Pierre Jolivet

Biography: life and films

Pierre Jolivet is a French film director, screenwriter and film actor. He was born in Saint-Mandé, France on 9 October 1952. Son of the actress Arlette Thomas, Pierre Jolivet began his career in show business by staging acts with his brother Marc in factories during the strikes of May 1968. In the 1970s, the two brothers found fame as the comic duo 'Recho et Frigo' but went their separate ways shortly after they appeared together in the film Alors... heureux? (1980). Around this time, Pierre Jolivet met Luc Besson and together they developed the story for a short film entitled L'Avant-dernier, which was remade by Besson as a full-length film, Le Dernier Combat (1983). Jolivet scripted Besson's next film, Subway (1985), before making his own directing debut with Strictement personnel (1985), which was nominated for a César in the First Film category. Jolivet's third film, Force majeure (1989) brought together François Cluzet and Patrick Bruel and was his first commercial success. After the sci-fi oddity that was Simple mortel (1991), Pierre Jolivet received critical acclaim for Fred (1997), the film which marked the start of his fruitful collaboration with the actors Vincent Lindon and Roschdy Zem. This was followed by Ma Petite entreprise (1999), his most successful film to date. After the luke-warm reaction to En plein coeur (1998), a tepid remake of the 1950s classic En cas de malheur, and his quirky historical drama Le Frère du guerrier (2002), Jolivet has contented himself with more modest productions, such as Zim and Co. (2005), in which he cast his son Adrien (a promising young actor) in the lead role. Jolivet's eclectic and original brand of cinema continues to find favour with critics and audiences, and part of his appeal is that you never know what he is going to pull out of the hat next - a romantic comedy, a sci-fi fantasy, a classic policier... One day, he may even get round to making a musical!

Filmography