Les films de Jean-Daniel Pollet

Jean-Daniel Pollet (1936-2004) was a French director, scriptwriter and producer. Starting out a as an assistant director, he released his first film “Pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse” in 1958, which led to his meeting Claude Mekli, his favourite actor, and brought him irrefutable recognition. This short film was the first in a series of movies starring Mekli’s character Léon, and representing one of Pollet’s two cinematic dimensions – a taste for popular comedy tinged with both burlesque and melancholy. In the same vein is the segment “Rue Saint-Denis” from the “Paris vu par…” anthology, as well as the feature films “L'amour c'est gai, l'amour c'est triste” and “L'Acrobate”. The second vein of Pollet’s cinema began with “Méditerranée”, filmed over two years in the company of Volker Schlöndorff. Pollet was trying to create a totally poetic cinema. He succeeded, partly thanks the quality of the authors such as Philippe Sollers and Jean Thibaudeau who wrote his films’ commentaries. In April 1989, he had a serious accident. He shot his final films from his home in Cadenet – “Dieu sait quoi” (1994), “Ceux d’en face” (2001) and “Jour après jour”, which was completed by Jean-Paul Fargier in 2006.

Jean-Daniel Pollet (1936-2004) was a French director, scriptwriter and producer. Starting out a as an assistant director, he released his first film “Pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse” in 1958, which led to his meeting Claude Mekli, his favourite actor, and brought him irrefutable recognition. This short film was the first in a series of movies starring Mekli’s character Léon, and representing one of Pollet’s two cinematic dimensions – a taste for popular comedy tinged with both burlesque and melancholy.
In the same vein is the segment “Rue Saint-Denis” from the “Paris vu par…” anthology, as well as the feature films “L'amour c'est gai, l'amour c'est triste” and “L'Acrobate”. The second vein of Pollet’s cinema began with “Méditerranée”, filmed over two years in the company of Volker Schlöndorff. Pollet was trying to create a totally poetic cinema. He succeeded, partly thanks the quality of the authors such as Philippe Sollers and Jean Thibaudeau who wrote his films’ commentaries.
In April 1989, he had a serious accident. He shot his final films from his home in Cadenet – “Dieu sait quoi” (1994), “Ceux d’en face” (2001) and “Jour après jour”, which was completed by Jean-Paul Fargier in 2006.