitry and starring Bella Darvi, Frank Villard and Dora Doll. The police investigate a series of murders at the Folies-Bergè ...

'' (1959)

Works

* ''Introduction to film aesthetics'' (1960) * ''Dictionary of cinema'' (1963) * ''The Aesthetics and Psychology of the Cinema'' (1965) * ''History of cinema'', 5 volumes (1967–1980) * ''Experimental Cinema: History and perspectives'' (1974) * ''Semiotics and the Analysis of Film'' (new edition 2000) 1904 births 1988 deaths People from Soissons French film critics Film theorists French male writers {{France-film-bio-stub