Claire Denis
Encyclopedia
Claire Denis is a French
film director
and Professor of Film at the European Graduate School
in Saas-Fee
, Switzerland.
, and raised in colonial Africa (Burkina Faso
, Somalia
, Senegal
and Cameroon
), where her father was a French civil servant. She moved houses every two years because her father wanted them to know about geography. She used to watch the old damaged copies of war films sent from America when she was growing up in Africa. As an adolescent she loved to read. She would read all the required material in school, but would then sneak her mother's detective stories at night.
, Costa-Gavras
, Jim Jarmusch
, and Wim Wenders
. Since 2002 Claire Denis has been a Professor of Film at the European Graduate School
in Saas-Fee
, Switzerland.
Her debut feature film Chocolat
(1988), a semi-autobiographical meditation on African colonialism
, won her critical acclaim. With films such as US Go Home (1994), Nénette et Boni
(1996), Beau travail
(1999), Trouble Every Day (2001), and Vendredi soir
(2002) she established a reputation as a filmmaker who "has been able to reconcile the lyricism of French cinema with the impulse to capture the often harsh face of contemporary France."
A large number of Denis' films concentrate on the everyday lives of immigrants and French people of African origin. Indeed, a lion's share of her films possess a central character that is a black male; this tendency remains unique to Denis in both France and abroad. However, Denis' films can be said to maintain less avowed political overtness than subtle multiculturalism and plurality.
Denis was a band leader, worked as an actress, notably in Venus Beauty Institute
(2000), and directed for French TV. Two of her movies, L'Intrus and her contribution to Ten Minutes Older: The Cello, were inspired by the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy
, as Denis and Nancy have confirmed in a video lecture at European Graduate School
.
However, Denis' cinematic and topical focus always remains relentlessly on the faces and bodies of her protagonists. The subject's body in space, and how the particular terrain, weather, and color of the landscape influences and interacts with the human subjects of her films maintains cinematic dominance.
Tim Palmer explores Denis' work as a self-declared formalist and brilliant film stylist per se; an approach the filmmaker herself has declared many times in interview to be as much about sounds, textures, colors and compositions as broader thematic concerns or social commitments.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and Professor of Film at the European Graduate School
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
in Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
, Switzerland.
Early life
Denis was born in Paris, FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and raised in colonial Africa (Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
and Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
), where her father was a French civil servant. She moved houses every two years because her father wanted them to know about geography. She used to watch the old damaged copies of war films sent from America when she was growing up in Africa. As an adolescent she loved to read. She would read all the required material in school, but would then sneak her mother's detective stories at night.
Career
Denis initially studied economics, but, she has said, "It was completely suicidal. Everything pissed me off." She then went to the IDHEC, the French film school, at the encouragement of her husband. He told her she needed to figure out what she wanted to do. She graduated from the IDHEC, and served as assistant to Jacques RivetteJacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette is a French film director. His most well known films include Celine and Julie Go Boating, La Belle Noiseuse and the cult film Out 1....
, Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras, is a Greek filmmaker, who lives and works in France, best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the fast-paced thriller, Z...
, Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
, and Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
. Since 2002 Claire Denis has been a Professor of Film at the European Graduate School
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
in Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
, Switzerland.
Her debut feature film Chocolat
Chocolat (1988 film)
Chocolat is a 1988 film directed by Claire Denis, about a French family that lives in colonial Cameroon. Marc and Aimée Dalens are the parents of France , a young girl who befriends Protée , a Cameroon native who is the family's household servant...
(1988), a semi-autobiographical meditation on African colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, won her critical acclaim. With films such as US Go Home (1994), Nénette et Boni
Nénette et Boni
Nénette et Boni is a 1996 feature film directed by Claire Denis, written by Denis in collaboration with Jean-Pol Fargeau.The soundtrack to the film is by the English band Tindersticks....
(1996), Beau travail
Beau travail
Beau travail is a 1999 French movie directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd. However, instead of the maritime setting of the novella, the movie takes place in Djibouti where the protagonists are soldiers in the French Foreign Legion...
(1999), Trouble Every Day (2001), and Vendredi soir
Vendredi soir
Vendredi soir is a drama film directed by Claire Denis. The screenplay was written by Claire Denis and Emmanuèle Bernheim, based upon Bernheim's novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 2002 Venice Film Festival....
(2002) she established a reputation as a filmmaker who "has been able to reconcile the lyricism of French cinema with the impulse to capture the often harsh face of contemporary France."
A large number of Denis' films concentrate on the everyday lives of immigrants and French people of African origin. Indeed, a lion's share of her films possess a central character that is a black male; this tendency remains unique to Denis in both France and abroad. However, Denis' films can be said to maintain less avowed political overtness than subtle multiculturalism and plurality.
