Jean-Pierre Melville
Born	Jean-Pierre Grumbach 20 October 1917(1917-10-20) Paris, France
Died	2 August 1973 (aged 55) Paris, France
Years active	(1945–1972)

Jean-Pierre Melville (20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker. Born Jean-Pierre Grumbach, he later adopted the pseudonym Melville as a tribute to his favorite American author, Herman Melville.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Filmography 2.1 As director 2.2 As actor 3 Further reading 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Paris, France, Melville, who was an Alsatian Jew, served in World War II and fought in Operation Dragoon. When he returned from the war he applied for a license to become an assistant director, but was refused. Without this support, he decided to direct his films by his own means.

He became an independent film-maker, owning his own studios, and became well known for his tragic, minimalist film noirs, such as Le Samouraï (1967) and Le Cercle rouge (1969), starring major, charismatic actors like Alain Delon (probably the definitive 'Melvillian' actor), Jean-Paul Belmondo and Lino Ventura. His directorial style was influenced by American cinema and fetishized accessories like weapons, clothes and especially hats.

His independence and his 'reporting' style of film-making (he was one of the first French directors to use real locations regularly) were a major influence on the French New Wave film movement, and he appears as a minor character in Jean-Luc Godard's seminal New Wave film Breathless.

Melville died from a heart attack at the age of 55.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] As director

Year	Title	English title	Notes
1945	Vingt-quatre heures de la vie d'un clown	Twenty-four hours in the life of a clown	Short film
1949	Le Silence de la mer	The Silence of the Sea
1950	Les Enfants terribles	The Terrible Children
1953	Quand tu liras cette lettre	When You Read This Letter
1955	Bob le flambeur	Bob the Gambler
1959	Deux hommes dans Manhattan	Two Men in Manhattan
1961	Léon Morin, prêtre	Leon Morin, Priest
1962	Le Doulos	Doulos: The Finger Man
1963	L’Aîné des Ferchaux	Magnet of Doom
1966	Le Deuxième Souffle	Second Breath
1967	Le Samouraï	The Samourai
1969	L' Armée des ombres	Army of Shadows
1970	Le Cercle rouge	The Red Circle
1972	Un flic	Dirty Money

[edit] As actor

Year	Title	Role	Director
1947	Les drames du Bois de Boulogne	()	Jacques Loew
1950	Orpheus	Hotel Director	Jean Cocteau
1956	Bob le flambeur	Narrator	Jean-Pierre Melville
1957	Un amour de poche	Le commissaire	Pierre Kast
1959	Deux hommes dans Manhattan	Moreau	Jean-Pierre Melville
1959	Le signe du lion	()	Eric Rohmer
1960	À bout de souffle (English: Breathless)	Parvulesco	Jean-Luc Godard
1960	Zazie dans le métro	()	Louis Malle
1963	Landru	Georges Mandel	Claude Chabrol
1967	L'homme à la Buick	()	Gilles Grangier

[edit] Further reading

• Ginette Vincendeau Jean-Pierre Melville - An American in Paris, 2003, BFI Publishing, ISBN 0-85170-949-4

[edit] External links

• Jean-Pierre Melville at the Internet Movie Database
• Bibliography of books and articles about Melville via UC Berkeley Media Resources Center
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
• Jean-Pierre Melville World Socialist Web Site

v • d • e Jean-Pierre Melville Vingt-quatre heures de la vie d'un clown • Le Silence de la mer • Les Enfants terribles • Bob le flambeur • Two Men in Manhattan • Léon Morin, Priest • Le Doulos • L’Aîné des Ferchaux • Le deuxieme souffle • Le Samouraï • Army of Shadows • Le Cercle rouge • Un flic

Persondata
NAME	Melville, Jean-Pierre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Grumbach, Jean-Pierre
SHORT DESCRIPTION	French film director
DATE OF BIRTH	October 20, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris, France
DATE OF DEATH	August 2, 1973
PLACE OF DEATH	Paris, France

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