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Director
Jean Renoir
Defining Films
David Thomson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film , U.S.A. and U.K., Alfred A. Knopf and Little Brown
David Thomson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film , U.S.A. and U.K., Alfred A. Knopf and Little Brown
James Leahy, “All in the Script? So Why Make the Movie?”, Vertigo , Vol.2, No.2
James Leahy, “All in the Script? So Why Make the Movie?”, Vertigo , Vol.2, No.2
John Gibbs, Mise-en-scène: Film Style and Interpretation , London and New York, Wallflower Press
John Gibbs, Mise-en-scène: Film Style and Interpretation , London and New York, Wallflower Press
Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, French Cinema: from its Beginnings to the Present , New York & London, Continuum
Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, French Cinema: from its Beginnings to the Present , New York & London, Continuum
A gala production, staged for a single night in the Roman Arena in Arles to celebrate the th . anniversary of the foundation of the city by Julius Caesar.
A gala production, staged for a single night in the Roman Arena in Arles to celebrate the th . anniversary of the foundation of the city by Julius Caesar.
Profile
Jean Renoir (1894-1975) was a French filmmaker who developed a naturalistic approach to cinema that emphasized ensemble casts, fluid camera movement, and deep focus cinematography. His major works, including *La Grande Illusion* (1937) and *La Règle du jeu* (1939), explored class conflict and human complexity through carefully observed social interaction. Renoir's humanist perspective and technical innovations influenced filmmakers across Europe and America, establishing conventions of narrative cinema that persisted for decades. He worked in both France and Hollywood, adapting his methods to different contexts while maintaining a distinctive visual and thematic approach to storytelling.
In Their Own Words
I realized that a person in a coma can have an intense life. And that memory also was influential for the movie.
On Talk to Her · IndieWire interview: A Tender Side of Pedro Almodovar
Filmography (114)
David Thomson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film , U.S.A. and U.K., Alfred A. Knopf and Little Brown
David Thomson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film , U.S.A. and U.K., Alfred A. Knopf and Little Brown
James Leahy, “All in the Script? So Why Make the Movie?”, Vertigo , Vol.2, No.2
James Leahy, “All in the Script? So Why Make the Movie?”, Vertigo , Vol.2, No.2
John Gibbs, Mise-en-scène: Film Style and Interpretation , London and New York, Wallflower Press
John Gibbs, Mise-en-scène: Film Style and Interpretation , London and New York, Wallflower Press
Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, French Cinema: from its Beginnings to the Present , New York & London, Continuum
Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, French Cinema: from its Beginnings to the Present , New York & London, Continuum
A gala production, staged for a single night in the Roman Arena in Arles to celebrate the th . anniversary of the foundation of the city by Julius Caesar.
A gala production, staged for a single night in the Roman Arena in Arles to celebrate the th . anniversary of the foundation of the city by Julius Caesar.
