Jean Pélégri

Birth : 1920-06-20, Rovigo, French Algeria

Death : 2003-09-24

History

Jean Pélégri (June 20, 1920 – September 24, 2003) was a writer and professor of literature. Of French descent, he was born in Algeria, but left as part of the diaspora of French colonists referred to as pied-noirs following the Algerian War. He was friends with many Algerian writers (such as Mohammed Dib and Kateb Yacine) and, like Jean Sénac, Pélégri considered himself to be one of them; he always saw himself as an "Algerian at heart". He supplemented his novels' prefaces with artwork from his painter friends Baya, Abdallah Benanteur, Mohammed Khadda and Jean de Maisonseul. Pélégri also assisted on the film adaptation of his novel Les Oliviers de la justice as screenwriter, dialogue writer and actor. The movie won the Cinema and Television Writers Award at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.

Movies

Coming to Terms with the Dead

le vieil homme du métro

It’s summer, on the beach of this little town in Brittany, a man is building a sand castle. A few people watch him. We will be told the story of three of them: a boy, Jumbo, aged 9; François and his sister Zaza. All of them had to deal with the death of somebody they cherished.

Frequent Death

Dr. Pastor

Jeanne Quester is a psychologist-on-the-airwaves in a radio station. She got a raw deal when she was a child.

Thérèse

The father

The life of little St. Therese of Lisieux, depicted in minimalist vignettes. Therese and her sisters are all nuns in a Carmelite convent. Her devotion to Jesus and her concept of "the little way" to God are shown clearly, using plain modern language. A sense of angelic simplicity comes across without fancy lights, choirs, or showy miracles.

Les oliviers de la justice

Novel

The son of a French colonialist in Algeria returns to Algeria after learning that his father is ill. Memories from childhood return. He also must deal with some problems involving the Algerian fight for independence.

Les oliviers de la justice

Jean's Father

Pickpocket

L'inspecteur principal

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.