Jean-Marc Vallée | |
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![]() Vallée at the 2012 Genie Awards | |
Born | |
Died | December 25, 2021 58) Berthier-sur-Mer, Quebec, Canada | (aged
Alma mater | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1985–2021 |
Spouse | Chantal Cadieux (m. 1990;div. 2006) |
Children | 2 |
Jean-Marc Vallée OC OQ (March 9, 1963 –December 25, 2021) [1] was a Canadian filmmaker, film editor, and screenwriter. After studying film at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Vallée went on to make a number of critically acclaimed short films, including Stéréotypes (1991), Les Fleurs magiques (1995), and Les Mots magiques (1998).
His debut feature, Black List (1995), was nominated for nine Genie Awards, including nods for Vallée's direction and editing. His fourth feature film, C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005), received further critical acclaim and was a financial success. Due to Vallée's perfectionism, and the tight budget, the film took almost ten years to make. [2] Vallée's follow-up, The Young Victoria (2009), garnered strong reviews and received three Academy Award nominations. He was offered this film by producer Graham King, who was impressed by C.R.A.Z.Y. and wanted Vallée to make something similar. Vallée was initially unsure about accepting this offer, as he didn't much care about period films, or the British monarchy. However, his love for a cinematic challenge won out, and he researched Queen Victoria in great depth before starting the film. [2] His sixth film, Café de Flore (2011), was the most nominated film at the 32nd Genie Awards. Vallée's next films, the American dramas Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and Wild (2014) continued this acclaim and the former earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Director's Branch from 2014 until his death in 2021. [3]
He was known for his naturalistic approach to filming, encouraging actors to improvise during takes, and used natural lighting and handheld cameras. He described himself as being like "a kid on a set. A kid playing with a huge toy and having fun". [2]
Vallée ventured into television by executive producing and directing two projects for HBO, the drama series Big Little Lies (2017) and the thriller miniseries Sharp Objects (2018). For the former, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Vallée was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children. [4] [5] He studied filmmaking at the Collège Ahuntsic and the Université du Québec à Montréal. [4] [2]
Vallée's earliest-known works include five music videos written and directed in August 1985. [6] The music videos were part of a project by Les Productions Perfo 30 to produce 30 music videos in 30 days for a total budget of not over $50,000 CAD. Les Productions Perfo 30 had been founded earlier that year in May 1985 by André Fortin, Martin-Éric Ouellette and Martin Saint-Pierre, and wound up producing a total of 32 music videos, all directed during the month of August, with editing spanning September and October. [7] [8]
Vallée was one of four directors (along with Fortin, Ouellette and Claude Grégoire) to helm directorial duties. His music videos included Wild Touch's My Chick Is In My Bed, Glockenspiel's Odeline, Park Avenue's Don't Talk To Strangers, Angel's Angel's Evolution and New News' The Splice Of Life. [7] The music videos premiered theatrically at the Spectrum in Montreal on November 1, 1985, for a limited press screening, then officially on November 9, 1985, for the general public. [9] The music videos later aired on Canadian television through MuchMusic. [7]
In the 1990s, Vallée produced a number of short films that aroused considerable critical interest. [10] In 1991, Stereotypes, a fantastique comedy inspired by some American classic films, received numerous prizes at several events, including Best Promising Director for Vallée at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois. [11]
Vallée later adopted a more personal and autobiographical tone with Magical Flowers (Les Fleurs magiques) (1995) and Magical Words (Les Mots magiques) (1998), awarded respectively Best Short Film at the 16th Genie Awards and the 1st Jutra Awards, in which the director explored the relationship between father and son. [10]
Vallée made his feature-length debut in 1995 with Liste noire (Black List), which became the highest-grossing film in Quebec that year and received nine Genie Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Best Achievement in Direction. [12] In the wake of this success, Vallée moved to Los Angeles where he directed Los Locos (1998), a Western film written by and starring Mario Van Peebles, and Loser Love (1999). [12] After these two low-budget productions, he directed two episodes of the television series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000). [2]
During the mid-1990s, Vallée was preparing C.R.A.Z.Y. from a screenplay inspired by his own youth and that of his co-writer, François Boulay. Vallée wanted to shoot the film in the United States, but his friend Michel Côté, who also starred in Black List, convinced him to shoot in Quebec. [4] After ten years in production, C.R.A.Z.Y. was finally released in 2005 and became one of the most successful films in Quebec history, both financially and critically. [13]
It tells the story of Zachary Beaulieu, a young man dealing with homophobia and heterosexism while growing up with four brothers and a conservative father in 1960s and 1970s Quebec. The role of Zachary Beaulieu was portrayed by Marc-André Grondin, while Michel Côté and Danielle Proulx starred as Zachary's parents. C.R.A.Z.Y. had its world premiere at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and was awarded Best Canadian Feature Film. [14] It received praise from critics, with the film aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, giving the film a 100% rating, based on reviews from 31 critics. [15] It received several accolades, including eleven Genie Awards and thirteen Jutra Awards. [14] C.R.A.Z.Y. was also selected as Canada's official submission for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. [16]
The Young Victoria (2009)
