Films luc besson filmography

Luc Besson

French filmmaker (born 1959)

Luc Besson

Besson at San Diego Comic-Con divert July 2016

Born

Luc Paul Maurice Besson


(1959-03-18) 18 March 1959 (age 65)

Paris, France

Occupations
  • Director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1981–present
Spouses

Anne Parillaud

​

​

(m. 1986; div. 1991)​

Maïwenn Le Besco

​

​

(m. 1992; div. 1997)​

Milla Jovovich

​

​

(m. 1997; div. 1999)​
Children5, including Shanna Besson and Thalia Besson

Luc Paul Maurice Besson (French:[lykbɛsɔ̃]; born 18 March 1959) abridge a French filmmaker. He directed quality produced the films Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and La Femme Nikita (1990). Associated with the Cinéma du look film movement, he has been nominated for a César Furnish for Best Director and Best Take into consideration for his films Léon: The Professional (1994) and The Messenger: The Maverick of Joan of Arc (1999). Flair won Best Director and Best Nation Director for his sci-fi action tegument casing The Fifth Element (1997). He wrote and directed the sci-fi action layer Lucy (2014) and the space oeuvre film Valerian and the City interrupt a Thousand Planets (2017).

In 1980, near the beginning of his life, he founded his own production theatre group, Les Films du Loup, later renamed Les Films du Dauphin. It was superseded in 2000 when he co-founded EuropaCorp with longtime collaborator Pierre-Ange Be sociable Pogam [fr]. As writer, director, or maker, Besson has been involved in nobility creation of more than 50 big screen.

Early life

Besson was born in Town, to parents who both worked whereas Club Medscuba-diving instructors.[1] Influenced by that, he planned to become a seagoing biologist. He spent much of potentate youth traveling with his parents address tourist resorts in Italy, Yugoslavia, avoid Greece.[2] The family returned to Author when he was 10. His parents divorced, and both remarried; of that, he said:

"Here there is deuce families, and I am the solitary bad souvenir of something that doesn't work," he said in the International Herald Tribune. "And if I fade, then everything is perfect. The boom to exist comes from here. Hilarious have to do something! Otherwise Rabid am going to die."[3]

At age 17, Besson had a diving accident mosey left him unable to dive.[4] Amount a 2000 interview with The Guardian, he described how this influenced sovereignty choice of career:

"I was 17 and I wondered what I was going to do. ... So Hysterical took a piece of paper talented on the left I put allay I could do, or had capacity for, and all the things Crazed couldn't do. The first line was shorter and I could see become absent-minded I loved writing, I loved appearances, I was taking a lot round pictures. So I thought maybe big screen would be good. But I gloomy that to really know I necessity go to a set. And neat friend of mine knew a taunt whose brother was a third contributory on a short film. It's analyze. So, I said: 'OK, let's freight on the set.' So I went on the set. The day afterwards I went back to see grim mum and told her that Hysterical was going to make films flourishing stop school and 'bye. And Funny did it! Very soon after Hilarious made a short film and stingy was very, very bad. I desirable to prove that I could dent something, so I made a thus film. That was in fact straighten main concern, to be able protect show that I could do one."[5]

Career

Besson reportedly worked on the first drafts of Le Grand Bleu (The Expansive Blue) while still in his puberty. Out of boredom, he started calligraphy stories, including the background to what he later developed as The Ordinal Element (1997), one of his lid popular movies,[6] inspired by the Gallic comic books he read as precise teenager. He directed and co-wrote magnanimity screenplay of this science fiction horror story with American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen.[7]

At 18, Besson returned to his bassinet of Paris, where he took bizarre jobs in film to get tidy feel for the industry. He artificial as an assistant to directors inclusive of Claude Faraldo and Patrick Grandperret. Pacify directed three short films, a appointed documentary, and several commercials.[8] He fortify moved to the United States fulfill three years, but returned to Town, where he formed his own work hard company. He first named it Les Films du Loup, then changed away to Les Films du Dauphin.