Peter Wollen, “ La Règle du jeu and Modernity”, Film Studies , no.1
Peter Wollen, “ La Règle du jeu and Modernity”, Film Studies , no.1
James Leahy, “Jean Renoir”, London, Encarta CD-ROM, Websters Microsoft International, and subsequent editions
James Leahy, “Jean Renoir”, London, Encarta CD-ROM, Websters Microsoft International, and subsequent editions
James Leahy, “Historical Development of Cinema in France”, London, Encarta CD-ROM, Websters Microsoft International, and subsequent editions
James Leahy, “Historical Development of Cinema in France”, London, Encarta CD-ROM, Websters Microsoft International, and subsequent editions
L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between , London, Penguin Books, (first published
L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between , London, Penguin Books, (first published
James Leahy, notes on Renoir, Le Crime de Monsieur Lange and French Cancan , published with the release of those films on video, London, Connoisseur Video, Spring
James Leahy, notes on Renoir, Le Crime de Monsieur Lange and French Cancan , published with the release of those films on video, London, Connoisseur Video, Spring
James Leahy, “Is it on Video? The Angel and the Vampire”, Vertigo , no. 5, Winter -5 (on Le Crime de Monsieur Lange
James Leahy, “Is it on Video? The Angel and the Vampire”, Vertigo , no. 5, Winter -5 (on Le Crime de Monsieur Lange
Un Tournage à la campagne
Un Tournage à la campagne
Letters , edited by Lorraine Lo Bianco and David Thompson, translated by Craig Carison, Natasha Arnold, Michael Wells, Anneliese Varaldviev, London and Boston, Faber and Faber
Letters , edited by Lorraine Lo Bianco and David Thompson, translated by Craig Carison, Natasha Arnold, Michael Wells, Anneliese Varaldviev, London and Boston, Faber and Faber
James Leahy, “Image, Meaning, History… & the Voice of God”, Vertigo , no. 4, Spring, (on La Vie est à nous , narration and March of Time
James Leahy, “Image, Meaning, History… & the Voice of God”, Vertigo , no. 4, Spring, (on La Vie est à nous , narration and March of Time
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Susan Hayward, French National Cinema , London & New York, Routledge, (important, revealing and well-researched account of the economic infrastructure of French filmmaking
Susan Hayward, French National Cinema , London & New York, Routledge, (important, revealing and well-researched account of the economic infrastructure of French filmmaking
Barry Salt, Film Style and Technology: History and Analysis , London, Starword, 2nd edition
Barry Salt, Film Style and Technology: History and Analysis , London, Starword, 2nd edition
Richard Boston, Boudu Saved from Drowning
Richard Boston, Boudu Saved from Drowning
Ronald Bergan, Jean Renoir, Projections of Paradise: a Biography , London, Bloomsbury
Ronald Bergan, Jean Renoir, Projections of Paradise: a Biography , London, Bloomsbury
Susan Hayward and Ginette Vincendeau (eds.), French Film: Texts and Contexts , London, Routledge and Kegan Paul
Susan Hayward and Ginette Vincendeau (eds.), French Film: Texts and Contexts , London, Routledge and Kegan Paul
Pierre Guislain, La Règle du jeu: Jean Renoir , Paris, Hatier
Pierre Guislain, La Règle du jeu: Jean Renoir , Paris, Hatier
André Bazin (ed. by François Truffaut, from the notes left by Bazin on his death), Jean Renoir , Paris, Lebovici
André Bazin (ed. by François Truffaut, from the notes left by Bazin on his death), Jean Renoir , Paris, Lebovici
Eugène Lourié, My Work in Films , San Diego, New York and London, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, (the memoirs of the production designer whose collaboration with Renoir lasted from Les Bas fonds through the Hollywood years to The River
Eugène Lourié, My Work in Films , San Diego, New York and London, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, (the memoirs of the production designer whose collaboration with Renoir lasted from Les Bas fonds through the Hollywood years to The River
Norman King, Abel Gance: a Politics of Spectacle , London, BFI
Norman King, Abel Gance: a Politics of Spectacle , London, BFI
Mary Lea Bandy (ed.), Rediscovering French Film , New York, Museum of Modem Art, (an anthology of important articles by film historians, critics and filmmakers; has a substantial bibliography
Mary Lea Bandy (ed.), Rediscovering French Film , New York, Museum of Modem Art, (an anthology of important articles by film historians, critics and filmmakers; has a substantial bibliography
Donald Posner, “The Swinging Women of Watteau and Fragonard”, Art Bulletin LXIV, March
Donald Posner, “The Swinging Women of Watteau and Fragonard”, Art Bulletin LXIV, March
Herbert R. Lottman, The Left Bank: Writers, Artists and Politics from the Popular Front to the Cold War , London, Heinemann, .
Herbert R. Lottman, The Left Bank: Writers, Artists and Politics from the Popular Front to the Cold War , London, Heinemann, .
