Jean Grémillon
Birth : 1898-03-04, Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France
Death : 1959-11-25
History
Jean Grémillon was a French film director.
After directing a number of documentaries during the 1920s, many now lost, Grémillon had his first substantial success with the dramatic feature Maldone in 1928. Over the next quarter-century, he directed twenty more feature films, of which he is best known for five made between 1937 and 1944: Gueule d'amour (1937), L'Étrange M. Victor (1938), Remorques (1941), Lumière d'été (1943), and Le Ciel est à vous (1944), all but the first starring Madeleine Renaud.
Grémillon rejected what he referred to as "mechanical naturalism" in favor of "the discovery of that subtlety which the human eye does not perceive directly but which must be shown by establishing the harmonies, the unknown relations, between objects and beings; it is a vivifying, inexhaustible source of images that strike our imaginations and enchant our hearts."
He died on November 25, 1959 in Paris, France.
Original Music Composer
A captivating short film, showing the various processes in the production of a tapestry in the workshop of the famed Gobelins Manufactory. Grémillon's only film in color.
Screenplay
A subtle reflection on the creative process of painter André Masson, and on creativity in general. It is at the crossroads of the documentary and the poem. It exalts the work of Masson and demonstrates lucidity, dedication and patience necessary for any creator. It superimposes the image a text inspired by the work of Masson, divided into eight parts, directs the eye to the heart of the artist's creative work.
Director
A subtle reflection on the creative process of painter André Masson, and on creativity in general. It is at the crossroads of the documentary and the poem. It exalts the work of Masson and demonstrates lucidity, dedication and patience necessary for any creator. It superimposes the image a text inspired by the work of Masson, divided into eight parts, directs the eye to the heart of the artist's creative work.
Director
A captivating short film, showing the various processes in the production of a tapestry in the workshop of the famed Gobelins Manufactory. Grémillon's only film in color.
Director
Documentary about famous artists such as Dunoyer de Segonzac, Masson, Miró, Naly and Treemois who continue the tradition of colour engraving and produce rare stamps for high class books.
Director
Documentary
Story
Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an italian engineer.
Writer
Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an italian engineer.
Dialogue
Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an italian engineer.
Director
Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an italian engineer.
Director
The film is a short documentary about alchemical engravings.
Writer
The film is a short documentary about alchemical engravings.
Narrator (voice)
Shortfilm showcasing Grémillon's love of astrology.
Director
Shortfilm showcasing Grémillon's love of astrology.
Director
Irène is the unhappy wife of a wealthy publisher, Jacques Voisin-Larive, who cares about her no more than a beautiful piece of furniture. Her meeting with Étienne, a young cabinetmaker with whom she falls in love, turns her dismal existence upside down. Not wanting to reveal her condition to her lover, she pretends to be a modest maid, employed by the Voisin-Larive. At the end of a weekend spent with her lover, Irène discovers that she is pregnant. The fragile balance of their existence is suddenly broken. Taking the initiative, she reveals her affair to Jacques and tells him about her desire to divorce. But her husband has no intention of giving her back her freedom...
Narrator
An incisive exploration of the dubious beauty of "official" art.
Screenplay
An incisive exploration of the dubious beauty of "official" art.
Director
An incisive exploration of the dubious beauty of "official" art.
Director
An eccentric man endangers himself when he makes advances toward the girlfriend of a saloon keeper.
Director
Short documentary showcasing engravings by Goya.
Writer
The film starts by a visit to bucolic Normandy before the events. This peaceful atmosphere is shattered by Operation Overlord, minutely described in the second part of the documentary. The landing on D-Day and the ensuing battles and bombings martyr the peaceful area giving the earth thousands of body instead of seeds. In the last part, the dreadful aftermath of the steel storm is shown both with sympathy for the victims and hope for the future, since all these sacrifices, whether military or civilians, have not been in vain.
Director
The film starts by a visit to bucolic Normandy before the events. This peaceful atmosphere is shattered by Operation Overlord, minutely described in the second part of the documentary. The landing on D-Day and the ensuing battles and bombings martyr the peaceful area giving the earth thousands of body instead of seeds. In the last part, the dreadful aftermath of the steel storm is shown both with sympathy for the victims and hope for the future, since all these sacrifices, whether military or civilians, have not been in vain.
Camera Operator
Shot primarily by twelve French cameramen (led by filmmakers Jean Painlevé and Jean Grémillon), in August 1944, this film captures the final French insurrection in German-occupied Paris, the surrender of the Germans, and the mass celebration in the streets. (There is an English-language version narrated by Noel Coward.)
Director
The strength of a couple's fascination with airplanes and flight is to the detriment of their family
Director
A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle, whose principals range from an artist to a hotel manager to a dam worker.
Director
A married tugboat captain falls for a woman he rescues from a sinking ship.
Director
Outwardly, Monsieur Victor would appear to be the model citizen. A respectable Toulon shopkeeper, he has a devoted wife and is courteous and considerate to all who know him. However, beneath this veneer of respectability hides a notorious receiver of stolen goods, who trades with hardened criminals. Victor manages to keep up his double life without any difficulty until the fateful day when one of his partners in crime threatens to expose him. Fearing a scandal, Victor kills the crook in a moment of panic, using a shoemaker's tool. Naturally, the murder is blamed on a local shoemaker, who is sentenced to ten years' hard labour. Seven years later, the former shoemaker reappears in Toulon, having escaped from prison. The first person to recognise him is Monsieur Victor...
