{"id":173008,"date":"2022-01-14T21:30:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-15T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=173008"},"modified":"2022-01-25T22:13:20","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T03:13:20","slug":"r-i-p-jean-jacques-beineix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=173008","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P. Jean-Jacques Beineix"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/FJE5teWX0AU_npc-e1642205859502.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"516\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173009\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nThe hits keep coming. <\/p>\n<p>Jean-Jacques Beineix&#8217;s <i>Diva<\/i> (1982) and <i>Betty Blue<\/i> (1986) (which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=169619\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I just re-watched last year<\/a>!) had a massive impact on me back in the day. The delirious chase in DIVA, through the Paris subways, is almost unmatched. It remains a high bar. Either do it THAT way, or don&#8217;t even try. The chase is audacious and if you&#8217;ve seen it once, you never ever forget it.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3BwG45I03NA\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\nBeatrice Dalle had been in Beineix&#8217;s <i>Moon in the Gutter<\/i>, which didn&#8217;t catch on with audiences (or at Cannes) &#8211; but it is well worth seeking out. (My pal Jeremy Richey <a href=\"http:\/\/mooninthegutter.blogspot.com\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">named his whole blog<\/a> after that movie.) Then came <i>Betty Blue<\/i>, which spread like a wildfire around the world. It&#8217;s rare you watch someone explode into the kind of stardom Dalle achieved. That kind of stardom doesn&#8217;t happen anymore. The landscape is too diffused. There are too many outlets. To become as big as she did &#8211; in a world before word could even spread quickly  &#8230; now THAT&#8217;S fame. It&#8217;s what happened to Julia Roberts. Beatrice Dalle didn&#8217;t give a performance in <i>Betty Blue<\/i>. It felt more like an \u201carrival\u201d. Instant international superstar. If you were around then, you remember what a senSAtion she was. From the first moment her adorable feet appeared in the doorway of that beach shack &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33C3C069-41E0-4600-960D-EBBA1BEE203B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"380\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173011\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33C3C069-41E0-4600-960D-EBBA1BEE203B.jpg 515w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33C3C069-41E0-4600-960D-EBBA1BEE203B-200x148.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33C3C069-41E0-4600-960D-EBBA1BEE203B-400x295.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/33C3C069-41E0-4600-960D-EBBA1BEE203B-100x74.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\n&#8230; you are on her side. <\/p>\n<p>Beineix clearly loved her so much. You can tell in how he films her.<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22D6CC25-C41C-4701-849A-0C615746B35E.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"380\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22D6CC25-C41C-4701-849A-0C615746B35E.jpg 515w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22D6CC25-C41C-4701-849A-0C615746B35E-200x148.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22D6CC25-C41C-4701-849A-0C615746B35E-400x295.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/22D6CC25-C41C-4701-849A-0C615746B35E-100x74.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/A236888C-6614-4407-87FD-6E0D0E06211B.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"380\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/A236888C-6614-4407-87FD-6E0D0E06211B.jpg 515w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/A236888C-6614-4407-87FD-6E0D0E06211B-200x148.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/A236888C-6614-4407-87FD-6E0D0E06211B-400x295.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/A236888C-6614-4407-87FD-6E0D0E06211B-100x74.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Beineix\u2019s style was romantic and operatic. I mean, <i>Diva<\/i>, right? <\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2hsmoo97CVA\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\nHe uses deep rich colors and has <em>extreme<\/em> sensitivity to the poetry\/romance of an environment. Beineix was one of those movie-mad French directors, spending years as an assistant director, before taking the helm. He was, to use a cliche, a kid in a candy store. He REVELED in the art of film. In what film could do.<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2018-08-25-vlcsnap-2018-08-25-12h17m50s615-e1642213798494.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"419\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173019\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nLike those beach shacks on stilts in <i>Betty Blue<\/i>. The quality of the sunlight. The colors. So tactile. The environment is so alive &#8211; but not strictly realistic &#8211; it&#8217;s poetic realism. You look at those shacks and think: If you lived there, of course you\u2019d fall madly in love with an exciting &#8211; and unstable &#8211; and adorable girl. Of course! The sunsets alone tell you what\u2019s going to happen. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/027B4C37-1EF0-4F7F-BBCB-705994F3C045.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"515\" height=\"380\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-173014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/027B4C37-1EF0-4F7F-BBCB-705994F3C045.jpg 515w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/027B4C37-1EF0-4F7F-BBCB-705994F3C045-200x148.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/027B4C37-1EF0-4F7F-BBCB-705994F3C045-400x295.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/027B4C37-1EF0-4F7F-BBCB-705994F3C045-100x74.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I saw <i>Betty Blue<\/i> back then, and didn\u2019t see it again for 15 years or whatever. When I re-visited it, I remembered shots, colors, angles, whole scenes. Same with <i>Diva<\/i>, which I sought out because of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/diva-2008\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s 4-star review<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Beineix didn\u2019t make that many movies. But the ones he made are so memorable. <\/p>\n<p>It reminds me of that great Orson Welles anecdote: Peter Bogdanovich (RIP) said something about Greta Garbo and how it was a shame she made only one really great movie. There was a pause and Orson said, \u201cYou only need one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lugx0xX2G54\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OospUaUMyes\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hits keep coming. Jean-Jacques Beineix&#8217;s Diva (1982) and Betty Blue (1986) (which I just re-watched last year!) had a massive impact on me back in the day. The delirious chase in DIVA, through the Paris subways, is almost unmatched. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=173008\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,4,23],"tags":[2206],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=173008"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173176,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173008\/revisions\/173176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=173008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=173008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=173008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}