Jean-Pierre Jeunet – Biography of Jean-Pierre Jeunet

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The film writer, director and producer Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was born on September 3, 1953 in the city of Roanne (Loire), in France.

Jeunet He is a self-taught director who was interested in cinema from a young age, with a predilection for the fantasy genre. He began his career directing short films, artistic videos and commercials. Around that time he met the designer and cartoonist Marc Caro, with whom he made two animation shorts: “L’évasion“(1978) and”Le Manège“(1980), the latter winner of a César for best short film.

After this success Jeunet and Caro spent more than a year together, projecting every detail (set, costumes, production design) of their third short film: “Le bunker de la dernière rafale“(1981), a film that combined science fiction and heroic fantasy, in a visually delusional story about the growing paranoia of soldiers trapped underground. With that film they garnered several awards in France. This film also marked their first collaboration with Gilles Adrien who would later write the scripts for two of his feature films.

His next works were two short films (this time without the collaboration of Caro) “Pas de repos pour Billy Brakko“(1984) and”Foutaises“(1989). Both works won numerous awards in France and abroad, plus a second César for”Foutaises“(1989).

His first feature film, made together with Marc Caro, was “Deli“(1990), winner of four César awards. The gothic and histrionic style, the frenzied editing, the dark and surreal atmosphere are the main characteristics of Jeunet, captured in this film.

In 1996, he released “The lost City“(1996), which did not achieve great success, although the director’s distinctive style did not leave indifferent the Hollywood producers who commissioned him the fourth installment of the” Alien “saga. In 1997” Aliens resurreccion “had a good success and relaunched the series, which had declined with the third episode.

His great success, however, bears the stamp of fact in France: “Amélie“(2001) was an unprecedented success in France, and not only: more than eight million people were fascinated by the Parisian postcard and the vicissitudes of the sympathetic Audrey Tautou. International critics, however, were not subjugated by the publicity and the commercial success of the film and in the Oscars, and other international awards the film did not reach the maximum accolades.
Jeunet he then decided to adapt Sébastien Japrisot’s novel “Eternal love“(2004), for which he recruited Audrey Tautou and many other famous French actors and actress Jodie Foster. It was one of the most important budgets in the history of French cinema and, finally, it had a good international success and many nominations and awards.
In 2007 the director rejected the offer to direct “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, arguing that most of the creative decisions had already been made and, consequently, he would have very little to contribute.

Already in 2009 he premiered “Micmacs à tire-larigot“(” Micmacs “, in Spanish), a criminal action comedy, about a man who, with the help of a group of street artists, tries to destroy the arms industry.

His latest work was “The Extraordinary Voyage of TS Spivet”, an adventure drama about a boy-genius who crosses the country by train to receive an award for an invention he has made.

In his personal life, Jeunet He has been married since 1997 to editor and producer Liza Sullivan.