Jean Epstein (; 25 March 1897 – 2 April 1953) was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's ''

The Fall of the House of Usher "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in ''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'', then included in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' in 1840. The short story ...

'', he directed three dozen films and was an influential critic of literature and film from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. He is often associated with

French Impressionist Cinema French impressionist cinema (first avant-garde or narrative avant-garde) refers to a group of French films and filmmakers of the 1920s. Film scholars have had much difficulty in defining this movement or for that matter deciding whether it should ...

and the concept of ''photogénie''.

Life and career

Epstein was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Kingdom of Poland (then a part of Russian Empire) to a French-Jewish father and Polish mother. After his father died in 1908, the family relocated to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where Epstein remained until beginning medical school at the

University of Lyon The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: ...

in France. While in Lyon, Epstein served as a secretary and translator for

Auguste Lumière Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière (19 October 1862 – 10 April 1954) was a French engineer, industrialist, biologist, and illusionist. During 1894–1895, he and his brother Louis invented an animated photographic camera and projectio ...

, considered one of the founders of cinema. Epstein started directing his own films in 1922 with ''Pasteur'', followed by ''L'Auberge rouge'' and ''

Coeur fidèle Cœur is the French word for heart, and may refer to: * ''Cœurs'', a 2006 French film by Alain Resnais * Coeur (playing cards), a brand of playing card produced by VEB Altenburg in East Germany People with the surname * Jacques Cœur ( – 1456 ...

'' (both 1923). Film director

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...

worked as an assistant director to Epstein on ''Mauprat'' (1926) and '' La Chute de la maison Usher'' (1928). Epstein's criticism appeared in the early modernist journal ''

L'Esprit Nouveau ''L'Esprit Nouveau'' () was a magazine founded by architect Le Corbusier, poet Paul Dermée, and painter Amédée Ozenfant in 1920. The publication addressed a wide range of artistic disciplines including literature, visual arts, and architecture ...

''. During the making of ''

'' Epstein chose to film a simple story of love and violence "to win the confidence of those, still so numerous, who believe that only the lowest melodrama can interest the public", and also in the hope of creating "a melodrama so stripped of all the conventions ordinarily attached to the genre, so sober, so simple, that it might approach the nobility and excellence of tragedy".Jean Epstein (1924) "Présentation de ''Coeur fidèle''", in ''Écrits sur le cinéma'', 1, 124 (January 1924), quoted in Richard Abel, ''French Cinema: the first wave 1915-1929'' (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

, 1984), p. 360. He made several

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

about

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. These include ''

Finis Terræ ''Finis Terræ'' is a 1929 French silent drama film written and directed by Jean Epstein. The story centres on a small group of men harvesting seaweed off the coast of Brittany, and the problems which arise when one of them gets an infected thum ...

'' filmed in

Ouessant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

, ''Mor vran'' (The sea of the crows, in

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

) filmed in Sein, ''L'Or des mers'' filmed in Hoëdic, ''

Le Tempestaire ''Le Tempestaire'' is a 1947 French short drama film written and directed by Jean Epstein. The title translates as "The storm tamer". The story revolves around a woman who is worried for her fiancé, who is out at sea during a storm. The film make ...

'' filmed in

Belle Île Belle-Île, Belle-Île-en-Mer, or Belle Isle ( br, Ar Gerveur, ; br, label=Old Breton, Guedel) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon pe ...

. ''Chanson d'Armor'' is known as the first

-language film in history. His two novels also take place in Breton isles: ''L'Or des mers'' in

and ''Les Recteurs et la sirène'' in Sein. In August 2005, his films ''

The Three-Sided Mirror ''The Three-Sided Mirror'' () is a 1927 French drama film directed by Jean Epstein, starring Jeanne Helbling, Suzy Pierson and Olga Day. It tells the story of three women who remember their love affairs with the same young man. The film is based ...

'' (1927) and ''

'' (1947) were restored and re-released on the DVD collection Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s''. Epstein died in 1953 from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

Filmography

Publications

Literary and film theory

* ''Bonjour, cinéma''. Paris: La Sirène, 1921. * ''La Poésie d'aujourd'hui, un nouvel état d'intelligence''. Paris: La Sirène, 1921. * ''La Lyrosophie''. Paris: La Sirène, 1922. * ''Le Cinématographe vu de l'Etna''. Paris: Les Écrivains réunis, 1926. * ''La Photogénie de l'impondérable''. Paris: Corymbe, 1935. * ''L'Intelligence d'une machine''. Paris: J. Melot, 1946. * ''Le Cinéma du diable''. Paris: J. Melot, 1947. * ''Esprit de cinéma''. Genève: Jeheber, 1955. * ''Écrits sur le cinéma, 1921-1953: édition chronologique en deux volumes''. Paris: Seghers, 1974–1975.

Fiction

* ''Les Recteurs et la sirène''. Paris: Fernand Aubier/Éd. Montaigne, 1934. * ''L'Or des mers''. Paris: Librairie Valois, 1932.

Film scenarios

* "''La chute de la maison Usher''," ''L'Avant scène du cinéma'', nos. 313-314 (October 1983).

References

External links

*
Jean Epstein
at

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

''Le Cinéma du diable''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Jean 1897 births 1953 deaths Film theorists French experimental filmmakers French film directors French people of Polish-Jewish descent