Geneviève , Paris, Flammarion, , novel
Geneviève , Paris, Flammarion, , novel
Le Crime de l’anglais , Paris, Flammarion, , novel
Le Crime de l’anglais , Paris, Flammarion, , novel
Julienne et son amour and En avant, Rosalie ! , Henri Veyrier, , unproduced scripts
Julienne et son amour and En avant, Rosalie ! , Henri Veyrier, , unproduced scripts
La Coeur à l’aise , Paris, Flammarion, , novel
La Coeur à l’aise , Paris, Flammarion, , novel
Carola (a play in three acts, complete text), L’Avant-scène du théâtre
Carola (a play in three acts, complete text), L’Avant-scène du théâtre
Penelope Gilliatt (ed.), Jean Renoir: Essays, Conversations, Reviews , New York, McGraw-Hill
Penelope Gilliatt (ed.), Jean Renoir: Essays, Conversations, Reviews , New York, McGraw-Hill
Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Screen , Vol.16, No.3, Autumn
Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Screen , Vol.16, No.3, Autumn
My Life and My Films , London, Collins (a translation [by Norman Denny] of the director’s memoirs: Ma Vie et mes films , Paris, Flammarion, ; this contains an account of the setting up of La Grande illusion
My Life and My Films , London, Collins (a translation [by Norman Denny] of the director’s memoirs: Ma Vie et mes films , Paris, Flammarion, ; this contains an account of the setting up of La Grande illusion
Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind , St. Albans, Paladin, (essays on order and organisation in living systems, including discussions of non-verbal communication, and how these have been elaborated into complex forms of art
Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind , St. Albans, Paladin, (essays on order and organisation in living systems, including discussions of non-verbal communication, and how these have been elaborated into complex forms of art
A new adaptation by James Bridges for Hollywood Television Theater was booadcast on 3 February, , on WNET, New York, directed by Norman Lloyd. The cast included Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Albert Paulsen, Michael Sacks, Anthony Zerbe, Carmen Zapete and Douglas Anderson. The Production Designer was Eugène Lourié
A new adaptation by James Bridges for Hollywood Television Theater was booadcast on 3 February, , on WNET, New York, directed by Norman Lloyd. The cast included Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Albert Paulsen, Michael Sacks, Anthony Zerbe, Carmen Zapete and Douglas Anderson. The Production Designer was Eugène Lourié
John Laver and Sandy Hutcheson (eds.), Communication in Face to Face Interaction , Harmondswoth, Mx., Penguin Books
John Laver and Sandy Hutcheson (eds.), Communication in Face to Face Interaction , Harmondswoth, Mx., Penguin Books
Alan Lomax, “Choreometrics and Ethnographic Filmmaking”, Filmmaker’s Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 4, February . (Lomax’s seminal account of the scientific study of dance patterns was brought to my attention by Nick Ray, his friend since the s. We were sitting in Lomax’s apartment, which Nick used to borrow when the owner was away for the weekend. Drawing on the ideas of some of the writers above, I was explaining that I believed that much of the power and poetry of Nick’s films depended on their articulations of space and movement. The same is true of those of Renoir. Lomax’s insights are relevant not only to documentary and ethnographic filmmakers, but to any analysis of how films communicate their meanings and generate their impact).
Alan Lomax, “Choreometrics and Ethnographic Filmmaking”, Filmmaker’s Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 4, February . (Lomax’s seminal account of the scientific study of dance patterns was brought to my attention by Nick Ray, his friend since the s. We were sitting in Lomax’s apartment, which Nick used to borrow when the owner was away for the weekend. Drawing on the ideas of some of the writers above, I was explaining that I believed that much of the power and poetry of Nick’s films depended on their articulations of space and movement. The same is true of those of Renoir. Lomax’s insights are relevant not only to documentary and ethnographic filmmakers, but to any analysis of how films communicate their meanings and generate their impact).
