Nelly Kaplan (11 April 1931 – 12 November 2020)
was an
Argentine-born French writer and film director who focused on the arts, film, and filmmakers. She studied economics at the
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...
.
Passionate about cinema, she abruptly put her studies on hold to go to Paris to represent the new Argentine film archive at an international convention and later became a correspondent for different Argentine newspapers. She met
Abel Gance
Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J ...
in 1954, who gave her the opportunity to work on the film ''
La tour de Nesle''.
She became Gance's assistant during the film and showed the program ''Magirama'' (triple screen) in
Polyvision
Polyvision was the name given by the French film critic Émile Vuillermoz to a specialized widescreen film format devised exclusively for the filming and projection of Abel Gance's 1927 film '' Napoleon''.
Polyvision involved the simultaneou ...
, then, still at Gance's side, she collaborated with him on ''
Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to:
History
* Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte
Places
* Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz a ...
'' (1960). He trusted her with the direction of all the second crew's action scenes during the filming of his movie ''
Cyrano and d'Artagnan
''Cyrano and d'Artagnan'' () is a 1964 French adventure film directed by Abel Gance, starring José Ferrer and Jean-Pierre Cassel. It is set in 1642 and tells the story of how the poet and duelist Cyrano de Bergerac teams up with the musketeer Ch ...
'' (''Cyrano et d'Artagnan'', 1964).
Meanwhile, she published her work about ''Magirama'' under the name ''Le Manifeste d'un art nouveau'', with a preface by
Philippe Soupault
Philippe Soupault (2 August 1897 – 12 March 1990) was a French writer and poet, novelist, critic, and political activist. He was active in Dadaism and later was instrumental in founding the Surrealist movement with André Breton. Soupault ini ...
. In 1960, she published a film report entitled ''Le Sunlight of Austerlitz'', through the Plon publishing house.
Beginning in 1961, she directed an entire series of art shorts, which won numerous prizes in various international festivals. Among these shorts were "
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau (; 6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) was a French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement. Jean Cassou called him "the Symbolist painter par excellence".Cassou, Jean. 1979. ''The Concise Encyclopedia of Symbolism.' ...
," an analysis of the 19th century
symbolist painter; "
Rudolphe Bresdin," the engraver; "Dessins et merveilles," on the sketchbooks of
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
, as well as "Les années 25 ", " La Nouvelle Orangerie ", "Abel Gance hier et demain ", " A la source, la femme aimée", titles based on the secret notebooks of the painter
André Masson
André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist.
Biography
Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussel ...
.
Her first feature movie, ''A Very Curious Girl,'' was the focus of a Kaplan retrospective in 2019, ''Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan''. She filmed and produced a 1966 documentary, ''The Picasso Look,'' about the works of Picasso being delivered and displayed in Paris.
Biography
Nelly Kaplan
[
] was born in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina to a
Russian Jewish
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
family. A "neo-
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
,"
[
] she was "the only female film maker linked with
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
."
[
] Kaplan left for France at the age of 17. She served as a professor and lecturer at
Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques. While Kaplan's films have been marketed as soft-core pornography, her works are often female-centered and approach eroticism from a woman's point of view.
Her films have been shown at many international festivals. As a member of the SACD, she took part in the board of directors as a member of the Cinema Commission on several occasions. Kaplan regularly collaborated on the show "Des Papous dans la Tête," on
France Culture
France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France
Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
* France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" sta ...
. She contributed to the cinema section of the magazine ''
Le Magazine Littéraire'' for 25 years. Kaplan was Commander of the Arts and Letters, Officer in the National Merite Order, Cavalier of the
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
, and Academician of the Alphonse Allais Academy.
Nelly Kaplan died from
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
at a nursing home in Geneva on 12 November 2020.
Timeline
Books and movies
Fiction
* ''La géométrie dans les spasmes'' (under the pen-name Belen), Le Terrain Vague, 1959.
* ''La Reine des sabbats'' (under the pen-name Belen), Le Terrain Vague, 1960.
* ''«...et délivrez nous du mâle»'' (under the pen-name Belen), Le Terrain Vague, 1960.
* ''Le Réservoir des sens'', nouvelles, La Jeune Parque, 1966; rééd. J-J.Pauvert, 1988; rééd. augmentée Le Castor Astral, 1995.
* ''Le Collier de Ptyx'', ciné-roman, J-J.Pauvert, 1971.
* ''Mémoires d'une liseuse de draps'', roman, J-J.Pauvert, 1974.
* ''Aux Orchidées sauvages, roman'', La Différence, 1998.
* ''Un Manteau de fou rire'', roman, La Différence, 1998.
* ''Ils furent une étrange comète'', roman, Le Castor Astral, 2002.
* ''Cuisses de grenouille'', roman, Maren Sell Editeurs, 2005
* ''Et Pandore en avait deux..!'' followed by ''Mon Cygne, mon Signe'', Editions du Rocher, 2008
* ''Ecris-moi tes hauts faits et tes crimes… Correspondance avec André Pieyre de Mandiargues'', Editions du Rocher, 2009
Essays on cinema
* ''Manifeste d'un art nouveau: la Polyvision'', Caractères, 1955.
* ''Le Sunlight d'Austerlitz, journal d'un tournage'', Plon, 1960.
* ''Napoleon'', British Film Institute Classics, 1994.
Filmography
Co-writer of the film ''Il faut vivre dangereusement'', by Claude Makovski, 1974.