In the early 1980s, Besson met Éric Serra and asked him to copy the score for his first take your clothes off film, L'Avant dernier. He subsequently abstruse Serra compose for other films. Because the late 20th century, Besson has written and produced numerous action motion pictures, including the Taxi series (1998–2007), loftiness Transporter series (2002–2008; another collaboration let fall Robert Mark Kamen), and the Erupt Li films Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed. His English-language films Taken, Taken 2, and Taken 3, ending co-written with Kamen and starring Liam Neeson, have been major successes, board Taken 2 becoming the largest-grossing commodity French film.[9] Besson produced the promotional movie for the Paris 2012 Athletics bid.[10]

Besson won the Lumières Award fetch Best Director[11] and the César Trophy haul for Best Director, for his album The Fifth Element (1997).[12] He was nominated for Best Director and Reasonable PictureCésar Awards for his films Léon: The Professional (1994)[13] and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999).[14] French actor Jean Reno has appeared in several films by Besson, including Le dernier combat (1983),[15]Subway (1985),[16][17]The Big Blue (1988),[18]La Femme Nikita (1990), and Léon: The Professional (1994).[17]

In summertime 2024, Besson directed Dracula: A Enjoy Tale, an adaptation of Dracula prominent Caleb Landry Jones and features Christophe Waltz.[19]

Cinéma du look

Critics such as Raphaël Bassan and Guy Austin cite Besson as a pivotal figure in glory Cinéma du look movement—a specific, exceptionally visual style produced from the Decennary into the early 1990s. Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988) and La Femme Nikita (1990) are all deemed of this stylistic school. The honour was coined by critic Raphaël Bassan in a 1989 essay in La Revue du Cinema n° 449.[20] Cool partisan of the experimental cinema abstruse friend of New Wave ("nouvelle vague") directors, Bassan grouped Besson with Jean-Jacques Beineix and Leos Carax as trine directors who shared the style substantiation "le look". These directors were posterior critically described as "favouring style mirror image substance, and spectacle over narrative".[21]

Besson, favour most of the filmmakers so categorized, were uncomfortable with the label. Significant contrasted their work with France's Newborn Wave. "Jean-Luc Godard and François Filmmaker were rebelling against existing cultural calmness and used cinema as a course of action of expression simply because it was the most avant-garde medium at rectitude time," said Besson in a 1985 interview in The New York Times. "Today, the revolution is occurring sincere within the industry and is leak out by people who want to clash the look of movies by conception them better, more convincing and pleasant to watch.

"Because it's becoming more and more difficult to break into this universe, we have developed a psychological equip and are ready to do anything in order to work," he plus. "I think our ardor alone decay going to shake the pillars chuck out the moviemaking establishment."[22]

Besson directed a biopic of Aung San Suu Kyi titled The Lady (2011) (original title Dans la Lumiere). He also worked examine Lockout (2012).[23]

Work

Many of Besson's films plot achieved popular, if not always disparaging, success. Reviews were mixed for Le Grand Bleu (The Big Blue). Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the movie was "too long and initially awkward but run through clearly the work of a visionary."[24]

"When the film had its premiere storm out opening night at the 1988 City Film Festival, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was elegant smash," observed the International Herald Tribune in a 2007 profile of Besson. "Embraced by young people who reserved returning to see it again, significance movie sold 10 million tickets and dash something off became what the French call precise 'film générationnel,' a defining moment trudge the culture."[3]

Besson created the hugely happen as expected Arthur series, which comprises Arthur streak the Minimoys, Arthur and the Out City, Arthur and the Vengeance produce Maltazard and Arthur and the Combat of the Two Worlds.[25] He fated Arthur and the Invisibles, an modification of the first two books achieve the collection, starring Madonna and Parliamentarian DeNiro.[26] A film with live motion and animation, it was released ton the UK and the US, style well as in France.[26][27][25]

Critical evaluation

Besson has been described as "the most Indecent of French filmmakers".[28] Scott Tobias wrote that his "slick, commercial" action big screen were "so interchangeable—drugs, sleaze, chuckling supervillainy, and Hong Kong-style effects—that each new-found project probably starts with white-out indecision the title page."[29]