Denis was a band leader, worked as an actress, notably in Venus Beauty Institute
Venus Beauty Institute
Venus Beauty Institute is a 1999 French movie, telling the story of three employees of a beauty parlor in search of love and happiness.The film is directed by Tonie Marshall...
(2000), and directed for French TV. Two of her movies, L'Intrus and her contribution to Ten Minutes Older: The Cello, were inspired by the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy
Jean-Luc Nancy
Jean-Luc Nancy is a French philosopher.Nancy's first book, published in 1973, was Le titre de la lettre , a reading of the work of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, written in collaboration with Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe...
, as Denis and Nancy have confirmed in a video lecture at European Graduate School
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
.
Style
The majority of Denis' oeuvre uses location work over studio work. She sometimes places her actors as if they were positioned for still photography. She uses longer takes with a stationary camera and frames things in long shot, resulting in fewer close ups.However, Denis' cinematic and topical focus always remains relentlessly on the faces and bodies of her protagonists. The subject's body in space, and how the particular terrain, weather, and color of the landscape influences and interacts with the human subjects of her films maintains cinematic dominance.
Tim Palmer explores Denis' work as a self-declared formalist and brilliant film stylist per se; an approach the filmmaker herself has declared many times in interview to be as much about sounds, textures, colors and compositions as broader thematic concerns or social commitments.
Feature films
- ChocolatChocolat (1988 film)Chocolat is a 1988 film directed by Claire Denis, about a French family that lives in colonial Cameroon. Marc and Aimée Dalens are the parents of France , a young girl who befriends Protée , a Cameroon native who is the family's household servant...
/ Chocolate (1988) - S'en fout la mortS'en fout la mortNo Fear, No Die is a 1990 French feature film directed by Claire Denis and written by Denis in collaboration with Jean-Pol Fargeau. It features Isaach De Bankolé, Alex Descas and Solveig Dommartin....
/ No Fear, No Die (1990) - J'ai pas sommeilI Can't Sleep (film)I Can't Sleep is a 1994 French drama film written and directed by Claire Denis. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Yekaterina Golubeva as Daiga* Richard Courcet as Camille...
/ I Can't Sleep (1994) - Nénette et BoniNénette et BoniNénette et Boni is a 1996 feature film directed by Claire Denis, written by Denis in collaboration with Jean-Pol Fargeau.The soundtrack to the film is by the English band Tindersticks....
/ Nenette and Boni (1996) - Beau travailBeau travailBeau travail is a 1999 French movie directed by Claire Denis that is loosely based on Herman Melville's novella Billy Budd. However, instead of the maritime setting of the novella, the movie takes place in Djibouti where the protagonists are soldiers in the French Foreign Legion...
/ Good Work (1999) - Trouble Every Day (2001)
- Vendredi soirVendredi soirVendredi soir is a drama film directed by Claire Denis. The screenplay was written by Claire Denis and Emmanuèle Bernheim, based upon Bernheim's novel of the same name. The film premiered at the 2002 Venice Film Festival....
/ Friday Night (2002) - L'intrus / The Intruder (2004)
- 35 rhums / 35 Shots of Rum (2008)
- White MaterialWhite MaterialWhite Material is a 2009 French film directed by Claire Denis and co-written with Marie NDiaye.The films stars Isabelle Huppert as Maria Vial, a struggling French coffee producer in an unnamed African country, who decides to stay at her coffee plantation in spite of an erupting civil war...
(2009)
Short films
- Keep It for YourselfKeep It for Yourself-Plot:Sophie comes to New York from France with the intention of meeting up with a man she met a few months before. She finds herself alone in the man's apartment, and she discovers that he left town because he was scared stiff at the idea of seeing her.-Cast:...
(1991) - Contre l'oubli / Against Oblivion (1991)
- segment: Pour Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud, Soudan
- Boom-Boom (1994)
- Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge / All the Boys and the Girls of Their Age (1994)
- segment: US Go Home
- À propos de Nice, la suite (1995)
- segment: Nice, Very Nice
- Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (2002)
- segment: Vers Nancy / Towards Nancy
Documentary films
- Man No Run (1989)
- Jacques Rivette, le veilleur / Jacques Rivette, the Watchman (1990)
- Vers Mathilde / Towards Mathilde (2005)
Further reading
- "L'intrus: An Interview with Claire Denis" by Damon Smith (Senses of Cinema).
- "Dancing Reveals So Much: An Interview with Claire Denis" by Darren Hughes (Senses of Cinema).
- "Great Directors: Claire Denis" by Samantha Dinning (Senses of Cinema).
- Martine Beugnet, Claire Denis, 2004, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York.
- Judith Mayne, Claire Denis, 2005, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago.
- Spectacularly Intimate: An Interview with Claire Denis, by Kevin Lee, (MUBI).
External links
- Claire Denis. Faculty page at European Graduate SchoolEuropean Graduate SchoolThe European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
(Biography, filmography, photos and video lectures) - Claire Denis, a Reverse Shot symposium