After the success of C.R.A.Z.Y., Graham King and Martin Scorsese hired Jean-Marc Vallée to direct the period drama The Young Victoria . [17] Written by Julian Fellowes, the film is based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The film stars Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, and Jim Broadbent among a large ensemble cast. Critical reception was generally positive and the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning the 2009 Academy Award for Best Costume Design. [18]
Café de Flore (2011)
In 2011, Vallée wrote, directed, and edited Café de Flore , a love story which connects a man and woman living in present-day Montreal with a mother and her son in 1960s Paris. [19] [20] The film starred French pop star Vanessa Paradis and Québécois actors Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent, and Evelyne Brochu. It received generally positive reviews from Canadian film critics and garnered thirteen nominations at the 32nd Genie Awards. [21] American reviews were more mixed; Variety's Boyd van Hoeij saluted the film's casting, but deemed Café de Flore unoriginal, noting that "Vallée has taken what made C.R.A.Z.Y so successful, and simply tried to replicate it on a slightly larger scale. [Occasionally] similarities between the films... are so striking it almost feels like Vallée's ripping himself off". [22]
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Vallée's next film, Dallas Buyers Club , starred Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Garner. [23] The film is based on the true-life tale of Ron Woodroof, an electrician in Texas diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live, who began smuggling alternative medicine and not-yet-approved drugs into the United States to help himself and other AIDS patients. [2] The film was released in 2013 to critical acclaim, earning Matthew McConaughey the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and Jared Leto a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and won the awards for Best Actor for McConaughey, and Best Supporting Actor for Leto. Vallée also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing under his alias, John Mac McMurphy. [24]
Wild (2014)
Vallée's film Wild , starring Reese Witherspoon, premiered on August 29, 2014, at the Telluride Film Festival, and was also featured at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8 and the San Diego Film Festival on September 24. [25] It was released in North America on December 5, 2014. [26] The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Actress for Reese Witherspoon, and Best Supporting Actress for Laura Dern. [27]
In May 2015, Vallée received the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, given to an artist in recognition of work of an extraordinary nature over the previous performance year. [28]
Demolition(2015)
Vallée's next film, Demolition (2015), starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts, and opened the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015. [29]
Big Little Lies (2017–2019)
In 2017, he directed and executive-produced the acclaimed HBO miniseries Big Little Lies , winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special. [30]
Sharp Objects (2018)
Vallée also directed and executive-produced all the episodes of Sharp Objects for HBO in 2018. [31] The series was based on the novel by Gillian Flynn. In April 2021, he and Nathan Ross via Crazyrose signed a deal with HBO and HBO Max. [32]
Unfinished projects
Prior to his death, Vallée was set to direct the HBO miniseries Gorilla and the Bird . [33]
Vallée was married to Chantal Cadieux from 1990 until their divorce in 2006. They had two sons, Alex and Émile. Vallée was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 2017, [34] and an officer in the National Order of Quebec (OQ) in 2020. [35] [36] His son with Cadieux, Émile, played the part of Young Zachary in his 2005 film, C.R.A.Z.Y. [2]
On December 25, 2021 Vallée died at the age of 58 from a cardiac arrhythmia secondary to severe atherosclerosis. He was found at his chalet in Berthier-sur-Mer, Quebec. [Note 1]
Following his death, the Directors Guild of Canada renamed its DGC Discovery Award for emerging filmmakers to the Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award in his memory, [43] and filmmaker Marie-Julie Dallaire announced the production of Cut Print Thank You Bye, a documentary film about Vallée's life and career. [44]
Short films
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Editor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Stereotypes (Stéréotypes) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
1995 | Magical Flowers (Les Fleurs magiques) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
1998 | Magical Words (Les Mots magiques) | Yes | Yes | No | No |
2012 | Little Pig | No | No | Yes | No |
Feature films
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Black List | Yes | No | No | Yes |
1997 | Los Locos | Yes | No | No | Yes |
1999 | Loser Love | Yes | No | No | Yes |
2005 | C.R.A.Z.Y. | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
2009 | The Young Victoria | Yes | No | No | No |
2011 | Café de Flore | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2013 | Dallas Buyers Club | Yes | No | No | Yes |
2014 | Wild | Yes | No | No | Yes |
2015 | Demolition | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Television
Year | Title | Director | Executive Producer | Editor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017–2019 | Big Little Lies | Season 1 | Yes | Yes | 2 seasons |
2018 | Sharp Objects | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8 episodes |
2024 | Lady in the Lake | No | Yes | No | Posthumous release |
Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
2009 | The Young Victoria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
2013 | Dallas Buyers Club | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ||
2014 | Wild | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
Total | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
C.R.A.Z.Y. is a 2005 Canadian coming-of-age drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and co-written by Vallée and François Boulay. It tells the story of Zac, a young gay man dealing with homophobia while growing up with four brothers and his father in Quebec during the 1960s and 1970s. The film employs an extensive soundtrack, featuring artists such as David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Patsy Cline, Charles Aznavour, and The Rolling Stones.
