Georges Franju
Georges Franju | |
---|---|
screenwriter | |
Years active | 1934, 1949–1978 |
Georges Franju (French:
Biography
Early life
Before working in
In the mid-thirties, Franju and
Film career
In 1949, Franju began work on a series of nine
With
Film style
In her study of
Franju used elements of surrealism and shock horror within his films in order to "awaken" his audience. Franju had a long history of friendship with well-known surrealists including
The same is true of Franju's most famous film, Les Yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face), which also uses aspects of the scientific documentary film to accentuate horror. Les Yeux sans visage proved so horrific that audience members in Edinburgh fainted during screenings. During the most graphic grafting scene in the film a large importance is placed on surgical lamps, the scalpel being used, gloves, masks, and operating tables. Once again, the contradiction between the methodical, scientific approach to this horrific situation and the situation itself serves to accentuate the horror. Les Yeux sans visage also uses surrealist elements to address aspects of post-war life. During one scene, loud, disrupting noises of an airplane and church bells are heard while Dr. Genessier and Louise bury a failed facial graft candidate. This scene serves to portray the loss of faith in medicine (represented by the body created by another of Dr. Genessier's many failed attempts to complete this surgery), the progress of technology (represented by the airplane), and the comfort of religion (represented by the church bells). This surrealist combination forces a new view of modernity and thus a reevaluation of the past.[10]
Filmography
As director
Year | Film | English title | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1935 | Le Metro | co-directed with Henri Langlois | |
1948 | Le Sang des bêtes
|
Blood of the Beasts | |
1950 | En passant par la Lorraine | ||
1951 | Hôtel des Invalides | ||
1952 | Le Grand Méliès | ||
1952 | Monsieur et Madame Curie | ||
1954 | Les Poussières | ||
1954 | Navigation Marchande | Film renounced by Franju.[11] | |
1955 | A propos d'une rivière | ||
1955 | Mon chien | ||
1956 | Le Théâtre national populaire | ||
1956 | Sur le pont d'Avignon | ||
1957 | Notre-dame, cathédrale de Paris | ||
1958 | La Première Nuit | ||
1959 | La Tête contre les murs | Head Against the Wall | |
1960 | Les Yeux sans visage | Eyes Without a Face | |
1961 | Pleins feux sur l'assassin
|
Spotlight on a Murderer | |
1962 | Thérèse Desqueyroux | Therese | |
1963 | Judex | Remake of 1916 French serial film | |
1965 | Thomas l'imposteur | Thomas the Impostor | Entered into the 15th Berlin International Film Festival |
1965 | Les Rideaux blancs | The Moment of Peace | Les rideaux blancs segment |
1965 | Marcel Allain | Short documentary about the writer | |
1970 | La Faute de l'abbé Mouret | The Demise of Father Mouret | |
1973 | La ligne d'ombre | The Shadow Line | Based on the novella The Shadow Line (1917) by Joseph Conrad |
1974 | Nuits rouges
|
Shadowman |
References
- ^ Allmovie. Archived from the originalon April 26, 2006. Retrieved March 2, 2009.
- ^ a b c Ince, 2005. p.2
- ^ a b Ince, 2005. p.1
- ^ Ince, 2005. p.3
- ^ Ince, 2005. p.4
- ^ Le Ciné-club de Caen: "Georges Franju"[permanent dead link]
- ^ Tribune de Genève: "Il fut l'un des plus grands cinéastes français"[permanent dead link]
- ^ Ince, 2005. p.7
- ^ Ince, 2005. p.8
- ^ Lowenstein, Adam. "Films Without a Face: Shock Horror in the Cinema of Georges Franju." Cinema Journal 37.4 (1998): 37–58. Print.
- ^ Ince, 2005. p.13
Bibliography
- Ince, Kate (2005). Georges Franju. ISBN 0-7190-6828-2.
External links
- Georges Franju at IMDb
- Georges Franju at Allmovie