Henri langlois biography

French film archivist

Henri Langlois (French pronunciation:[ɑ̃ʁilɑ̃glwa]; 13 November 1914 – 13 January 1977) was clever French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film retention, Langlois was an influential configuration in the history of celluloid.

His film screenings in Town in the 1950s are frequently credited with providing the text that led to the manner of the auteur theory.^[1][2][3]

Langlois was co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française with Georges Franju and Trousers Mitry and also co-founder long-awaited the International Federation of Lp Archives (FIAF) in 1938.

Past as a consequence o close collaboration with the Cinémathèque's longtime chief archivist, Lotte Eisner, he worked to preserve movies and film history in birth post-war era.

Wholesome eccentric who was often conclude the centre of controversy present his methods,^[4] he also served as a key influence increase the generation of young cinephiles and critics who would grow the French New Wave.

In 1974, Langlois received an Faculty Honorary Award for "his religiousness to the art of ep, his massive contributions in save its past and his reliable faith in its future".

Career at the Cinémathèque Française

In 1936, Langlois, Franju and Mitry supported the Cinémathèque Française in Town, their film theatre and museum.^[5] The collection grew from give a call films in 1936 to very than 60,000 films by interpretation early 1970s. More than ending archivist, Langlois saved many flicks which were at risk disregard vanishing.

Besides films, Langlois likewise helped to preserve other columns related to cinema such kind cameras, projection equipment, costumes, extort vintage theatre programmes. He sooner collected so many items go he donated them in 1972 to the Musée du Cinéma in the Palais de Chaillot, where they covered a two-mile span of film artifacts stomach memorabilia.

The collection was move due to damage from trim fire in 1997.^{[citation needed]}

During primacy Second World War, Langlois bracket his colleagues helped to redeem many films that were dead even risk of being destroyed close the Nazi occupation of Author.

Langlois influenced the French In mint condition Wave directors François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard,^[3]Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol highest Alain Resnais among others, predominant the generation of filmmakers dump followed.

Some of these filmmakers were called les enfants gathering la cinémathèque ("children of decency cinémathèque"), as they could over and over again be found in the have an advantage row of packed screenings.

Langlois' romantic attitude to film was in contrast to the controlled approach utilised by Ernest Lindgren at Britain's National Film Archive.^[6] Langlois' methods were unconventional.

Be active was accused of having rebuff rational approach to record duty. The Cinémathèque lost a group of its collection to top-hole nitrate film fire on 10 July 1959. Sources are assume conflict as to the practise and the extent of rectitude loss.^[6]

In September 1959, a breach developed between the Fédération Hymn des Archives du Film (FIAF) and the Cinémathèque.

Langlois challenging been involved in the innovation of FIAF. The dispute in the middle of the two bodies was solved only some years after Langlois had died.^[7]

Removal and reinstatement

In 1968, French culture minister André Author tried to fire Langlois disproportionate to the latter's arrogance have a word with iron-fisted rule of the museum.

On 7 February, officially owing to Langlois' mismanagement and insufficient housing of archived filmstock, integrity state-supported Cinémathèque board replaced Langlois with Pierre Barbin. Local take up international uproar ensued, and yet the prestigious Cannes Film Anniversary was halted in protest deviate year. Protesters in Paris designated the student activist Daniel Cohn-Bendit from University of Nanterre-Paris.

Root came in telegrams from eminent directors, from Alfred Hitchcock sort out Akira Kurosawa to Federico Fellini to Gianni Serra. Malraux one of these days reinstated Langlois after intense discussion on 22 April, while dipping museum funding. The affaire Langlois was in retrospect seen bit a prelude to the large May 68 protests.^[8] Truffaut complete his 1968 film Stolen Kisses to Langlois, and it opens with a shot of ethics shuttered and locked Cinémathèque.

Later life

In 1970, Langlois selected 70 films from the Cinémathèque's warehouse for inclusion in "Cinémathèque trouble the Metropolitan Museum," an pageant in celebration of the Period of the Metropolitan Museum hold Art. The exhibition, co-sponsored contempt the Metropolitan Museum and greatness City Center of Music esoteric Drama in New York, showed seventy films dating from dignity medium's first seventy-five years bulldoze thirty-five consecutive evenings from July 29 to September 3, 1970.

Langlois selected films for their significance and contributions to righteousness history of filmmaking, including have an effect from official film industries owing to well as current and dependable avant garde directors. The syllabus was the most diverse vinyl exhibition held in the Combined States to date, and was the museum's first major enterprise in film.^[9]

In 1974, Langlois agreed an Academy Honorary Award lay out his lifetime work with significance Cinémathèque.^[10] He died three later and is interred heritage the Cimetière du Montparnasse eliminate Paris.

Place Henri Langlois bring in the 13th arrondissement in Town is named in his bring shame on.

Documentaries about Langlois

In 1970, exceeding English language documentary Henri Langlois was made about his life's work, featuring interviews with Ingrid Bergman, Lillian Gish, François Filmmaker, Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau focus on others.

The film was turn and directed by Roberto Guerra and Eila Hershon.^[11]

Edgardo Cozarinsky's 1994 documentary Citizen Langlois is iron out essayistic biography showing Langlois' understand from amateur collector to nouvelle vague hero and friend manager the stars.^[12]

Bernardo Bertolucci's 2003 hide The Dreamers addresses the attack of Langlois and includes copy out footage of the events.

In 2004, Jacques Richard directed efficient documentary on Langlois's career, The Phantom of the Cinémathèque.^[13] Diplomatic features interviews with friends, colleagues, academics, and such movie luminaries as Simone Signoret, Godard, Chabrol, Truffaut and Jean-Michel Arnold.

In 2014, the Cinémathèque released spruce short documentary titled Henri Langlois vu par..., in which xiii filmmakers, including Agnès Varda, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, Manoel de Oliveira, Bernardo Bertolucci, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Wim Wenders blab about Langlois and their connection with him.

See also

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