The Top Directors Working Today: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

[1SO]

Man I love the worlds created by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.  His camera floats, darts and zooms in on anything it pleases, finding merriment and magic from unlikely sources.  Most every Great director has a stamp of authorship, and it only takes a few minutes to realize you're swimming in Jeunet's pool. 

Looking through his filmography, I realize that I only really liked 2 of his films.  (Delicatessen and Amelie)  I find that his storytelling could benefit with more focus, a tighter grip.  But I wouldn't think of missing anything he makes... and I'm talking Big Screen, baby.  His name on a film doesn't guarantee Greatness, but I have no doubt that he's a Great filmmaker.

[NOTE: It's worth mentioning that 2 of his films were co-directed with Marc Caro, but I think the films that followed continued to speak volumes about his skill.]

[Basil]

I have only seen Amelie. I liked it. I got excited when I saw his name attached to the Life of Pi film, but that has fallen through.

[pixote]

Looking through his filmography, I realize that I only really liked 2 of his films.  (Delicatessen and Amelie)

No love for City of Lost Children?

Hmm, I'm somewhere in between options two and three.  Have to think about this.

pixote

[m_rturnage]

I liked him up until A Very Long Engagement. I even think that Alien: Resurrection is not bad - just flawed.

[1SO]

Hmm, I'm somewhere in between options two and three.  Have to think about this.
pixote

I did have kind of a big gap between the choices so I snuck in another option.  Hope it helps.

[sdedalus]

He's very Good...not quite Great.

I think A Very Long Engagement was really good, probably one of the better forgotten films of this decade.

[pixote]

Ah, nice.  If only I could change my vote now!    (Actually, I convinced myself that the third option was close enough.)

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[Ronan]

He's very Good...not quite Great.

I was really looking forward to see him do Life Of Pi.

[Tequila]

I think his more recent efforts lack the edge that Marc Caro brought to his earlier films.

[arcnyc]

He's Great, but I don't see him making my Top 10.

I'll never forget the first time I saw anything by Jeunet.  It was the trailer for Delicatessen, which was the scene where everyone is doing everything to the same rhythm.  The audience applauded after it, the first time I had seen that happen for a movie that wasn't an anticipated blockbuster. 

Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, and Amelie are all great films.   Alien Resurrection is better than Alien³ in hindsight.  A Very Long Engagement was only disappointing in the sense that it didn't get me as emotionally as Amelie did.  The book was better but the film was still quite good.

I think his more recent efforts lack the edge that Marc Caro brought to his earlier films.

I don't think that's true.  I think it's that Caro is just darker and more sci-fi minded than Jeunet.  True, his new films won't wind up on any goth kids' DVD shelves but you can't fault Jeunet for having an inclination towards lighter-hearted films (even though Engagement isn't very lighthearted) without Caro's input.

[Tequila]

I don't think it's the sci-fi so much as it is the cynicism and yes, maybe that wouldn't have been appropriate in films like Amélie, but it's a dynamic I miss and one I think would have made helped make Alien Resurrection a better film. I'm not a huge fan of his light-hearted, cuddly style and I certainly don't think he makes A very long Engagement work.

[matt the movie watcher]

Amélie was great, I never bought into the backlash.

Although I didn't expect to like A very long Engagement, I did. However I was never really taken with the emotion of the film, I just enjoyed the storytelling.

Delicatessen is the cool pick but it didn't do much for me. Maybe I should revisit.

[thevoid99]

I think Amelie is his masterpiece and I liked A Very Long Engagement. 

I've only seen parts of Delicatessen and City of Lost Children.  I plan to catch up on those 2.

Alien:  Resurrection I don't really remember very much.  I don't think I enjoyed it.  He's not going to do Life of Pi.  He plans on doing something else instead. 

[gateway]

I can't say I'm a big fan of Jeunet. I'm not going to blame him for Alien Resurrection (which I think is worse than Alien 3), since I don't think Stanley Kubrick could have fixed that mess. But Amelie never captured me like it did most people, I never found the charm and whimsy captivating. A Very Long Engagement I thought was good, but not great (though other than Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front, it's one of the few good WWI movies I can think of). I haven't seen Delicatessen or City of Lost Children, but I did randomly manage to catch his short film Bunker of the Last Gunshots at a local film festival a year or so back, and I can't say I was taken with it. But based on Engagement I'll say he's good, but he'll never be great.