Luc Besson
Encyclopedia
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp
film company. He has been involved with over 50 films
, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.
scuba diving
instructors. This had a profound influence on his childhood as Besson planned on becoming a marine biologist. He spent much of his youth traveling with his parents to tourist resorts in Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece. The family returned to France when Besson was 10. His parents promptly divorced and were remarried to other people. "Here there is two families, and I am the only bad souvenir of something that doesn't work," he said in the International Herald Tribune
. "And if I disappear, then everything is perfect. The rage to exist comes from here. I have to do something! Otherwise I am going to die."
At the age of 17, Besson had a diving accident that left him unable to dive.
. Besson directed and co-wrote the screenplay of this science fiction thriller with the screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen
. The film is inspired by the French comic books
Besson read as a teenager. He also reportedly worked on the first drafts of Le Grand Bleu while still in his teens.
At 18, Besson returned to his birthplace of Paris. There he took odd jobs in film to get a feel for the industry. He worked as an assistant to directors including Claude Faraldo and Patrick Grandperret. Besson also directed three short films, a commissioned documentary, and several commercials.
After this, he moved to the United States for three years, but returned to form his own production company which he called "Les Films du Loup". The name was later changed to "Les Films du Dauphin".
In the early 1980s, Besson met Éric Serra
and asked him to compose the score for his first short film, L'Avant dernier.
In recent years, he has written and produced numerous action movies, including the Taxi
and The Transporter
series, and the Jet Li
films Kiss of the Dragon
and Unleashed/Danny the Dog
. Besson was also in charge of the promotional movie for the Paris
bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics
.
Luc had been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture César Award
s for his films Léon
(a.k.a. The Professional) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
, but won Best Director and Best French Director for his film The Fifth Element.
movement, a specific, highly visual style produced from the 1980s into the early 1990s. Subway
, The Big Blue
and Nikita are all considered to be of this stylistic school. The term was coined in a 1989 essay, in La Revue du Cinema n° 449, by Raphaël Bassan
, in which Besson was lumped with two other directors who shared "le look." These directors were said to favor style over substance, spectacle over narrative.
Most of the filmmakers in the category, including Besson, squirmed uncomfortably at being labeled, particularly in light of their forebears: France's New Wave. "Jean-Luc Godard
and François Truffaut
were rebelling against existing cultural values and used cinema as a means of expression simply because it was the most avant-garde medium at the time," said Besson in The New York Times. "Today, the revolution is occurring entirely within the industry and is led by people who want to change the look of movies by making them better, more convincing and pleasurable to watch.
"Because it's becoming increasingly difficult to break into this field, we have developed a psychological armor and are ready to do anything in order to work", he added in this same interview. "I think our ardor alone is going to shake the pillars of the moviemaking establishment."
Besson is working on a film called The Lady
(original title Dans la Lumiere), due to be released in the fall of 2011. He is also working on Lockout
due to be released in April 2012. He is also co-producer of a film called Colombiana
, also scheduled to be released in August 2011.
, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash," observed the International Herald Tribune in a 2007 profile of Besson. "Embraced by young people who kept returning to see it again, the movie sold 10 million tickets and quickly became what the French call a film générationnel, a defining moment in the culture."
Besson created the Arthur series
, which comprises Arthur and the Minimoys, Arthur and the Forbidden City, Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard
and Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds. Besson directed Arthur and the Invisibles
, an adaptation of the first two books of the collection. A film with live action and animation, it was released in the UK and the US and starred Freddie Highmore
, Madonna
, Snoop Dogg
, Mia Farrow
, Robert De Niro
and David Bowie
.
Others disagree. American film critic Armond White
has praised Besson, who he claims is one of the best film producers, for refining and revolutionizing action film, also stating that Besson dramatizes the struggle of his characters "as a conscientious resistance to human degradation".
, who starred in Nikita, a film he wrote and directed. They have one daughter. He later dated model Maïwenn Le Besco
. Their daughter, Shana Besson, was born in 1993. Besson married Milla Jovovich
on 14 December 1997, but they divorced in 1999. On 28 August 2004, Besson married Virginie Silla, a film producer.
He has five daughters: Juliette, Shana, Talia, Satine, and Mao. Mao was born in 2005.
Award for Best British Film, Nil by Mouth, 1997; and the Best Director Cesar Award, for The Fifth Element, 1997.
EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp is a French movie studio headquartered in Paris. It has been a listed company on Euronext Paris since July 2007. Co-founded by Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, the Group takes on a range of production activities like film distribution in France, DVD distribution, sales of French TV...
film company. He has been involved with over 50 films
Luc Besson filmography
Luc Besson is an award-winning French film director, writer and producer. He has contributed to many projects as either the writer, director, producer, or a combination of the three.-Films: I Also credited as cinematographer and editor....
, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.
Early life
Besson was born in Paris to parents who were both Club MedClub Med
Club Méditerranée , commonly known as Club Med, is a French corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. It is considered the original all-inclusive resort.-Foundation:...
scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
instructors. This had a profound influence on his childhood as Besson planned on becoming a marine biologist. He spent much of his youth traveling with his parents to tourist resorts in Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece. The family returned to France when Besson was 10. His parents promptly divorced and were remarried to other people. "Here there is two families, and I am the only bad souvenir of something that doesn't work," he said in the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
. "And if I disappear, then everything is perfect. The rage to exist comes from here. I have to do something! Otherwise I am going to die."
At the age of 17, Besson had a diving accident that left him unable to dive.
- "I was 17 and I wondered what I was going to do. ... So I took a piece of paper and on the left I put everything I could do, or had skills for, and all the things I couldn't do. The first line was shorter and I could see that I loved writing, I loved images, I was taking a lot of pictures. So I thought maybe movies would be good. But I thought that to really know I should go to a set. And a friend of mine knew a guy whose brother was a third assistant on a short film. It's true," he said in a 2000 interview with The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
.
- "So, I said: 'OK, let's go on the set.' So I went on the set...The day after I went back to see my mum and told her that I was going to make films and stop school and 'bye. And I did it! Very soon after I made a short film and it was very, very bad. I wanted to prove that I could do something, so I made a short film. That was in fact my main concern, to be able to show that I could do one."
Career
Out of boredom, he started to write stories, including the backdrop to what later became one of his most popular movies, The Fifth ElementThe Fifth Element
The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...
. Besson directed and co-wrote the screenplay of this science fiction thriller with the screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen is a screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over twenty-five years. He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and Transporter franchises, as well as the 2009 action thriller Taken....
. The film is inspired by the French comic books
Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics are comics that are created in Belgium and France. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are known as BDs, an abbreviation of bande dessinée in French and stripverhalen in Dutch...
Besson read as a teenager. He also reportedly worked on the first drafts of Le Grand Bleu while still in his teens.
At 18, Besson returned to his birthplace of Paris. There he took odd jobs in film to get a feel for the industry. He worked as an assistant to directors including Claude Faraldo and Patrick Grandperret. Besson also directed three short films, a commissioned documentary, and several commercials.
After this, he moved to the United States for three years, but returned to form his own production company which he called "Les Films du Loup". The name was later changed to "Les Films du Dauphin".
In the early 1980s, Besson met Éric Serra
Eric Serra
Éric Serra is a French composer. He has often worked on the movies of Luc Besson.- Biography :Éric Serra's father Claude was a famous French songwriter in the 1950s and '60s, and, as such, Éric was exposed to music and its production at a young age. His mother died when he was just seven years old...
and asked him to compose the score for his first short film, L'Avant dernier.
In recent years, he has written and produced numerous action movies, including the Taxi
Taxi (1998 film)
Taxi is a 1998 French action-comedy film starring Samy Naceri, written by Luc Besson, and directed by Gérard Pirès.- Plot :The film takes place in Marseille, France, and involves an aspiring racecar driver named Daniel , who initially works as a pizza delivery boy, but changes jobs to become a taxi...
and The Transporter
The Transporter
The Transporter is a 2002 French action film directed by Louis Leterrier and Corey Yuen and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' The Hire series....
series, and the Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
films Kiss of the Dragon
Kiss of the Dragon
Kiss of the Dragon is a 2001 martial arts action film, directed by Chris Nahon, co-written and produced by Luc Besson, and starring Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, and Tchéky Karyo....
and Unleashed/Danny the Dog
Unleashed (film)
Unleashed , is a 2005 American-British-French martial arts action thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Luc Besson. Film stars Jet Li, Bob Hoskins, Morgan Freeman and Kerry Condon...
