Jacques Prévert
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Jacques Prévert grew up in Paris where he was bored by school. He often went to theater with his father, a drama critic, and acquired a love of reading from his mother. After receiving his Certificat d'études attesting to his having completed his primary eduacation, he quit school and went to work in Le Bon Marché department store in Paris. He then was called up for military service in 1918 and after the War was sent to the Near East.
Prévert participated actively in the surrealism movement and was a member of the rue du Château group along with Raymond Queneau and Marcel Duhamel, although Prévert was really too much of a free spirit to be a member of any group.
Prévert's poems were published in his books Paroles (Words) (1946), Histoires (Stories) (1946), Spectacle (1951), La Pluie et le beau temps (Rain and Good Weather) (1955), Fatras (1971) and Choses et autres (Things and Others) (1973).
His poems are often about life in Paris and life after the Second World War. They are widely taught in schools in France and frequently appear in French language textbooks throughout the world.
Some of Prévert's poems such as Les Feuilles mortes (Autumn Leaves) were set to music by Joseph Kosma, Christiane Verger and Hanns Eisler and were sung by prominent 20th century French vocalists including Yves Montand and Édith Piaf as well as by the American singer Joan Baez.
Prévert wrote a number of classic 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), one of the greatest films of all time. His poems were also the base for the movie La Seine a rencontré Paris (The Seine Meets Paris, 1957) by the film director and documentarist Joris Ivens, being read as narration during the film by singer Serge Reggiani.
Bibliography
- Paroles (1946)
- Contes pour enfants pas sages (1947) (Tales for naughty children)
- Spectacle (1951)
- Lettre des îles Baladar (1952) (Letter from the Baladar Islands)
- Tour de chant (1953)
- La pluie et le beau temps (1955)
- Histoires (1963)
- Fatras (1966)
Filmography
Jacques Prévert wrote the scenarios and sometimes the dialog in the following films:- Le Crime de monsieur Lange (1935)
- Drôle de drame (1937)
- Quai des brumes (1938)
- Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (1938)
- Le Jour se lève (1939)
- Les Visiteurs du soir (1942)
- Les Enfants du paradis (1943)
- Les Portes de la nuit (1945)
- La Bergère et le ramoneur (animated film, 1953)
- Grand Jean et Petit Jean, after Hans Christian Andersen (live action and animation).
External links
- [Jacques Prévert]: Prévert's poetry in English.
- [Poems with music] : Le jardin, La chanson du geolier, Déjeuner du matin, Sables Mouvants.
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