The 158th Best Director of All-Time: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Jeunet. Jeunet isn’t here without Amelie (less and less top 500 all-time films remaining as we’re at the #158^th best director of all-time) but that 1-4 below is very solid. The films are imaginative, handsomely shot, and idiosyncratic in all the best ways. Just one film in the top 100 of its respective decade isn’t great – but even the least of Jeunet’s efforts carry his own brand of authorship. Jeunet has only made a total of 7 films and nothing in the archives since 2004—still clearly a force from 1991 to 20001.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is jeunet-adfjkafj-4232-ladjf-city-of.jpg — an imaginative retro garbage art set design– very *Brazil*-like in *The City of Lost Children*

Best film: Amelie. Jeunet’s zenith for sure- it brings the French New Wave back to life (especially Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player). Amelie is an aesthetic atom bomb, jump cuts, split screens, exaggerate—playful sound design and all the while many of the frame are composed like a Wes Anderson film.

Jeunet’s green/yellow trademark lightning, wide-angle lens and gorgeously designed backdrops– one hell of a frame

a fantastic frame here- color splash– I see some Wes Anderson—crisp symmetrical compositions, color and very heavily designed mise-en-scene (Jeunet predates Wes of course but with *Amelie* they’re contemporaries

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is jeunet-lajdfklaj-amelie-1024x435.jpg — symmetry — picture frames, wallpaper work

total archiveable films: 4

top 100 films: 0

top 500 films: 1 (Amelie)

top 100 films of the decade: 1 (Amelie)

most overrated: No overrated films for Jeunet. He has one film on the TSPDT consensus top 1000—Amelie and it’s at a good spot at #529. I’m slightly higher on it but this is a 21^st century film so for something so recent that’s a very strong spot. Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children are between 1001-2000 on the TSPDT extended list and that’s a decent spot for them.

most underrated: See above- nothing—but the screen grabs of A Very Long Engagement here make me anxious to revisit it- I haven’t had the pleasure since a theater visit in 2005 I believe.

a painterly shot here from *A Very Long Engagement*– light pouring in

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is jeunet-ladjf-a-very-long-aldfkdflj-1024x435.jpg — it isn’t exactly Antonioni or Jia Zhangke but I love the lighthouse in the background here

gem I want to spotlight : Delicatessen. A debut with a wallop—such a distinctive voice to emerge from France in the early 1990’s. I may mention a half-dozen auteurs that influenced Jeunet or share traits with him as an artist below – but he’s a true original.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is delica-Jean-Pierre-Jeunet-ladjfal-f-1.jpg — Wellesian’ low-angle work– certainly in the repertoire for Jeunet

stylistic innovations/traits:

Certainly an expressionist— he’s an illustrator– mise-en-scene and set design. You can see Gilliam in his work with some of the retro garbage art, Meiles, Murnau’s set detail—Tati, Tim Burton, Baz Luhrmann— I see some Wes Anderson—crisp symmetrical compositions, color and very heavily designed mise-en-scene (Jeunet predates Wes of course but with Amelie they’re contemporaries) and then of course Truffaut’s playfulness—Amelie feels like Shoot the Piano Player in a different genre.
The green/yellow tint to all of his work—a little Fincher—lighter of course but still. Both directed Alien films in the 1990’s
Fairytales in the narrative
Jeunet loves his low Wellesian angles. He loves his spiral staircases