Jacques Prévert (French:[ʒakpʁevɛʁ]; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of thepoetic realist movement, and includeLes Enfants du Paradis (1945). He published his first book in 1946.
Prévert was born inNeuilly-sur-Seine and grew up inParis. After receiving hisCertificat d'études upon completing his primary education, he quit school and went to work inLe Bon Marché, a major department store in Paris. In 1918, he was called up for military service in theFirst World War. After this, he was sent to theNear East to defend French interests there.
He died of lung cancer inOmonville-la-Petite, on 11 April 1977. He had been working on the last scene of the animated movieLe Roi et l'Oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) with his friend and collaboratorPaul Grimault. When the film was released in 1980, it was dedicated to Prévert's memory, and on opening night, Grimault kept the seat next to him empty. His dog Auto was given to a family friend after his death.
When Prévert was attending primary school, he at first hated writing. Later, he participated actively in the Surrealist movement.[1] Together with the writersRaymond Queneau andMarcel Duhamel, he was a member of the Rue du Château group.[2] He was also a member of theagitprop theater companyGroupe Octobre where he helped craft a left-wing cinema in support of the causes of thePopular Front.[3][4] Prévert remained supportive ofleft-wing causes throughout his life. In 1971, he wrote a poem in support of the communistAngela Davis after herarrest.[5]
A large number of educational institutions bear the name ofJacques Prévert (Here, thelycée Jacques-Prévert inBoulogne-Billancourt)
Prévert's poems were collected and published in his books:Paroles (Words) (1946),Spectacle (1951),La Pluie et le beau temps (Rain and Good Weather) (1955),Histoires (Stories) (1963),Fatras (1971) andChoses et autres (Things and Others) (1973). His poems are often about life in Paris and life after theSecond World War. They are widely taught in schools in France, and frequently appear in French language textbooks published worldwide. Some, such as "Déjeuner du Matin", are also often taught in American upper-level French classes, for the students to learn basics.
Some of Prévert's poems, such as "Les feuilles mortes" ("Autumn Leaves"), "L'Addition", "La grasse matinée" ("Sleeping in"), "Les bruits de la nuit" ("The sounds of the night") and "Chasse à l'enfant" ("The hunt for the child") were set to music byJoseph Kosma—and in some cases byGermaine Tailleferre ofLes Six, Christiane Verger,Marjo Tal, andHanns Eisler. They have been sung by prominent French vocalists, includingMarianne Oswald,Yves Montand, andÉdith Piaf, as well as by the later American singersJoan Baez andNat King Cole. In 1961, French singer-songwriterSerge Gainsbourg paid tribute to "Les feuilles mortes" in his own song "La chanson de Prévert".[6] "Les feuilles mortes" was also translated into German by the German poet andLiedermacher (singer-songwriter)Wolf Biermann, titled "Welke Blätter", and was performed by him and others.
The British remix DJsColdcut released their own version in 1993. Another German version has been published and covered by Didier Caesar (alias Dieter Kaiser), which he named "Das welke Laub". "Les feuilles mortes" also bookendsIggy Pop's 2009 albumPréliminaires.
Prévert's poems are translated into many languages worldwide. Many translators have translated his poems into English. The poet and translatorSuman Pokhrel has translated some of his poems intoNepali.
His poems were the basis for a film by the director and documentarianJoris Ivens,The Seine Meets Paris (La Seine a rencontré Paris, 1957), about theRiver Seine. The poem was read as narration during the film by singerSerge Reggiani.[8] In 2007, a filmed adaptation of Prévert's poem "To Paint the Portrait of a Bird" was directed by Seamus McNally, featuring T.D. White and Antoine Ray- English translation by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Prévert had a long working relationship withPaul Grimault, also a member ofGroupe Octobre. Together they wrote the screenplays of a number of animated movies, starting with the short "The Little Soldier" ("Le Petit Soldat", 1947). They worked together until his death in 1977, when he was finishingThe King and the Mocking Bird (Le Roi et l'Oiseau), a second version of which was released in 1980. Prévert adapted severalHans Christian Andersen tales into animated or mixed live-action/animated movies, often in versions loosely connected to the original. Two of these were with Grimault, includingThe King and the Mocking Bird, while another was with his brotherPierre Prévert (fr).
These include compilations of his poetry but also collaborations with Marc Chagall andHumanist photographers on patriotic and poignant albums of imagery of post-war Paris.
La Bergère et le ramoneur (The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep) (animated film, 1953), with Paul Grimault after tale by Hans Christian Andersen, later revised and finished asLe Roi et l'oiseau
^O'Shaughnessy, Martin (2000).Jean Renoir. Manchester University Press. p. 104.
^Blakeway, Claire (1990).Jacques Prévert: Popular French Theatre and Cinema. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 140.
^Kaplan, Alice (2013).Dreaming in French: The Paris Years of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis. University of Chicago Press. p. 265.
