Jean Rollin  

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Jean Michel Rollin Le Gentil (3 November 1938 - 15 December 2010) was a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his films in the fantastique genre such as the vampire film Le Viol du Vampire (1968) and the first French gore film (Les Raisins de la Mort, 1978). He was the son of Denise Rollin-Le Gentil and is one of the early pioneers of French X-rated cinema.

Influenced by traditional French and German expressionist cinema, classic American horror, early serials, comics, fantastic literature and surrealist art, Rollin's fantastique films have been rightfully compared to a sort of visual poetry, juxtaposing the macabre with the sensual and the beautiful with the bizarre. His poetic images are often accompanied by minimal dialogue and simple but haunting musical scores, and the pacing is generally slow and deliberate. All of these qualities contribute to an atmosphere which is commonly described as surreal and dream-like.

Despite the limited budget of his productions, Rollin has been able to film in some spectacular locations: a rocky beach at Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, grand castles (châteaux), rolling countrysides, and cemeteries thick with gothic atmosphere. Like F.W. Murnau before him, Rollin typically employs the conventions of the horror genre, especially vampires, as a framing device for his unusual images. As a result, plot, dialogue, and narrative tend to be secondary to the visual art for which his films are known.

In the beginning, Rollin's films were generally not well received by his audience or critics. His first feature, Le viol du vampire, caused such a scandal that audiences booed, shouted, and threw trash at the screen. The reaction to the film was so hostile that Rollin considered quitting the film business. His next few films also failed to generate much praise. Harsh French film critics coined the derogatory term "Rollinade" (forged on Bérézinade) to describe his particular style of cinema, which they felt was cheap, amateurish, and nonsensical. Later on, fans would embrace the term and use it proudly.

While Rollin's peculiar combination of high-art and erotic horror camp failed to generate much financial or critical success, his ability to incorporate eroticism into his films earned him steady work as a director of adult films during the early years of French X-rated cinema. Rollin (under various pseudonyms such as Michel Gentil, Michel Gand, and Robert Xavier) directed a number of adult features from 1973 to the late 1980's, ranging from light-hearted softcore/comedy hybrids to hardcore pornography. 1975's Phantasmes was Rollin's attempt at making an X-rated feature with a real story and decent actors, but the average viewer was not interested in such a thing. At the request of his producers, Rollin also made X-rated versions of some of his serious films (Lèvres de sang; La Nuit des traquées) to help fund the productions.

While making Vibrations sensuelles, Rollin saw acting potential in French adult star Brigitte Lahaie and wanted her to act in his next horror film, 1978's Les Raisins de la mort. Lahaie was perfect for the role and she began a working relationship with Rollin that continues to this day. Lahaie's leading role in 1979's Fascination helped the film garner widespread acclaim, even among critics who had ridiculed Rollin's earlier films.

Jean Rollin frequently collaborated with Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, editor in chief of French magazines Fascination and Sex Stars System.

With most of his films now available on DVD worldwide, Rollin has gained a new generation of fans, as well as attracting further critical and academic attention. He currently resides in Paris and is working on his last film, La Nuit transfigurée.

Early life

Jean Rollin was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France to artistically inclined family, his father was an actor and theatre director, inspiring both he and his brother, Olivier to pursue a career in show business. Jean saw his very first film when he was about five-years old, it was a 1942 film called Capitaine Fracesse, out in the country during the second world war and it made a profound impression on him. He particularly remembered the storm sequence, he had never seen anything so fascinating and magical; it simply changed his life forever, after that he decided he wanted to make films and with his father an actor in theatre this had a heavy influence on him. Rollin's parents were separated so he didn't live with his father, but once in a while he went to the theatre and watched him perform on stage. When he was 15 his mother gave him a typewriter and it was an important moment for him; that's when everything started, he began to write little screenplays and stories, heavily influenced by the films he saw. When he was a schoolboy, he and his friends frequently went to the movies. When he was about 13 or 14 he became obsessed with American Serials. When he was about 16, he found a job at Le Films des Saturne.

He just helped out there, writing invoices because he wanted to earn some money and he wanted to do something connected with cinema. The specialized in creating opening and closing credits and little cartoons, but they also shot real films. One day they were assigned to make a documentary about Snecma, a big factory in France which built motors and airplanes and Jean was part of the crew, it was his first time on a real movie set, he did everything, he arranged the travelling shots, laid the tracks, checked the electricity and helped the cameraman. Rollin also worked as an editor in the French Army with Claude Lelouch in the cinema department making army commercials, Claude directed and Jean did the Montage, they did two films, one was a documentary about the mechanographic service called Mechanographie and the other was a real film running at 1 hour called La Guerre de Silence (The War of Silence).

Le Viol du Vampire

With the release of Le Viol du Vampire on 27 May 1968 the May Revolution raged through the streets of Paris, the police even stormed a cinema where the film was shown, a huge riot broke out between filmgoers and the police.

Death

Rollin died in December 2010 after a long illness.

Filmography

Director

Writer

Producer

Actor

Television

Writer

As himself

Thanks

Further reading

• Virgins & Vampires: Jean Rollin. Contains essays by Jean Rollin, edited by Peter Blumenstock. Includes CD soundtrack from Les Deux orphelines vampires. Limited edition of 300 copies, autographed by Jean Rollin. (Crippled Publishing, 1997, ISBN 3-9805820-0-0).
• Video Watchdog #31. Peter Blumenstock interviews Rollin (1995).
• Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies 1956-1984 (1994) by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs. Dedicates a chapter to Rollin.