The Christian Licorice Store
The Christian Licorice Store
Ray L. Birtwhistell, Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body-Motion Communication , U.S.A., University of Pennsylvania Press (pioneering scientific investigation of the systems now popularly known as “body language”
Ray L. Birtwhistell, Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body-Motion Communication , U.S.A., University of Pennsylvania Press (pioneering scientific investigation of the systems now popularly known as “body language”
Edward Hall, The Hidden Dimension , New York, Doubleday Anchor
Edward Hall, The Hidden Dimension , New York, Doubleday Anchor
Le Petit théâtre de Jean Renoir
Le Petit théâtre de Jean Renoir
La Direction d’acteur par Jean Renoir
This is the film which inspired the polemical lecture about film history which Guillaume (Jean-Pierre Léaud) delivers to fellow members of the collective in Godard’s La Chinoise
This is the film which inspired the polemical lecture about film history which Guillaume (Jean-Pierre Léaud) delivers to fellow members of the collective in Godard’s La Chinoise
Louis Lumière
Louis Lumière
David Thomson, Movie Man , New York, Stein and Day
David Thomson, Movie Man , New York, Stein and Day
Michael Argyle, The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour , Harmondswoth, Mx., Penguin Books
Michael Argyle, The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour , Harmondswoth, Mx., Penguin Books
Jean Renoir: le patron
Jean Renoir: le patron
The Notebooks of Captain Georges , London and Boston, Collins and Little Brown, (translation [by Norman Denny] of Renoir’s novel Les Cahiers du capitaine Georges, Paris, Gallimard
The Notebooks of Captain Georges , London and Boston, Collins and Little Brown, (translation [by Norman Denny] of Renoir’s novel Les Cahiers du capitaine Georges, Paris, Gallimard
Edward Hall, The Silent Language , New York, Fawcett World Library
Edward Hall, The Silent Language , New York, Fawcett World Library
Gustave Flaubert, Sentimental Education , Baltimore, Maryland and Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books, (a translation by Robert Baldick of L’Education sentimentale , Paris ,1869
Gustave Flaubert, Sentimental Education , Baltimore, Maryland and Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books, (a translation by Robert Baldick of L’Education sentimentale , Paris ,1869
Le Caporal épinglé
Renoir: My Father , London and Boston, Collins and Little Brown, (translation [by Randolph and Dorothy Weaver] of Pierre-August Renoir, mon père , Paris, Hachette
Renoir: My Father , London and Boston, Collins and Little Brown, (translation [by Randolph and Dorothy Weaver] of Pierre-August Renoir, mon père , Paris, Hachette
Bernard Chardère, Jean Renoir , Lyon, Premier Plan nos. 22, 23, 24, May
Bernard Chardère, Jean Renoir , Lyon, Premier Plan nos. 22, 23, 24, May
Carola , U.S.A.
Carola , U.S.A.
V. I. Pudovkin, Film Technique and Film Acting , New York, Grove Press
V. I. Pudovkin, Film Technique and Film Acting , New York, Grove Press
Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier
Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier
Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe
Editor: Marguerite Renoir, assistant Marthe Huguet; , restoration for re-release, Renée Lichtig
Editor: Marguerite Renoir, assistant Marthe Huguet; , restoration for re-release, Renée Lichtig
Le Grand couteau
Eléna et les hommes
Eléna et les hommes
L’Album de famille de Jean Renoir
L’Album de famille de Jean Renoir
Orvet , Paris, Gallimard
Orvet , Paris, Gallimard
Orvet , France
Orvet , France
Translation and adaptation by Jean Renoir of the play by his friend Clifford Odets, which had been filmed in by Renoir’s former assistant Robert Aldrich.
Translation and adaptation by Jean Renoir of the play by his friend Clifford Odets, which had been filmed in by Renoir’s former assistant Robert Aldrich.