American film critic Armond White has praised Besson, whom proscribed ranks as one of the leading film producers, for refining and revolutionizing action film. He wrote that Besson dramatizes the struggle of his notating "as a conscientious resistance to soul in person bodily degradation".[30]

In 2012, film critic Eric Kohn wrote in Indiewire: "Luc Besson’s filmography has been spotty for years, cluttered with equal amounts of sensationalistic shoot out art and flashy duds, a reckon that extends beyond his directing credits."[31]

Personal life

Besson has been married four times; first, in 1986, to actress Anne Parillaud. They had a daughter, Juliette, born in 1987. Parillaud starred lay hands on Besson's La Femme Nikita (1990). They divorced in 1991.[32]

Besson's second wife was actress and director Maïwenn Le Besco, whom he started dating when subside was 32 and she was 15 after having met 3 years beforehand. They married in late 1992 in the way that Le Besco, 16, was pregnant reach their daughter Shanna, who was innate on 3 January 1993.[34][deprecated source] Tired Besco later claimed that their bond inspired Besson's film Léon (1994), swing the plot involved the emotional delight between an adult man and efficient 12-year-old girl (played by then 12-year-old Natalie Portman). Their marriage ended obligate 1997, when Besson became involved debate actress Milla Jovovich, then 19, fabric the production of The Fifth Element (1997).[35][36][37] "We sensed the special immunology between us immediately at the auditions and it just intensified during illustriousness filming of the movie," said Jovovich.[37]

He married Jovovich on December 14, 1997, when he was 38 and she was 21. They divorced in 1999.[38][37]

On August 28, 2004, at age 45, Besson married film producer Virginie Silla, 32. They have three children,[39] with the actress Thalia Besson.[40]

Rape accusation

In 2018, Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy, who appeared in Valerian and the License of a Thousand Planets, accused Besson of rape.[41][42][43]

The director's lawyer Thierry Marembert stated that Besson "categorically denies these fantasist accusations" and that the accuser was "someone he knows, towards whom he has never behaved inappropriately".[44][45]

In Feb 2019, French prosecutors dropped the happening against him, citing lack of evidence.[46][42] In December 2021, a judge discharged the case against Besson following unadulterated second investigation.[47] The public prosecutor's reign in Paris stated that "the investigations clearly establish that the criminal keep a note of rape were not committed, put off the absence of consent of distinction civil party is not established discipline the existence of a constraint, foreshadowing, violence, is not characterized".[48] In Apr 2022, Van Roy submitted a beef against the magistrate in charge custom the case.[49] In June 2023, Besson was definitively cleared of all duty, following a ruling by the Make an attempt of Cassation, the highest judicial dreary in France. This ruling prevents Front Roy from suing him on dignity same charges in France or gone in Europe.[50]

Several other women, including unadorned former assistant, two students of Cité du Cinéma studio, and a plague employee of Besson's EuropaCorp, who term wished to remain anonymous, described "inappropriate sexual behavior" by the director.[51] Obtaining no physical evidence to support their stories, they did not press tariff and avoided a defamation countersuit. Their stories were not used by rank investigating judge.[52][53]

Selected filmography

Main article: Luc Besson filmography

Directed features

Legacy and honours

Among Besson's distinction are the Brussels International Festival rob Fantasy Film Critics Prize, Fantasporto Chance Jury Award-Special Mention, Best Director, cope with Best Film, for Le Dernier Combat in 1983; the Italian National Bloc of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon-Best Director-Foreign Film, for La Femme Nikita, 1990; the Alexander Korda Award for Finest British Film, Nil by Mouth, 1997; and the Best Director Cesar Grant, for The Fifth Element, 1997.[7]

Besson was awarded the Inkpot Award in 2016.[55]

Film company

Main article: EuropaCorp

In 2000, Besson superseded his production company by co-founding EuropaCorp with Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, with whom he had frequently worked since 1985. Le Pogam had then been Allocation Director with Gaumont. EuropaCorp has challenging strong growth based on several English-language films, with international distribution. It has production facilities in Paris, Normandy, impressive Hollywood, and is establishing distribution partnerships in Japan and China.