Co-writer of Jean Chapot's téléfilms:
* ''Livingstone'', 1980
* ''Un fait d'hiver'', 1981
* ''La Tentation d'Antoine'', 1981
* ''Ce fut un bel été'', 1982
* ''Meurtre sans pourboire'', 1983
* ''Le Regard dans le miroir'', 1984
* ''Le Crépuscule des loups'', 1986
* ''Les Mouettes'', 1989
* ''Honorin et la Loreleï'', 1991
* ''Polly West est de retour'', 1993
* ''Honorin et l'enfant prodigue'', 1994.
* ''La Petite fille en costume marin'', 1997.
Collaborated over 22 years to the ''Magazine Littéraire'' with a column on film adaptations from books.
[Giukin, Lenuta. Conversations and correspondence with Nelly Kaplan. 2001-2012.]
Bibliography
* Antle, Martine. "Dedans et dehors: Le Cas de Nelly Kaplan et d'Abel Gance." ''Mélusine'' 23 (2003): 87-95.
* Béhar, Stella. "L'Ecriture surréaliste de Nelly Kaplan." ''La Femme s'entête: La Part du féminin dans le surréalisme''. Paris, France: Lachenal & Ritter, 1998. 275-289.
* Calle-Gruber, Mireille. ''Nelly Kaplan : la verbe et la lumière''. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2004.
* Colaux, Denis-Louis. ''Grandes machines et spéculations introspectives''. Bruxelles: Labor, 2003.
* Colaux, Denis-Louis. ''Nelly Kaplan : portrait d'une flibustière''. Paris: Dreamland, 2002.
* Duby, Georges, and Michelle Perrot. ''History of Women in the West Vol. 5 : Toward a Cultural Identity in the Twentieth Century''. Ed. Francois Thebaud. New York: Belknap P, 1994.
* Elley, Derek. “Hiding it Under a Bushel”, ''
Films and Filming'', 20.4 (1974): 22-5
* Giukin, Lenuta. “Demystification and Webtopia in the Films of Nelly Kaplan.” ''Cinema Journal'' 42.3 (2003): 96-113.
* Greene, Linda. "A Very Curious Girl: Politics of a Feminist Fantasy." ''Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media'' 6 (March 1975): 13-14.
* Holmlund, Chris. "The Eyes of Nelly Kaplan." ''Screen'' 37.4 (Winter 1996): 351-367.
* Houston, Beverly. “Néa”, ''Film Quarterly'', 32.3 (1979): 46-9.
* Johnston, Claire. “Women’s cinema as counter cinema”. ''Notes on Women’s Cinema''. London: Society for Education in Film and Television, 1973. 25; reprinted in Bill Nichols ed., ''Movies and Methods: an Anthology''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975. 210.
* Kay, Karin. “The Revenge of Pirate Jenny.” ''Velvet Light Trap'' 9 (Summer 1973): 46-9.
* Lejeune, Paula. ''Le cinéma des femmes''. Paris: Atlas Lherminier, 1987.
* Mandiargues, Andre Pieyre de. “Nelly Kaplan”, ''Obliques'' 14-15 (1973), p. 70.
* Rosen, Marjorie. “Women, Sex and Power”, ''Millimeter'', vol. 4 (January 1976): 36-37.
* Sebbag, Georges. ''Le point sublime : André Breton, Arthur Rimbaud, Nelly Kaplan''. Paris: Jean-Michel Place, 1997.
* Vincendeau, Ginette. "Fathers and Daughters in French Cinema: From the 20s to 'La Belle Noiseuse." ''Women and Film: A Sight and Sound Reader'', edited by Pam Cook and Phillip Dodd, Philadelphia, 1993
* Waldman, Diane. “The Eternal Return of Circe.” ''Velvet Light Trap'', no. 9 (Summer 1973): 49-51.
* Wells, Gwendolyn. "Deviant Games." ''L'Esprit Createur'' 31.4 (Winter 1991): 69-77.
See also
*
Lists of writers
The following are lists of writers:
Alphabetical indices
A – B – C – D –
E – F –
G – H –
I – J –
K – L –
M – N –
O – P ...
References
External links
*
"Nelly Kaplan." International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Vol. 2. Gale, 2000. Biography in Context. Web. 2 January 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE, K1641000711"Nelly Kaplan." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Biography in Context. Web. 2 January 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE, H1000115725"Nelly Kaplan." The Writers Directory. Detroit: St. James Press, 2013. Biography in Context. Web. 2 January 2014. Gale Document Number: GALE, K1649565986* http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Jo-Ku/Kaplan-Nelly.html
* http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Nelly_Kaplan/194413
* http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cinema_journal/v042/42.3giukin.html
* http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:96741
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Nelly
1931 births
2020 deaths
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland
20th-century Argentine women writers
20th-century Argentine writers
20th-century French dramatists and playwrights
Argentine emigrants to France
Argentine film directors
Argentine people of Russian-Jewish descent
Argentine surrealist artists
Argentine surrealist writers
Argentine women essayists
Argentine essayists
French cinematographers
French surrealist artists
French surrealist writers
Jewish surrealist writers
Jewish Argentine writers
Surrealist dramatists and playwrights
University of Buenos Aires alumni
Women surrealist artists
Writers from Buenos Aires
French cinema articles needing attention to referencing and citation
French cinema articles needing attention to supporting materials
20th-century French women writers
French film directors
French people of Russian-Jewish descent
French women essayists
20th-century French writers
Argentine dramatists and playwrights
Argentine cinematographers