Louis Feuillade (; 19 February 1873 – 25 February 1925) was a French filmmaker of the
silent era
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
. Between 1906 and 1924, he directed over 630 films. He is primarily known for the crime serials ''
Fantômas
Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).
One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appear ...
projects. His excessively academic poems were occasionally published in local newspapers, and he acquired a reputation for his articles devoted to
bullfighting
Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.
There are several variations, including some forms wh ...
. At twelve, he was sent by his parents to a Catholic seminary in
Carcassonne
Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department.
Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...
, which has been credited for his gothic stylization in his later career. His biographer
Francis Lacassin
Francis Lacassin (; 18 November 1931 – 12 August 2008)Gaumont, and Gaumont's artistic director
, comedies, bourgeois dramas, historical or biblical dramas, mysteries and exotic adventures—but he is remembered best for his serial films.
Louis Feuillade was the father-in-law of the French film director
Maurice Champreux
Maurice Champreux (1893–1976) was a French film director, cinematographer and editor.Goble p.129
Biography
Maurice Champreux married with Isabelle Feuillade. She is the daughter of famous French film director Louis Feuillade.
Maurice and Isa ...
and the grandfather of the French actor, screenwriter, and film director Jacques Champreux.
Serial films
The ''
Fantômas
Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).
One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appear ...
'' serial in 1913 was his first masterpiece, the result of a long apprenticeship—during which the series with realistic ambitions, ''Life as it is'', played a major role. It is also the first masterpiece in what the modern critic, from both a literary and a cinematographic point of view, would later call "the fantastic realism" or the "social fantastic".
He is credited with developing many of the thriller techniques used by
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
,
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
Fantômas
Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).
One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appear ...
'' (12 episodes)
*1918 ''Vendemiaire'' (Rural drama during the First-World-War - in 2 parts)
*1918 ''
Tih Minh
''Tih Minh'' is a 1918 French film serial directed by Louis Feuillade.
Plot
''Tih Minh'' tells the story of Jacques d'Athys who returns to his home in Nice after an expedition to Indochina. Tih Minh (Mary Harald), a young woman from Laos, acco ...
'' (12 episodes)
*1919 '' Barrabas'' (12 episodes)
*1921-22 ''Good Mood: Seraphin or the Naked Legs'' (Belle Humeur: Seraphin ou les jambes nues) - 1921 (vaudevilles - 5 films)
*1922 ''
Irma Vep
''Irma Vep'' is a 1996 French comedy-drama film written and directed by Olivier Assayas. Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung plays a fictionalised version of herself, as disasters result when an unstable French film director (played by Jean-Pie ...
Georges Denola Georges Samson Denola (; 29 August 1865, Paris, France – 3 March 1944, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) was a French filmmaker and actor. His most notable film is ''La Jeunesse de Rocambole'', released in 1913. As an actor, Georges Denola has been seen ...
*
Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...
Sight and Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...