Léos Carax
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Leos Carax (1960–) is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his totured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl (1984), and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge (1991) and the controversial Pola X. His professional name is an anagram of his first and middle names.
Leos Carax was born Alexandre Oscar Dupont in Suresnes, a commune in the suburbs of Paris, France. His mother was American and his father French. He began his film career with a series of short films, and as a film critic, before he released Boy Meets Girl. That piece established Carax's reputation for a mature visual style. It also saw the first grouping of Carax with Denis Lavant and cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier. He followed the piece with the science fiction themed Bad Blood in 1986, which alienated some of his audience, but the work continued to explore the complexities of love in the modern world, this time through a darker, more criminal viewpoint. The work was clearly an homage to French New Wave cinema, and his use of such actresses as Juliette Binoche proved a touching tribute to his influences, especially Jean-Luc Godard.
Five years later, Carax returned to directing with Lovers on the Bridge, which proved to be an expensive undertaking as Parisian authorities refused him the use of Pont Neuf, forcing him to reconstruct the entire bridge on a lake in Southern France. The movie was released to critical aclaim and opened the door for Carax to enter more expirimental waters with his fourth feature, Pola X. That film, released in 1999, was an adaptation of Herman Melville's tale of incest, "[[Pierre: or, The Ambiguities]]". Carax's use of hardcore pornography was especially disturbing, and the movie fell flat, both with critics and audiences.
Selected filmography
- Scars (announced)
- The Process (2003) - Actor
- Pola X (1999) - Director / Screenwriter
- The House (1997) - Actor
- Lovers on the Bridge (1991) - Director / Screenwriter
- King Lear (1987) - Actor
- Mauvais Sang (1986) - Director / Screenwriter
- Boy Meets Girl (1984) - Director / Screenwriter
- Strangulation Blues (1980) - Director
Articles
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