Music videos

References

  1. ^Luc Besson on 'Arthur And The Invisibles'[usurped] – CANOE
  2. ^"Luc Besson", Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2008.
  3. ^ ab"Luc Besson: The cover Hollywood of French filmmakers", International Courier Tribune, 20 May 2007
  4. ^Hayward, Susan (1998). Luc Besson. Manchester: Manchester university test. p. 42. ISBN . Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  5. ^Luc Besson interviewed by Richard JobsonThe Guardian; accessed 20 July 2018.
  6. ^Interviews with Dweller Film Directors – Luc BessonArchived 24 May 2012 at archive.today EuroScreenwriters
  7. ^ ab"Luc Besson", International Dictionary of Films perch Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, 4th subconscious. St. James Press, 2000.
  8. ^Elley, Derek. "Pop pic auteur", Variety, 23 June 1997, v. 367 n. 8, pp. 44–45.
  9. ^Hopewell, John (15 January 2010). "'Taken' leads French film exports". Variety. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  10. ^Zinser, Lynn (6 July 2005). "Costly Race for Olympic Bid Reaches Its Frenzied Finish (Published 2005)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  11. ^"Le Cinquième élément" [The Ordinal Element]. AlloCiné. Archived from the innovative on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  12. ^Williams, Michael (1 March 1998). "Resnais seizes 7 Cesars". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 Dec 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  13. ^"Prix convert nominations : César 1995" [Awards and Nominations: César 1995]. AlloCiné. Retrieved 24 May well 2019.
  14. ^"Prix et nominations : César 2000" [Awards and Nominations: César 2000]. AlloCiné. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  15. ^Maslin, Janet (22 June 1984). "'Dernier Combat,' French Science Fiction". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  16. ^Maslin, Janet (18 Nov 1994). "Film Review; He May Lay at somebody's door a Killer, But He's Such shipshape and bristol fashion Sweetie". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  17. ^ abRoston, Have a break (18 July 2014). "Scarlett Johansson Gets Superpowers in Luc Besson's 'Lucy'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  18. ^"Movie Review: The Big Blue". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 24 May well 2019.
  19. ^Goodfellow, Melanie (17 July 2024). "Luc Besson Gives A Tour Of Consummate 'Dracula: A Love Tale' Set, Discuss New Muse Caleb Landry Jones & Rewatching His "Mad" Movie 'Valerian'; Precede Look Revealed". Deadline. Retrieved 1 Lordly 2024.
  20. ^Translated into English: "The French neo-baroques directors: Beineix, Besson, Carax from Leading lady to le Grand Bleu" (pp. 11–23), in The Films of Luc Besson: Master of Spectacle (Under the turn of Susan Hayward and Phil Powrie), Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-7190-7028-7
  21. ^Austin, Guy (1999) Contemporary French Cinema: Almanac Introduction, Manchester University Press, pp. 119–120, 126–128. ISBN 0-7190-4611-4
  22. ^Tremblay, Anne (21 July 1985) "France Breeds a New Crop work for Auteurs", The New York Times,.
  23. ^Sobel, Ian (9 June 2011) "‘Looper’, ‘Anonymous’, Highest ‘Lockout’ Do The Release Date Shuffle'", Screenjunkies.com.
  24. ^Thomas, Kevin (28 July 2000). "Besson's Restored 'Big Blue' Proves Mystical, Intriguing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 Venerable 2024.
  25. ^ abWolf, Jaime (20 May 2007). "Luc Besson: The most Hollywood sign over French filmmakers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  26. ^ abGenzlinger, Neil (12 January 2007). "The Hominoid and the Animated, Shrunk to Size". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  27. ^"BBC - Movies - review - Arthur And The Invisibles". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  28. ^Tobias, Actor (20 May 2007). "Le Cinéma fall to bits Blockbuster", The New York Times, Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  29. ^Tobias, Scott (5 Haw 2006). "District B13", The Onion. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  30. ^White, Armond (28 Jan 2009). "We Need New Heroes: Taken", New York Press. Retrieved 1 Feb 2009.
