Luc Besson
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Wikipedia
Featured:  |
Luc Besson (born March 18, 1959) is a French film director, writer and producer best-known for his film The Big Blue.
Cinéma du look
Besson was a prominent face in the era of Cinéma du look in the '80s into the start of the '90s. Subway, The Big Blue and Nikita are all considered to be in this era.
Critical reception
Many of Besson's films have achieved popular, if not critical success. One such film was Le Grand Bleu. "When the film had its premiere on opening night at the Cannes Film Festival, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash", observed the International Herald Tribune in a 2007 profile of Besson. "Embraced by young people who kept returning to see it again, the movie sold 10 million tickets and quickly became what the French call a film générationnel, a defining moment in the culture."
Besson created the Arthur trilogy, which comprises Arthur and the Minimoys, Arthur and the Forbidden City and Arthur and the Revenge of Malthazard. Besson directed the first of this book series; Arthur and the Minimoys into a part live-action, part-computer-generated animated film which was released as Arthur and the Invisibles in the UK and the USA and starred Freddie Highmore, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Mia Farrow, Robert De Niro and David Bowie.
Filmography as director
- The Last Battle or Le Dernier Combat (1983)
- Subway (1985)
- The Big Blue aka Le Grand bleu (1988)
- Nikita aka La Femme Nikita (1990)
- Atlantis (1991) - underwater wildlife documentary
- Léon aka The Cleaner aka The Professional (1994)
- The Fifth Element (1997)
- The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc aka Jeanne d'Arc or Joan of Arc (1999)
- Angel-A (2005)
- Arthur and the Invisibles (2006)
- Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard (2009) (filming)
- Arthur et la guerre des deux mondes (2010) (filming)
