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A prolific director--over 700 films, most of them short- or medium-length--Louis Feuillade began his career with Gaumont where, as well as directing his own features, he was appointed artistic director in charge of production in 1907. His work was largely comprised of film series; his first series, begun in 1910 and numbering 15 episodes, was 'Le Film Esthétique', a financially unsuccessful attempt at "high-brow" cinema. More popular was La vie telle qu'elle est (1911), which moved from the costume pageantry of his earlier work to a more realistic--if somewhat melodramatic--depiction of contemporary life. Feuillade also directed scores of short films featuring the characters Bébé and René Poyen. His most successful feature-length serials were Fantômas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine (1913), which chronicled the diabolical exploits of the "emperor of crime," and Les vampires (1915), which trailed a criminal gang led by Irma Vep (Musidora) and was noted for its imaginative use of locations and lyrical, almost surreal style.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Georges Rouquier is understood as the successor to the Robert Flaherty tradition of documentary filmmaking, but also, because of the context in which his first feature was released, as a champion of a specifically French Neo Realism which pointed ahead toward the New Wave a decade later.Coming to Paris from the rural provinces, and getting a job as a linotypist, he spent much of his free time frequenting several movie theatres where silent classics by the great Russian and Swedish directors were shown.Returning to his roots to film the farming seasons in the mid 194os,his feature caused controversy at the Cannes festival but was appreciated by others around the same time that Italian films were also trying to find the truth by using real locations and some non-professional players, so his work was picked up for US distribution.But most of his career was devoted to short subjects which sometimes used reconstructions or fictional techniques to trace traditions of artisans and workers and several heroic figures such as Pasteur.His influence can be seen in current movie makers like Nicolas Philibert or the Dardenne brothers.In 2009, the French Cinematheque honored him with a retrospective.