''Léon la lune'' () is a 1956 French short

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by

Alain Jessua Alain Jessua (16 January 1932 – 30 November 2017) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed ten films between 1956 and 1997. He worked as assistant director for Jacques Becker on the set of ''Casque d'or'', with Max Ophüls ...

. The film won the

Prix Jean Vigo The Prix Jean Vigo () is an award in the Cinema of France , French cinema given annually since 1951 to a French film director, in homage to Jean Vigo. Since 1960, the award has been given to both a director of a feature film and to a director of a ...

in 1957. The film documents an old drifter in Paris in the ''poetic realist'' style. Jessua was inspired by

Jean-Paul Clébert Jean-Paul Clébert (born 23 February 192621 September 2011) was a French writer. Biography Before completing his studies in a Jesuit college, Jean-Paul Clébert left to join the French Resistance in 1943 at the age of 16. After the liberati ...

's book ''Paris Insolite'' (1952) and decided to make a film about a ''clochard'' or tramp. The poet and novelist

Robert Giraud Robert Giraud (November 21, 1921 – January 17, 1997), was a French journalist, poet and Lexicography, lexicographer. He is the author of over 30 books and subject of the 2009 biography ''Monsieur Bob'' by Olivier Bailly. Early years Ro ...

, an expert on the Parisian underworld, introduced Jessua to Léon la Lune, a vagrant whose real name was Leon Boudeville, and suggested that they follow him from day to night. After completing the film Giraud showed it to the poet and screenwriter

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 realism, poetic ...

who wrote an introduction and asked Henri Crolla to contribute some music to the film. Léon la lune also appeared in the series ''Clochards'' by

Robert Doisneau Robert Doisneau (; 14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. From the 1930s, he photographed the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and, with Henri Cartier-Bresson, a pioneer of photojournalism. D ...

, the pioneer of humanist

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

Cast

* Léon la Lune aka Leon Boudeville

References

External links

* * Prix Jean Vigo, February 10–December 30, 2006, Moma - http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/film_screenings/3140 * Robert Giraud, scénariste d’Alain Jessua, Le Monde blog, 1 January 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/20120513083221/http://robertgiraud.blog.lemonde.fr/2007/01/01/robert-giraud-scenariste-dalain-jessua/ * Forum Des Images

1956 films French short documentary films 1950s French-language films 1956 short documentary films Films directed by Alain Jessua Documentary films about homelessness Documentary films about Paris 1960s French films 1950s French films French black-and-white films Films scored by Henri Crolla Films scored by André Hodeir French-language documentary films {{1960s-France-film-stub

Cast

See also

References

External links