Jean-Pierre Mocky

Directing

Jean-Pierre Mocky

Born 1929-07-06 · Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Jean-Pierre Mocky (6 July 1929 – 8 August 2019), pseudonym of Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejewski, was a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. Mocky was born in Nice, France to Polish immigrant parents, Jeanne Zylinska and Adam Mokiejewski. His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic. Mocky appeared as an actor in the 1955 film Gli Sbandati and in many other movies, including some of those he also directed (Solo, L'albatros, L'Ombre d'une chance, Un Linceul n'a pas de poches). His 1987 film Le Miraculé was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. He began as an actor in the cinema and theater. In particular, he played in Jean Dréville's Les Casse-pieds (1948), Jean Cocteau's Orphée (1950) and Bernard Borderie's The Mask of the Gorilla (1957). But it was especially in Italy that he became famous, thanks to his role in I vinti by Michelangelo Antonioni. After working as an assistant with Luchino Visconti on Senso (1954) and Federico Fellini on La strada (1954), he wrote his first film, La Tête contre les murs (1959) and planned to direct it himself, but the producer preferred to entrust the task to Georges Franju. He went on to direct the following year with Les Dragueurs (1959). Since then, he has never stopped shooting. As early as the 1960s, he was able to reach a wide audience with crazy comedies such as A Funny Parishioner (1963) and La Grande Lessive (1968). After May 1968, he turned to darker films with Solo (1969), in which he shows a group of young terrorists of the extreme left, then L'Albatros (1971) which shows the corruption of politicians. In the 1980s, he returned to success with a film denouncing, a year before the drama of Heysel, the excesses of some football fans (À mort l'arbitre, 1984) and a comedy denouncing the hypocrisy around the pilgrimage to Lourdes (Le Miraculé, 1987). In the 1990s and 2000s, his films met with less success, but Mocky continued to shoot with much enthusiasm. In the beginning, his films were dedicated to the uprising against the restrictions imposed by society. Later, he concentrated on farce, as in Bonsoir where the homeless Alex (Michel Serrault) pretends to be the lover of the lesbian Caroline (Claude Jade) in order to save her inheritance from her homophobic relatives. Mocky's cinema, often satirical and pamphleteer, is generally inspired by the truth of society. He worked with few resources and filmed very quickly. He worked with Bourvil (A Funny Parishioner, The City of Unspeakable Fear, La Grande Lessive and The Stallion), Fernandel (The Exchange and Life), Michel Simon (The Red Ibis), Michel Serrault (twelve films including Le Miraculé), Francis Blanche (five films including The City of Unspeakable Fear), Jacqueline Maillan (five films), Jean Poiret (eight films) and with the stars Catherine Deneuve (Agent Trouble), Claude Jade (Bonsoir), Jane Birkin (Noir comme le souvenir), Jeanne Moreau (Le Miraculé) and Stéphane Audran (The Seasons of Pleasure). In 2010, he received the Prix Henri-Langlois for his entire career and the 2013 Alphonse Allais Prize. The International Festival of Film Entrevues in Belfort in 2012 and the Cinémathèque française in 2014 dedicated full retrospectives to him. He died on 8 August 2019. Source: Article "Jean-Pierre Mocky" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Acting credits

Orpheus poster
7.6

A famous poet in postwar Paris, scorned by the Left Bank youth, is in love with both his wife Eurydice and a mysterious princess. Seeking inspiration, the poet becomes obsessed and follows the princess from the world of the living to the land of the dead.

Orpheus

1950

Godard Mon Amour poster
6.6

In 1967, during the making of “La Chinoise,” film director Jean-Luc Godard falls in love with 19-year-old actress Anne Wiazemsky and marries her.

Godard Mon Amour

2017

First Name: Carmen poster
6.0

A woman involved with a terrorist group becomes dangerously close to the police officer guarding the bank they plan to rob.

