Jean-Daniel Pollet (; 1936–2004) was a French

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. He was associated with two approaches to filmmaking: comedies which blended burlesque and melancholic elements, and poetic films based on texts by writers such as the French poet

Francis Ponge Francis Jean Gaston Alfred Ponge (; 27 March 1899 – 6 August 1988) was a French essayist and poet. Influenced by surrealism, he developed a form of prose poem, minutely examining everyday objects. He was the third recipient of the Neustadt Inter ...

Career

Pollet was born on 20 June 1936 in

La Madeleine, Nord La Madeleine () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a suburb of the city of Lille, bordering it on its north side. Heraldry History In 1944, Pierre Marchant and Lucien Olivier, two members of the French resistance ...

, in France. His film career started in 1958, when he did a short film set in Paris called ''Pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse''..., in which Pollet filmed the movements of dancers' silhouettes. Pollet built on the images and themes from this first film in many of his later works, by incorporating elements of popular comedies imbued with both

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

and melancholic elements. In the early 1960s, Pollet began exploring another approach to filmmaking with the film ''

Méditerranée Méditerranée was a department of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the Mediterranean Sea. It was formed in 1808, when the Kingdom of Etruria (formerly the Grand Duchy of Tuscany) was annexed directly to France. ...

'', which he made over two years with

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...

. Pollet tried to create a form of poetic film, using texts and commentaries by writers such as

Philippe Sollers Philippe Sollers (; born Philippe Joyaux; 28 November 1936) is a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the ''avant garde'' literary journal ''Tel Quel'' (along with writer and art critic Marcelin Pleynet), which was published by Le Se ...

Jean Thibeaudeau Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

, and

. In the 1990s, he was paralyzed after a train accident, and so he filmed his last movies in the areas around his house in the French town of

Cadenet Cadenet () is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Cadenétiens'' in French. Geography Cadenet is a village located on the southern slopes of the Lub ...

. In 2004, when Pollet realized that his death was approaching, he wrote his last screenplay, ''Jour après jour'', which was finished by

Jean-Paul Fargier Jean Paul or ''variation'' may refer to: Places * Rue ''Jean-Paul-II'', several streets, see List of places named after Pope John Paul II * Place ''Jean Paul II'', several squares, see List of places named after Pope John Paul II People Given n ...

. Pollet died at the age of 68 on 9 September 2004 at Cadenet,

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Line of Sight The line of sight, also known as visual axis or sightline (also sight line), is an imaginary line between a viewer/observer/spectator's eye(s) and a subject of interest, or their relative direction. The subject may be any definable object taken ...

'' *1961: ''Gala'' *1963: ''

'' *1964: ''Bassae'' *1965: '' Une balle au cœur'' *1965: '' Paris vu par...'' (segment Rue Saint-Denis) *1966: ''Les Morutiers'' *1966: ''Le Horla'' *1967: ''Tu imagines Robinson'' *1970: ''Le Maître du temps'' *1971: ''Le Sang'' *1971: ''L'Amour c'est gai, l'amour c'est triste'' *1973: ''L'Ordre'' *1976: ''L'Acrobate'' *1978: ''Pour mémoire (La forge)'' *1986: ''Au Père Lachaise'' *1988: ''Contretemps'' *1991: ''Trois jours en Grèce'' *1994: ''Dieu sait quoi'' *2001: ''Ceux d'en face'' *2006: ''Jour après jour'', terminé par Jean-Paul Fargier

References

External links

*
Films of Ruin and Rapture: In Search of Jean-Daniel Pollet
an appreciation by Chris Darke at ''Filmcomment'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollet, Jean-Daniel 1936 births 2004 deaths French film directors