. Besson was also in charge of the promotional movie for the Paris
Paris 2012 Olympic bid
Paris 2012 was an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Paris. The bidding race was eventually won by the London 2012 bid after a 54-50 vote of the International Olympic Committee on 6 July 2005...
bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
.
Luc had been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s for his films Léon
Léon (film)
Léon is a 1994 French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson...
(a.k.a. The Professional) and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc is a French/American historical drama film directed by Luc Besson. The screenplay was written by Besson and Andrew Birkin, and the original music score was composed by Éric Serra....
, but won Best Director and Best French Director for his film The Fifth Element.
Cinéma du look
Critics cite Besson as a pivotal figure in the Cinéma du lookCinema du look
Cinéma du look was a French film movement of the 1980s, analysed, for the first time, by French critic Raphaël Bassan in La Revue du Cinéma issue n° 448, May 1989, in which Luc Besson was lumped with two other directors who shared "le look." These directors were said to favor style over substance,...
movement, a specific, highly visual style produced from the 1980s into the early 1990s. Subway
Subway (film)
Subway is a 1985 French film directed by Luc Besson, starring Isabelle Adjani and Christopher Lambert and is part of the Cinema du look movement.-Plot:...
, The Big Blue
The Big Blue
The Big Blue is a 1988 English-language film made by French director Luc Besson. The film stars Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette, Jean Reno and depicts a fictionalized account of the sporting rivalry between two famed free divers.-Background:...
and Nikita are all considered to be of this stylistic school. The term was coined in a 1989 essay, in La Revue du Cinema n° 449, by Raphaël Bassan
Raphaël Bassan
Raphaël Bassan is a French film critic and journalist, who has specialized in experimental film and the history of cinema. He has also made three short movies.-Biography:...
, in which Besson was lumped with two other directors who shared "le look." These directors were said to favor style over substance, spectacle over narrative.
Most of the filmmakers in the category, including Besson, squirmed uncomfortably at being labeled, particularly in light of their forebears: France's New Wave. "Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
and François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
were rebelling against existing cultural values and used cinema as a means of expression simply because it was the most avant-garde medium at the time," said Besson in The New York Times. "Today, the revolution is occurring entirely within the industry and is led by people who want to change the look of movies by making them better, more convincing and pleasurable to watch.
"Because it's becoming increasingly difficult to break into this field, we have developed a psychological armor and are ready to do anything in order to work", he added in this same interview. "I think our ardor alone is going to shake the pillars of the moviemaking establishment."
Besson is working on a film called The Lady
The Lady (2011 film)
The Lady is a film directed by Luc Besson, starring Michelle Yeoh, and released by EuropaCorp in France and Entertainment Film Distributors in the UK.-Production:...
(original title Dans la Lumiere), due to be released in the fall of 2011. He is also working on Lockout
Lockout (film)
Lockout is an upcoming sci-fi action film starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace. James Mather and Stephen St. Leger are both writing and directing it. This film has a release date of April 13, 2012.-Plot:...
due to be released in April 2012. He is also co-producer of a film called Colombiana
Colombiana (film)
Colombiana is a 2011 French-American action film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoë Saldana in the lead role...
, also scheduled to be released in August 2011.
Works
Many of Besson's films have achieved popular, if not critical success. One such release was Le Grand Bleu. "When the film had its premiere on opening night at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival1988 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Ettore Scola*Claude Berri*David Robinson*Yelena Safonova*George Miller*Hector Olivera*Nastassja Kinski*Philippe Sarde*Robby Muller*William Goldman-Feature film competition:* A World Apart by Chris Menges...
, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash," observed the International Herald Tribune in a 2007 profile of Besson. "Embraced by young people who kept returning to see it again, the movie sold 10 million tickets and quickly became what the French call a film générationnel, a defining moment in the culture."
Besson created the Arthur series
Arthur series (Besson)
The Arthur series is a series of fantasy novels for children written by Luc Besson and a series of feature films written, produced and directed by Besson based upon them.- Novels :The four novels were originally published in France by Intervista...