First Name: Carmen

1983

À votre bon cœur, mesdames poster
5.0

The story of a septuagenarian, recently divorced, which in its reconstruction desire and quest for a new companion will rediscover the small pleasures of life and the art of seduction.

À votre bon cœur, mesdames

2013

Ville à vendre poster
5.2

A man comes to a small town in France and witness the apparent murder of a woman pharmacist. He teams up with the victim's vulgar assistant to try to solve the mystery.

Ville à vendre

1992

Senso poster
7.2

A troubled and neurotic Italian Countess betrays her entire country for a self-destructive love affair with an Austrian Lieutenant.

Senso

1954

The Count of Monte Cristo poster
6.7

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

The Count of Monte Cristo

1954

Morceaux de Cannes poster
2.0

We thought we'd seen, read, and heard everything there was to see about the Cannes Film Festival, from the glitz and gossip to the scandals and censorship. And yet, Emmanuel Barnault's "Morceaux de Cannes" (Pieces of Cannes), by this leading expert on Italian and French cinema, convinces us otherwise. The third largest event in the world (after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup) reveals its secrets only sparingly, as this film attests. The result of passionate research in the INA archives, these 52 minutes, without interviews or voice-over narration, string together rare and sometimes previously unseen footage. Taken together, they tell a surprising, original, and heartwarming story of the Festival. On the beach, on a street corner, in a restaurant, or in the privacy of a hotel room, these forgotten archives summon the greatest filmmakers, actors, and actresses of the last seventy years, from Jean Cocteau to David Lynch, for an anthology of the Festival's history.

Morceaux de Cannes

2021

Bourvil, un homme vrai poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Bourvil, un homme vrai

2016

Jean Aurenche, écrivain de cinéma poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Jean Aurenche, écrivain de cinéma

2010

Aznavour by Charles poster
6.9

In 1948, French singer Charles Aznavour (1924-2018) receives a Paillard Bolex, his first camera. Until 1982, he will shoot hours of footage, his filmed diary. Wherever he goes, he carries his camera with him. He films his life and lives as he films: places, moments, friends, loves, misfortunes.

Aznavour by Charles

2019

Two Pennies Worth of Violets poster
4.7

Thérèse, a young flower girl, tries hard to remain virtuous but the whole world seems to conspire against her, whether her petty Paris family, or her relatives in the province bristling with false respectability, or her lustful employer, or the boy she loves who seduces her and abandons her. But at the end of the day there is Yvon, her childhood friend. Will he be the one that will love her truly?

Two Pennies Worth of Violets

1951

Agent trouble poster
5.6

Amanda Weber is a museum employee. Her nephew, Victorien, who feels that wild animals should not be kept in zoos, while hitchhiking saw a mysterious bus with 50 dead tourists that later was found by autorities at the bottom of a lake. When Victorien gets in very serious problems due to what he saw Amanda seeks to find out what happened and soon also becomes a target.

Agent trouble

1987

Illicit Motherhood poster
3.0

A group of drifting youngsters train to commit petty thefts. A certain André puts them on the trail of a real hold-up. They might carry it out if a suicide attempt didn't stop them. A young woman throws herself into the river. They save her, comfort her, learn that she's pregnant. They surround her with their friendship. When André reappears and seizes Lucienne to throw her on the pavement, everyone unites to save her, and the kind-hearted Maurice offers to be the baby's loving father.

Illicit Motherhood

1953

No artwork available
NR

A César award nominated short drama.

Le Bridge

1986

Monsieur Cauchemar poster
4.0

The old Mr. Esbirol, a passionate bookseller of crime fiction, had waited for a long time that the three conditions necessary for committing a perfect crime materialize : murder, preferably by strangulation of an anonymous bystander walking in a deserted street.

Monsieur Cauchemar

2015

Queen's Necklace poster
4.0

The adventurer Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy, descendant (by the left hand) of the king of France Henri II, and who claims to be "Countess de la Motte", imagines a tortuous plan to steal a magnificent diamond necklace that the queen Marie-Antoinette refused to buy from the jewelers Boehmer and Bassange.

