A Requiem for Jean Rollin
image courtesy Fascination: The Jean Rollin Experience
Jean Michel Rollin Le Gentil, French film director fantastique and “gentle poet of sensual horror”, passed away yesterday (December 15, 2010) at 72, after a long illness.
Much beloved by his fans and horror connoisseurs, lauded for his bizarre genius and the unique, intensely personal vision he brought to his films, Rollin leaves a legacy brimming with uncanny beauty and perverse, morbid delights.
Though his works contained elements of horror cinema, Rollin insisted he did not make horror films; instead he prefers the label fantastique, which he described as “the opposite of the supernatural”. His story telling, marked by “surreal sensibilities” and a “narcotic narrative drive”, made for mysterious (and at times maddening) viewing; but the imagery, oh, the imagery. Languid and melancholy, romantic and doom-laden, the dreamy atmospheres Rollin crafted were truly like nothing else in cinema: “…hermetically sealed worlds of desolate chateaus, solitary vampires and violent seduction”.
According to Rollin’s son Serge, who spoke with Fangoria shortly after his father’s death, “Jean was surrounded by his friends, and was looking at the photos of his two granddaughters when he died.”
Jean Rollin (via)
Rollin was calmly uncompromising and self-assured to the very end. The filmmaker’s own words about his work and perceptions of criticism are as fitting a closing statement as any:
“Honestly, I don’t care [what people call me]. Some people say I’m a genius, others consider me the greatest moron who ever stepped behind a camera. I have heard so many things said about me and my films, but these are just opinions.
I am perfectly happy with what I do, because it has always been my choice.”
December 16th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
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December 16th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Oh wow, he will be missed. :(
December 16th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
ave atque vale :(
December 17th, 2010 at 8:50 am
um, pretty certain that’s absolutely not jean rollin the filmmaker in that last photo there…
December 17th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Kris, really? It’s not just an older photo? Same downturned mouth, characteristic eyebrows. If it’s not him, that’s weird… Will do some research. Apologies in advance if I was mistaken. (I’m the one who chose that photo, not S.Elizabeth.)
December 17th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Hmm. Dunno. Still not convinced that wasn’t just an old photo, but have swapped it out just in case, thanks.
In any case, rest in peace, good sir Rollin.