The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
According to French media reports, director Jean-Jacques Beineix died of illness at his Paris apartment on January 13, local time, at the age of 75. Benex directed only six feature films in his lifetime, especially "The Wild Rose of Paris", which has been talked about by fans for many years.
Jean-Jacques Benécés
Jean-Jacques Benécés was born on 8 October 1946 to a middle-class family in Paris, France. After graduating from high school, his original wish was to study medicine, but the "May Storm" that broke out in 1968 completely changed his fate. Seeing the rise and fall of social movements, he has loved movies since he was a child, and he is determined to boldly embrace what he loves. However, he fell behind when he applied for the French Film School and failed to fulfill his wish.
Fortunately, the French film industry at that time was also undergoing a transformation, and the origin of the class had long since become less important. Soon, the enthusiastic Benex found a job as an assistant under the famous director Jean Baker, and worked for three years. Since then, he has also served as a senior director such as René Clement and Claude Berry, accumulating a lot of valuable practical experience.
Benex at a young age
In 1980, at the age of 34, Benex finally completed his directorial debut "Diva" and won four César Awards for French films, including Best Directorial Debut, Best Cinematography and Best Score. The film is based on the novel of the same name, which tells the story of the routine adventure of small people who are involved in the disputes of the jianghu for no reason, but it is better than the aesthetic style with strong impact.
Stills from "The Opera Red Man"
While impressing the audience, "Opera Red" has also caused a lot of controversy among film critics. The French film critic Serge Daney criticized the film's aesthetic style in his Film Handbook magazine, which he edited, as purely "the aesthetic of an advertising film"; but Pauline Kael, an American film critic across the ocean, admired "Opera Red Man", and she praised the film as "a sparkling movie toy" in the New Yorker magazine that year.
In 1983, Benex, who was favored by Gaumont Pictures for his debut box office success, completed his second directorial work, La Lune dans le caniveau. The film is also adapted from a novel, although it was favored by the Cannes Film Festival and directly selected for the main competition unit, it failed to conquer the discerning Cannes audience. It is said that after the premiere, there was a lot of boos in the audience.
Bright Moon Shines in the Ditch starring Natasha Kinsky and Gérard dePardieu.
What's worse is that when "Bright Moon Shines in the Ditch" was released in France, it failed to win the favor of the audience, and the box office was quite dismal. This failure also made Benex suddenly reflect, realizing that only by completely grasping the creative freedom in his own hands could it be possible to shoot works that really belonged. To this end, he founded his own film company in 1984, and the masterpiece of his directorial career, 37°2 le matin, was his first self-produced work.
Adapted from Philippe Djian's novel of the same name, Roses of the Wild Rose of Paris tells a poignant French love story that is both romantic and sadistic. This time, Benex not only captured the hearts of French audiences, but also made fans around the world know him. The sexy heroine Betty, played by Béatrice Dalle, has been the dream lover of countless teenagers, and the emotional journey of the hero and heroine is also full of momentum, which makes those who have watched this movie unforgettable.
Beatrice Dale played the heroine Betty in "The Wild Rose of Paris".
"The Wild Rose of Paris" was the fifth-largest domestic film in France at the box office in 1986 and was nominated for as many as nine César Awards, but only won the Best Film Poster Award, and most of the rest of the awards were lost to Alain Cavalier's "Saint Teresa". Overseas, the film has also received triple nominations for the British Film Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, and the result is still difficult to escape the fate of empty-handed. Looking back now, if the British Film Institute's jury awarded the best foreign language film of the year to the Japanese film "Chaos" is a well-deserved, then the American Golden Globes and The Oscars both chose the Dutch anti-war film "De Aanslag" (De Aanslag) to some extent make people feel sorry for "The Wild Rose of Paris".
Benex (center) on the set of Wild Roses in Paris.
After that, Benex has directed three works, "Beauty and the Lion", "IP5 Psychedelic Highway" and "Death Transfer", but unfortunately failed to succeed. He also dropped the guide tube, and did not release a new work for a full twenty years before his death, turning his attention to the field of stage and television science and education films.
Throughout his life, it can be said that Jean-Jacques Benécés has never been recognized by the French film critics. In the eyes of French film critics who emphasize the artistry of film, they despise the commerciality and stylization of Benex's films. The French media even had a heart attack during the filming of "IP5 Psychedelic Highway", and blamed director Benénix for failing to protect the seventy-year-old French legendary actor, which directly led to the box office failure of "IP5 Psychedelic Highway", which Benex considered his best work.
"IP5 Psychedelic Highway" is the best work in Benex's personal heart.
In 1989, french film critic Raphael Bassan published in film magazine "The French Neo-Baroque Trio: Benéx, Besson, Carax, From 'Opera Reds' to 'Blue Seas and Blue Skies]", harshly criticizing the work of these three new French directors who came out of the 1980s as flashy and had been reduced to a pure "visual film" (Cinéma du look). In stark contrast, Hollywood welcomed this new French film, but unlike Luc Besson, who was willing to accept the Hollywood olive branch, Benex has rejected the invitation of many American films such as "Mrs. Peron" and "Alien 3", which is undoubtedly due to his 100% emphasis on creative freedom.
Time has passed, and the label of the so-called French "visual film" with a pejorative meaning has now had its positive significance, and whether the "Wild Rose of Paris" given to fans by Jean-Jacques Benex is eligible to be classified as a film history classic, I am afraid that every audience will have their own judgment.
Stills from "The Wild Roses of Paris"
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Ding Xiao