Jean Genet
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Jean Genet (December 19, 1910 – April 15, 1986), was a prominent, sometimes infamous, French writer and later political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal; later in life, Genet wrote novels, plays, poems, and essays, including Querelle de Brest, The Thief's Journal, Our Lady of the Flowers, The Balcony, The Blacks and The Maids.
Film
In 1950, Genet directed Un chant d'amour, a 26-minute black-and-white film depicting the fantasies of a gay male prisoner and his prison warden.
Genet's work has also been adapted for film and produced by other filmmakers. In 1982, Rainer Werner Fassbinder released Querelle, his final film which is based on Querelle de Brest. It starred Brad Davis, Jeanne Moreau and Franco Nero. Genet never saw this film because he would not have been allowed to smoke in a movie theatre. Todd Haynes' homoerotic movie Poison was also based on the writings of Genet.
Several of Genet's plays were adapted into films. The Balcony (1963), directed by Joseph Strick, starred Shelley Winters, Peter Falk, Lee Grant and Leonard Nimoy.
Tony Richardson directed a film, Mademoiselle, which was based on a short story by Genet. It starred Jeanne Moreau with the screenplay written by Marguerite Duras.
His play, The Maids was made into a film starring Glenda Jackson, Susannah York and Vivien Merchant.