Editor
Lucien Bourrache, a good looking non-commissioned officer at the Spahis, is used to charm many women. He met Madeleine Courtois at Cannes. She is beautiful and lives in luxury. He lends her a large amount of money, which she loses gambling. Then she drops him. But Lucien is now in love, and once demobilized, he goes to Paris to find her again. But he's not so sexy without his uniform, and Madeleine and him do not belong to the same milieu.
Director
Lucien Bourrache, a good looking non-commissioned officer at the Spahis, is used to charm many women. He met Madeleine Courtois at Cannes. She is beautiful and lives in luxury. He lends her a large amount of money, which she loses gambling. Then she drops him. But Lucien is now in love, and once demobilized, he goes to Paris to find her again. But he's not so sexy without his uniform, and Madeleine and him do not belong to the same milieu.
Director
The young Candelas, seduced and abandoned by Arturo, an unscrupulous womanizer, meets two soldiers, Tiburcio and Angelillo, who, in order to help the girl out of her predicament, organize a musical recital to raise money.
Director
Director
In 1852, the young Austrian emperor Franz Joseph persuades his friend, Count Michel de Thalberg, to act as a go-between in his love affair with the Bavarian duchess Elisabeth. Not long after his arrival in Munch, Thalberg has an embarrassing encounter in a public garden with an attractive young woman. The innocent incident is misinterpreted by a passer-by who, recognising the woman as the youngest daughter of Ludwig Tomasini, a highly respected caterer, persuades her father that she should marry the man who flirted with her to avoid a scandal (FilmsdeFrance).
Screenplay
Superstitious new rich find that they will be thirteen at the table. To reassure themselves, they invite a piano tuner, named Gonzague, whom they pretend to be Prince Gonzague to their guests. One of them imagines that Gonzague is his wife's lover.
Dialogue
Superstitious new rich find that they will be thirteen at the table. To reassure themselves, they invite a piano tuner, named Gonzague, whom they pretend to be Prince Gonzague to their guests. One of them imagines that Gonzague is his wife's lover.
Director
Superstitious new rich find that they will be thirteen at the table. To reassure themselves, they invite a piano tuner, named Gonzague, whom they pretend to be Prince Gonzague to their guests. One of them imagines that Gonzague is his wife's lover.
Writer
Spanish musical and religious drama.
Director
Spanish musical and religious drama.
Director
Shades of Othello loom in this engrossing exploration of class, race, and murder set on an ocean liner. Young Dainah encounters an engineer onboard who mistakes pleasantries for flirtation. When she disappears the next day, suspicion spreads not only to the engineer but also to Dainah's husband.
Director
A millionaire,in love with an innocent girl,does not want to be loved for his money.So he asks his secretary to take his place and together they go to the heroine's desirable mansion...a heroine whose uncle happens to be wealthy too.So where's the problem?Although handicapped by horrible old-fashioned ditties (the title track) sung by the male lead which make the viewer put his fingers on his ears ,or use the fast forward button. © dbdumonteil
Director
Victor Berthier, a good man but also a very jealous one, killed his wife in a fit of jealousy. After serving a few years in a chain gang, he is released for good behavior. He feels very happy to be able to return to Paris and to meet Lise, his daughter, again. But, to his dismay, he finds that Lise, through the fault of André, her lover and pimp, has unwillingly committed a murder.
Director
In a lighthouse off the coast of Brittany, a young man slowly goes mad following a bite by a rabid dog while his father looks on helplessly. Thwarted by a raging sea, they are prisoners of the lighthouse. In a rustic Brittany village, a young bride waits, unaware of the tragedy.
Original Music Composer
Maldone is a canal worker, happy with his life after running away from his family estate. He falls in love with Zita, a young gypsy girl, during a local fete. However, after his brother dies, Maldone is called back to manage the estate. There, he takes up the life of a landowner and marries a neighbor's daughter. Years later Maldone is still restless on the estate, and becomes obsessed with Zita, after meeting her by chance one evening.
Director
Maldone is a canal worker, happy with his life after running away from his family estate. He falls in love with Zita, a young gypsy girl, during a local fete. However, after his brother dies, Maldone is called back to manage the estate. There, he takes up the life of a landowner and marries a neighbor's daughter. Years later Maldone is still restless on the estate, and becomes obsessed with Zita, after meeting her by chance one evening.
Writer
Images of water
Director
Images of water
Writer
Casting for a feature film
Director
Casting for a feature film
Director
During the same mid 1920s period that future feature director Gremillon began his career making industrial and tourism short subjects, he also made this experimental short which displays the then popular avant garde technique of montage.
Editor
This early documentary by director Jean Grémillon highlights the textures and architectural details of the great Gothic cathedral at Chartres.
Director
This early documentary by director Jean Grémillon highlights the textures and architectural details of the great Gothic cathedral at Chartres.