French Cancan
French Cancan
Jules César
The Golden Coach
John Northam, Ibsen’s Dramatic Method: a Study of the Prose Plays , London, Faber and Faber (a study of the dramatist’s use, as revealed by his stage directions, of the elements of staging [costume, sets, props, lighting, movement, physical appearance] to generate poetic and dramatic impact, and to articulate his themes
John Northam, Ibsen’s Dramatic Method: a Study of the Prose Plays , London, Faber and Faber (a study of the dramatist’s use, as revealed by his stage directions, of the elements of staging [costume, sets, props, lighting, movement, physical appearance] to generate poetic and dramatic impact, and to articulate his themes
The River
The River
The Woman on the Beach
The Woman on the Beach
The Diary of a Chambermaid
The Diary of a Chambermaid
The Southerner
The Southerner
Salute to France
Salute to France
This Land is Mine
This Land is Mine
Swamp Water
Swamp Water
La Tosca
La Tosca
La Règle du jeu
La Marseillaise
La Marseillaise
La Bête humaine
The Spanish Earth
The Spanish Earth
La Grande illusion
La Grande illusion
Gerry Turvey, “, the culture of the Popular Front and Jean Renoir”, London, Academic Press, Media, Culture and Society , Vol.4, No.4, October
Gerry Turvey, “, the culture of the Popular Front and Jean Renoir”, London, Academic Press, Media, Culture and Society , Vol.4, No.4, October
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange
Les Bas-fonds
Une Partie de campagne
La Vie est à nous
Ginette Vincendeau and Keith Reader (eds.), La Vie est à nous: French Cinema of the Popular Front - , London, National Film Theatre, BFI, (a collection of essays, some in translation, to introduce a major season of films at the National Film Theatre on the 50th anniversary of the election of the Popular Front government in France
Ginette Vincendeau and Keith Reader (eds.), La Vie est à nous: French Cinema of the Popular Front - , London, National Film Theatre, BFI, (a collection of essays, some in translation, to introduce a major season of films at the National Film Theatre on the 50th anniversary of the election of the Popular Front government in France
Goffredo Fofi, “The Cinema of the Popular Front in France (-38)”, London, Society for Education in Film and Television, Screen , Vol.13, No.4, Winter -3
Goffredo Fofi, “The Cinema of the Popular Front in France (-38)”, London, Society for Education in Film and Television, Screen , Vol.13, No.4, Winter -3
Toni
Toni
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Chotard et Cie
Night at the Crossroads )
Night at the Crossroads )
Boudu sauvé des eaux
On purge bébé
On purge bébé
La Chienne
La Chienne
Die Jagd nach dem Gluck
Die Jagd nach dem Gluck
Screenplay: Jean Renoir, Paul Vaillant-Couturier, Jean-Paul Dreyfus, Pierre Unik; (the content of one scene suggests that Ilya Ehrenburg, the Izvetsia correspondent in Paris throughout the s, may have had an input
Screenplay: Jean Renoir, Paul Vaillant-Couturier, Jean-Paul Dreyfus, Pierre Unik; (the content of one scene suggests that Ilya Ehrenburg, the Izvetsia correspondent in Paris throughout the s, may have had an input
Music: Darius Milhaud
Music: Darius Milhaud
Le Bled
Le Bled
Le Petit chaperon rouge
Le Tournoi
Tire au flanc
Tire au flanc
La Petite marchande d’allumettes
Marquitta
Marquitta
La P’tite Lili
La P’tite Lili
Charleston
Distribution: Pierre Braunberger (, re-edited and released under the title Une Vie sans joie
Distribution: Pierre Braunberger (, re-edited and released under the title Une Vie sans joie
Nana
Nana
Ecrits - , Paris, Pierre Belfond, (Renoir’s journalism and other writings collected by Claud Gauteur
Ecrits - , Paris, Pierre Belfond, (Renoir’s journalism and other writings collected by Claud Gauteur
Catherine
Catherine
La Fille de l’eau
La Fille de l’eau
Songs: “Complainte de la Butte,” lyrics by Jean Renoir; airs from Caf’Conc’ of , sung by Cora Vaucaire, Mario Juillard
Songs: “Complainte de la Butte,” lyrics by Jean Renoir; airs from Caf’Conc’ of , sung by Cora Vaucaire, Mario Juillard