Jean Rollin was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine (now Hauts-de-Seine), France to Claude Rollin, an actor and theatre director, who went by the stage name "Claude Martin", and Denise Rollin-Le Gentil, an artistically inclined family.[2]
Career
Early career and short films
He had a passion for cinema from an early age. He saw his first film during the second World War, it was Capitaine Fracasse, a 1942 film directed by Abel Gance. Jean decided he want to make film when he grew up, and with his father being a theare actor, he was a heavy influence on him. During his teens, he developed an obsession for American serials and read comic books. These serial were an obvious infuence on him as a teenager. When he was 16, he found a job at Le Films des Saturne, he was there to help write invoices, and earned himself some money, and of course wanted to be involved in cinema. They specialized in creating opening and closing credits and short cartoons, but real films were also shot, and industrial shorts and documentaries were also made. Jean was part of the crew in a short documentary about Snecma, a big factory in France which built motors and planes. He arranged the travelling shots, laid the tracks, checked the electricity, and helped the cameraman. When Jean did his military service for the French army, he worked as an editor in the cinema department alongside Claude Lelouch. They worked on army commercials, Lelouch directed, and Jean did the montage, and also did two films, Mechanographie, a documentary, and La Guerre de Silence (The War of Silence), a real film with actors and a story. In 1958, he directed his first short film Les Amours Jaunes (The Yellow Lovers), which he directed after he left the army. He shot it on a 35mm Maurigraphe camera, and used a beach in Dieppe as his location, the same beach that was used in his later films. In 1960, Jean decided to direct his first feature film, but later abandoned the project as he had no money to finish it. His next short, Ciel de Cuivre (Sky of Copper), was directed in 1961, and was quite surreal, it told a sentimental story. He did not finish the film because he ran out of money and as it was not very good. The footage is now lost. In 1962, he was as an assistant director on the film Un Cheval pour Deux (A Horse for Two), which was not a great experience for him, and decided to approach cinema in a different way. In the early sixties, Jean became interested in politics, and made a short documentary in 1964 called Vivre en Espagne (Life in Spain), it was about Generalissimo Francisco Franco, thirty minutes were filmed and it wasn't very good, but risked a lot to get it made. Jean and the crew found themselves haunted by the police and just managed to make it back into France. Jean also directed a short film in 1965 called Le Pays Loin.
Le Viol du Vampire and beyond
In 1968, Jean directed his first feature Le Viol du Vampire (The Rape of the Vampire). At the time he was still not known in the world of cinema, having only done a few short films and documentaries. The film was shot on a low budget, and consisted of two parts because it was originally supposed to be another short film, the second part was later added so that it was released as a feature film.[3] The release of Le Viol caused public scandal and outrage, his strong inspiration of American serials did not attract viewers. It was released during the events of May 1968, and due to the riots, it was a rare theatrical production at the time. Jean himself was also threatened due to this scandal,[4] because of this, Jean briefly decided to give up making films. His second feature La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire) was his first film in colour. It was mostly inspired by the 1916 film Judex, and also surrealism in general. Jean wanted to do something a little more temperate than Le Viol, a traditional mystery film. It is exactly the same kind of film as his first feature, it also has the same spirit. Le Frisson des Vampires (The Shiver of the Vampires) was heavily influenced by the trappings of the hippie movement. The film was his most successful and commercial film to date, it was made on a shoe-string budget and was a dreamlike fantasy film,[5] a theme his films are known for. In 1971, Jean directed Requiem pour un Vampire (Requiem for a Vampire), which became one of his most successful films, and it was another low budget production, which almost took no money to make. There was no dialogue in the first 40 minutes of the films, this was to simlify the story, direction and cinematography.
Writing
Death
Rollin died in December 2010 after a long illness.[6]
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Further reading
Virgins & Vampires: Jean Rollin, Contains essays by Jean Rollin, edited by Peter Blumenstock; Includes CD soundtrack from Les Deux orphelines vampires – Limited edition of 300 copies, autographed by Jean Rollin (Crippled Publishing, 1997, ISBN 3-9805820-0-0)
Video Watchdog, Edition 31; Peter Blumenstock interviews Rollin (1995)
Jean Michel Rollin Roth Le Gentilwas a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his films in the fantastique genre such as the vampire film Le Viol du Vampire (1968) and the first French gore film Les Raisins de la Mort (1978) died after a long illnes he was , 72,.[1]
Jean Rollin was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine (now Hauts-de-Seine), France to Claude Rollin, an actor and theatre director, who went by the stage name "Claude Martin", and Denise Rollin-Le Gentil, an artistically inclined family.[2]
In 1968, Jean directed his first feature Le Viol du Vampire (The Rape of the Vampire). At the time he was still not known in the world of cinema, having only done a few short films and documentaries. The film was shot on a low budget, and consisted of two parts because it was originally supposed to be another short film, the second part was later added so that it was released as a feature film.[3] The release of Le Viol caused public scandal and outrage, his strong inspiration of American serials did not attract viewers. It was released during the events of May 1968, and due to the riots, it was a rare theatrical production at the time. Jean himself was also threatened due to this scandal,[4] because of this, Jean briefly decided to give up making films. His second feature La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire) was his first film in colour. It was mostly inspired by the 1916 film Judex, and also surrealism in general. Jean wanted to do something a little more temperate than Le Viol, a traditional mystery film. It is exactly the same kind of film as his first feature, it also has the same spirit. Le Frisson des Vampires (The Shiver of the Vampires) was heavily influenced by the trappings of the hippie movement. The film was his most successful and commercial film to date, it was made on a shoe-string budget and was a dreamlike fantasy film,[5] a theme his films are known for. In 1971, Jean directed Requiem pour un Vampire (Requiem for a Vampire), which became one of his most successful films, and it was another low budget production, which almost took no money to make. There was no dialogue in the first 40 minutes of the films, this was to simlify the story, direction and cinematography.
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