The Gala Québec Cinéma is a Quebec film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly feature film industry of Quebec. Until 2016, it was known as La soirée des prix Jutra in reference of influential Quebec film director Claude Jutra, but Jutra's name was withdrawn from the awards following the publication of Yves Lever's biography of Jutra, which alleged that he had sexually abused children.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actor in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1968 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1969, when no eligible feature films were submitted for award consideration, and 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role to the best performance by a supporting actor in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role to the best performance by a supporting actress in a Canadian film. The award was first presented in 1970 by the Canadian Film Awards, and was presented annually until 1978 with the exception of 1974 due to the cancellation of the awards that year.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Direction to the best work by a director of a Canadian film.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Achievement in Cinematography, to honour the best Canadian film cinematography.
Patrice Vermette is a Canadian production designer/art director. He is most noted for his work on the films C.R.A.Z.Y., for which he won both the Genie Award for Best Art Direction/Production Design at the 26th Genie Awards and the Jutra Award for Best Art Direction at the 8th Jutra Awards, and Dune, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Production Design at the 94th Academy Awards.
Café de Flore is a Canadian drama film, released in 2011. Directed, written, and edited by Jean-Marc Vallée, the film garnered 13 nominations for the 2012 Genie Awards. The film's title refers not to the café on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, but to a Matthew Herbert song of the same name which the film uses to represent its musical current.
Maxime Rémillard is a Canadian businessman born on January 17, 1975, in Greenfield Park, Quebec. He is the president of both Remcorp, a leading Canadian private investment firm and Remstar Media, an entertainment and content delivery company.
Wild is a 2014 American biographical adventure drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Nick Hornby, based on the 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffmann, Kevin Rankin, and W. Earl Brown, the film follows Strayed as she embarks on a solo hiking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995 after numerous personal problems had left her life in shambles.
Black List is a 1995 Canadian thriller film. It was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, written by Sylvain Guy and produced by Marcel Giroux. Black List stars Michel Côté, Geneviève Brouillette, Sylvie Bourque, André Champagne and Aubert Pallascio.
Pierre Even is a Canadian film producer from Quebec. He is a two-time winner of the award for Best Motion Picture from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, as producer of the films War Witch and C.R.A.Z.Y.; he was also nominated, but did not win, for Café de Flore.
Nathan Ross is an American film and television producer.
François Boulay is a Canadian film and television screenwriter, best known as cowriter with Jean-Marc Vallée of the 2005 film C.R.A.Z.Y. and as a writer for the Quebec television drama series Providence.
Bernard Gariépy Strobl is a Canadian re-recording sound mixer, best known internationally as the supervising re-recording mixer of Arrival (2016), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Sound and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing. He has been a re-recording mixer on many prominent Quebec films of the last two decades, including The Red Violin (1998), C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005), Monsieur Lazhar (2011), War Witch (2012), Gabrielle (2013), and Endorphine (2015).
Yves Bélanger is a Canadian cinematographer. He has worked on films by directors such as Alain DesRochers, Xavier Dolan and Clint Eastwood, and he was a frequent collaborator of Jean-Marc Vallée. In 2016, he received a Canadian Screen Award for Best Cinematography for his work in Brooklyn.
Paul Jutras is a Canadian film editor who has also worked in the music video and advertising industries.
Marie-Julie Dallaire is a Canadian film director from Quebec.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Wild - Pacific Standard Production; Fox Searchlight. 2014 (87th) ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE -- Reese Witherspoon {"Cheryl"} - ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Laura Dern {"Bobbi"}
Acclaimed film director Jean-Marc Vallée -- who helmed the 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club -- died Sunday near Quebec City, Canada, his production company's publicist told CNN. He was 58 years old.