Alex Christophe Dupont (born 1960), best known as Leos Carax (), is a French

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, critic and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was '' Boy Meets Girl'' (1984), and his notable works include '' Les Amants du Pont-Neuf'' (1991), '' Pola X'' (1999), ''

Holy Motors ''Holy Motors'' is a 2012 surrealist fantasy drama film written and directed by Leos Carax and starring Denis Lavant and Édith Scob. Lavant plays Mr. Oscar, a man who appears to have a job as an actor, as he is seen dressing up in different co ...

'' (2012) and '' Annette'' (2021). For the last, he won the

Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director The Best Director Award () is an award presented annually at the Cannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival. ...

at the

2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American filmmaker Spike Lee was invited to be the president of the jury for the main competition for the fes ...

. His professional name is an anagram of his real name, 'Alex', and 'Oscar'.

Early life

Carax was born Alex Christophe Dupont in

Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

, a commune in the suburbs of Paris, France. His mother is American and his father is French.

Career

Carax's film career began with a series of short films, and as a film critic, before he released '' Boy Meets Girl'' (1984), which established his reputation for a mature visual style. It also saw the first grouping of Carax with Denis Lavant and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

Jean-Yves Escoffier Jean-Yves Escoffier (12 July 1950 – 1 April 2003) was a French cinematographer. For his work on films by Leos Carax, Escoffier received the European Film Award for Best Cinematographer and was nominated for the César Award for Best Cinemat ...

. His next film was '' Mauvais Sang'' (literally ''Bad Blood'' but mostly known as ''The Night is Young'') in 1986, which alienated some of his audience, but continued to explore the complexities of love in the modern world, this time through a darker, more criminal viewpoint. The work was clearly an homage to

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

cinema, and his use of such actresses as

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 films, particularly in French and English, and has been the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Juliette Binoche, numerous accolades, ...

was a tribute to his influences, especially

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

. The film was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. Five years later, Carax returned to directing with '' Les Amants du Pont-Neuf'', an expensive undertaking as Parisian authorities granted him only 10 days to film on

Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was, between 250 and 225 BC, ...

. His initial reaction to the problems of filming on a public bridge had been to construct a model of the bridge in the community of Lansargues, in

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. But on the first day of filming Lavant severely injured his thumb, which pushed the movie back by a month. Subsequent financial difficulties further pushed filming over a much longer period than intended. The movie was released to critical acclaim and opened the door for Carax to enter more experimental waters with his fourth feature, '' Pola X'' (1999), an adaptation of

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

's '' Pierre: or, The Ambiguities''. Carax's 2012 film ''

'' also stars Lavant. The film competed for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actress Bérénice Bejo hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Austrian filmma ...

. In 2017, Carax performed vocals and

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

on the track "When You're a French Director" on Sparks's album ''

Hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

''. In 2021, Carax directed '' Annette'', a music-filled drama feature film written by Sparks and starring

Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor, recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers. Driver made his film debut in ''J. Edgar'' (2011) and played supporting roles in ''Lincoln (film), Lincoln'' (2012), '' ...

and

Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress who has appeared in both European and Hollywood productions. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Marion Cotillard, various accolades, including an Ac ...

, for which he won the

at the

. In 2024, Carax will star in the short film '' An Urban Allegory'', co-directed by

Alice Rohrwacher Alice Rohrwacher (, ; born 29 December 1981) is an Italian film director, editor, and screenwriter. She made her directorial debut with '' Heavenly Body'' (2011). She has since directed notable films such as '' The Wonders'' (2014), winner of th ...

and JR, which will make its world premiere out of competition at the

81st Venice International Film Festival The 81st annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2024, at Venice Lido in Italy. French actress Isabelle Huppert served as Jury President for the main competition. Italian actress an ...

Filmography

Short film Feature film Acting roles Music video

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carax, Leos 1960 births Living people People from Suresnes French film directors French male screenwriters French screenwriters French film critics French male film actors French experimental filmmakers French people of American descent French male non-fiction writers Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners Postmodernist filmmakers Best Director Lumières Award winners

Early life

Career

Filmography

References

Further reading

External links