Jacques Prévert (French pronunciation: [ʒak pʁeˈvɛʁ]; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Prévert was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine and grew up in Paris. After receiving his Certificat d’études upon completing his primary education, he quit school and went to work in Le Bon Marché, a major department store in Paris. Called up for military service in 1918, after the war, he was sent to the Near East to defend French interests there.
Grave
He died in Omonville-la-Petite, on 11 April 1977. He had been working on the last scene of the animated movie Le Roi et l’oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) with his friend and collaborator Paul Grimault. When the film was released in 1980, it was dedicated to Prévert’s memory… read more
Jacques Prévert (French pronunciation: [ʒak pʁeˈvɛʁ]; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Prévert was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine and grew up in Paris. After receiving his Certificat d’études upon completing his primary education, he quit school and went to work in Le Bon Marché, a major department store in Paris. Called up for military service in 1918, after the war, he was sent to the Near East to defend French interests there.
Grave
He died in Omonville-la-Petite, on 11 April 1977. He had been working on the last scene of the animated movie Le Roi et l’oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) with his friend and collaborator Paul Grimault. When the film was released in 1980, it was dedicated to Prévert’s memory, and on opening night, Grimault kept the seat next to him empty.
Prévert wrote a number of screenplays for the film director Marcel Carné. Among the films were Drôle de drame (Bizarre, Bizarre, 1937), Quai des brumes (Port of Shadows, 1938), Le Jour se lève (Daybreak, 1939), Les Visiteurs du soir (The Night Visitors, 1942) and Les Enfants du paradis (The Children of Paradise, 1945). The latter often appears on critics’ lists of the greatest films of all time.
His poems were the basis for a film by the director and documentarian Joris Ivens, La Seine a rencontré Paris (The Seine Meets Paris, 1957), about the River Seine. The poem was read as narration during the film by singer Serge Reggiani.
Prévert had a long working relationship with Paul Grimault, also a member of Groupe Octobre. Together they wrote the screenplays of a number of animated movies, starting with the short “Le Petit Soldat” (“The Little Soldier”) in 1947. They worked together until his death in 1977, when he was finishing “Le Roi et l’Oiseau” (“The King and the Bird”).
Prévert adapted several Hans Christian Andersen tales into animated or mixed live-action/animated movies, often in versions loosely connected to the original. Two of these were with Grimault, including “Le Roi et l’oiseau”, which is considered one of the greatest animated films of all time, while one was with his brother Pierre Prévert. —Wikipedia