, which comprises Arthur and the Minimoys, Arthur and the Forbidden City, Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard
Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard
Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard is an French/American feature film with live action and animation co-written, co-produced and directed by Luc Besson, based on his novel of the same title and starring Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow...
and Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds. Besson directed Arthur and the Invisibles
Arthur and the Invisibles
Arthur and the Invisibles is a French/American part-animated, part-live action feature film adaptation of the 2002 children's book Arthur et les minimoys / Arthur and the Minimoys, and the 2003 sequel Arthur et la cité interdite /...
, an adaptation of the first two books of the collection. A film with live action and animation, it was released in the UK and the US and starred Freddie Highmore
Freddie Highmore
Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmore is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Toast.-Early life:Highmore was...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
, Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
.
Critical evaluation
Besson has been criticized as the most Hollywood of French filmmakers. His "slick, commercial" action movies have been panned as "so interchangeable—drugs, sleaze, chuckling supervillainy, and Hong Kong-style effects—that each new project probably starts with white-out on the title page."Others disagree. American film critic Armond White
Armond White
Armond White is a New York-based film and music critic known for his provocative and idiosyncratic film criticism, which some have characterized as contrarian. He is currently the editor of City Arts, for which he also writes articles and reviews...
has praised Besson, who he claims is one of the best film producers, for refining and revolutionizing action film, also stating that Besson dramatizes the struggle of his characters "as a conscientious resistance to human degradation".
Personal life
Besson was married to Anne ParillaudAnne Parillaud
Anne Parillaud is a French actress, who has appeared in 30 films since 1977.She is best known internationally for her role as Nikita in the movie of the same name.-Biography:...
, who starred in Nikita, a film he wrote and directed. They have one daughter. He later dated model Maïwenn Le Besco
Maïwenn Le Besco
Maïwenn |Île-de-France]]) is a French actress and film director.-Biography and career:She is the daughter of actress Catherine Belkhodja, who ushered her into the entertainment industry at a young age, an experience later chronicled by Le Besco in her one-woman shows "Le Pois Chiche" and "I'm an...
. Their daughter, Shana Besson, was born in 1993. Besson married Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich
Milla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
on 14 December 1997, but they divorced in 1999. On 28 August 2004, Besson married Virginie Silla, a film producer.
He has five daughters: Juliette, Shana, Talia, Satine, and Mao. Mao was born in 2005.
Awards
Among Besson's many awards are the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Critics Prize, Fantasporto Audience Jury Award-Special Mention, Best Director, and Best Film, for Le Dernier Combat in 1983; The Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon-Best Director-Foreign Film, for La Femme Nikita, 1990; the Alexander KordaAlexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
Award for Best British Film, Nil by Mouth, 1997; and the Best Director Cesar Award, for The Fifth Element, 1997.
Music videos
- Pull Marine: Isabelle AdjaniIsabelle AdjaniIsabelle Yasmine Adjani is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for Possession , One Deadly Summer , Camille Claudel , Queen Margot and Skirt Day...
(1983) - Mon LégionnaireMon légionnaireMon légionnaire is a French song created in 1936 by Marie Dubas, with lyrics by Raymond Asso and music by Marguerite Monnot. Marie Dubas toured the United States with this song in 1939....
: Serge GainsbourgSerge GainsbourgSerge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
(1988) - Que mon cœur lâcheQue mon cœur lâche"Que mon cœur lâche" is a 1992 song recorded by the French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. The single was released on 23 November 1992 to promote Farmer's compilation album Dance Remixes. Farmer also recorded an English language version of the track, entitled "My Soul Is Slashed" which was...
: Mylène FarmerMylène FarmerMylène Farmer, , born Marie-Hélène Jeanne Gautier, , , is a French singer, songwriter, occasional actress and author....
(1992) - Love ProfusionLove Profusion"Love Profusion" is the fourth and final single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 2003 studio album American Life. It was released by Maverick Records on December 8, 2003 in the UK, Europe and Australia and in North America on March 16, 2004. The song failed to match the chart success...
: MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
(2003) - L'impasse: Kery JamesKery JamesAlix Mathurin better known as Kery James, is a French rapper, singer, songwriter, dancer and record producer, who was born in West Indies from Haitian parents. His mother raised him in Orly, a suburb of Paris. Nowadays with his three solo albums, he is one of the most respected French rappers. The...
External links
- Luc Besson Official Homepage at Luc-Besson.com
- Luc Besson Interview, Angel-A
- JewReview.net video interview with Luc Besson and Rie Rasmussen about Angel-A
- In-depth interview with Luc Besson