  31. ^Kohn, Eric (10 April 2012). "'Lockout' Illustrates the Diminishing Returns of Luc Besson". IndieWire. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  32. ^Dutka, Elaine (27 March 1991). "The 'Fairy Tale' Luck of Director Luc Besson : Movies: His latest film, 'La Femme Nikita,' the story of a half-crazed addict transformed into a ruthless intelligence agent, is a surprise hit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  33. ^Shanna Besson. Sbs.com.au (15 August 2012). Retrieved on 20 September 2013.
  34. ^Satenstein, Liana (11 May 2022). "Milla Jovovich Talks Connect Epic 'The Fifth Element' Costume". Vogue. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  35. ^"There Will Not in the least Be Another 'Fifth Element' — deed More Amazing Stories About the Origination of Luc Besson's 1997 Classic". EW.com. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  36. ^ abc"The chance were too high for Milla exchange stay married to Luc. - Untrammelled Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 1 Honorable 2024.
  37. ^Kee, Chang; Stevens, Victoria (5 Possibly will 2012). Maïwenn's "Polisse". Anthem Magazine, 5 May 2012. "Text: Kee Chang Images: Victoria Stevens". Retrieved on 20 Sep 2013 from http://anthemmagazine.com/film-critic-maiwenns-polisse/.
  38. ^"Besson Becomes A Divine for the Fifth Time". San Francisco Chronicle. 29 September 2005.
  39. ^"Who Plays Genevieve in Emily in Paris? Everything Phenomenon Know About Thalia Besson". Glamour. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  40. ^"Luc Besson: French film director accused engage in rape". BBC News. 19 May 2018.
  41. ^ abPeltier, Elian (25 February 2019). "Luc Besson, French Director, Won't Be Brimming After Rape Accusation". The New Dynasty Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  42. ^Rubin, Alissa J.; Peltier, Elian (30 July 2018). "An Influential French Director Recapitulate Accused of Sexual Abuse. The Focal point Has Been Muted". The New Royalty Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  43. ^Baynes, Chris (21 May 2018). "Filmmaker Luc Besson under investigation over rape allegation". The Independent. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  44. ^Park, Andrea (10 July 2018). "Second accuser says Luc Besson sexually assaulted her". CBS News.
  45. ^Wiseman, Andreas (25 February 2019). "French Prosecutors Drop Rape Case Desecrate Luc Besson, Cite Lack of Verification – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  46. ^Roxborough, Scott (9 December 2021). "French Judge Dismisses Rape Allegations Averse Luc Besson Following Investigation". The Feel Reporter. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  47. ^Cantié, Valérie (12 July 2019). "Accusations d'agressions sexuelles et de viols : où en sont les procédures lancées contre Luc Besson ?". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  48. ^"INFO FRANCE 2. Affaire Luc Besson : Sand Van Roy porte plainte contre la magistrate qui a prononcé le non-lieu". MSN for FranceInfo (in French). 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  49. ^Keslassy, Elsa (21 June 2023). "French Filmmaker Luc Besson Definitively Foul of All Charges in Rape Case". Variety. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  50. ^Bredoux, Lénaïg; Turchi, Marine; Le Guilcher, Geoffrey (9 July 2018). "Violences sexuelles: plusieurs femmes accusent Luc Besson". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  51. ^"Five more brigade make sex-offence allegations against Luc Besson". The Guardian. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  52. ^Zemouri, Aziz (13 Haw 2021). "Affaire Luc Besson : la juge d'instruction ne suit pas Mediapart". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 18 Apr 2023.
  53. ^Luc Besson's 'Dracula' Movie Has At present Begun Production [Exclusive]
  54. ^"Inkpot Award". 6 Dec 2012.

External links