Queen's Necklace

1946

The Albatross poster
7.2

A prisoner escapes and kidnaps a woman with her he falls in love. He's involved in a bad business where politicians and underworld are leading the dance. He'll die like the albatross in Baudelaire's poem.

The Albatross

1971

Head Against the Wall poster
6.8

An aimless young man is committed to a psychiatric hospital by his father in an attempt to cure him of his delinquent tendencies.

Head Against the Wall

1959

The Mask of the Gorilla poster
6.1

Géo Paquet, aka The Gorilla, breaks from jail. Now an escaped convict, the elite agent must infiltrate a dangerous gang working for a foreign embassy as their leader, a spy enjoying diplomatic immunity, can't be arrested by regular police.

The Mask of the Gorilla

1958

Vénéneuses poster
5.0

An aging gangster (Jean-Pierre Mocky) escapes from prison and is taken in by a very beautiful blonde who asks him to kill her uncle (Richard Bohringer) because he guards her money but prevents her from using it. She asks the gangster to kill him and that way she won't turn the gangster in - she knows he's escaped. The gangster prepares to kill the uncle, except that he realizes he's a very good guy. He becomes friends with the uncle. He won't kill him and will simulate the murder.

Vénéneuses

2017

Droit de Réponse poster
8.3

"Droit de Réponse" (Right of Reply) is a French debate program broadcast between December 12, 1981 and September 19, 1987 on the TF1 channel, presented by Michel Polac and produced by Maurice Dugowson. Broadcast live on a weekly basis, on Saturdays from 8.30 p.m., the right of reply has been the source of many controversies, due to the various speakers who have come to present their point of view on the show (which leads to famous scandals , remained in the memory of viewers), but also for the variety and relevance of the topics covered, which ensured the success of the program on the air for several years. On French television, this program is considered by some observers as a “pioneer program in terms of controversy-show or clash, in modern language”.

Droit de Réponse

1981

No Pockets in a Shroud poster
5.4

In the newspaper he has just founded, journalist Dolannes exposes all the wheeling and dealing and scandals that go on in his town.

No Pockets in a Shroud

1974

Litan poster
6.0

Married couple Jock & Nora are visiting the town of Litan during Litan's Day, with its carnivalesque atmosphere. When Nora wakes that morning from dreaming the bizarre death of her husband, she sets out across town to find him and warn him. But as she does, she encounters stranger and stranger people and events erupting into a frenzy in front of her. Now, she and Jock must elude all of the impediments in their way of reaching safety on the outskirts of town.

Litan

1982

Behind the camera

Le Bénévole poster
3.8

In a Mediterranean city, the association of volunteers The Rescue is expecting a new director. A former trade unionist, Birgos, who’s just escaped from an asylum with Cleo, another internee, is believed, by mistake, to be this new director.

Le Bénévole

2007

The King of Ads poster
4.3

A collection of European T.V. commercials directed by a variety of well-known directors from across Europe and the U.S. Compiled and produced by Jean-Marie Boursicot.

The King of Ads

1991

À votre bon cœur, mesdames poster
5.0

The story of a septuagenarian, recently divorced, which in its reconstruction desire and quest for a new companion will rediscover the small pleasures of life and the art of seduction.

À votre bon cœur, mesdames

2013

Ville à vendre poster
5.2

A man comes to a small town in France and witness the apparent murder of a woman pharmacist. He teams up with the victim's vulgar assistant to try to solve the mystery.

Ville à vendre

1992

Ville à vendre poster
5.2

A man comes to a small town in France and witness the apparent murder of a woman pharmacist. He teams up with the victim's vulgar assistant to try to solve the mystery.

Ville à vendre

1992

The Witness poster
6.8

An Italian painter, Antonio Berti, pays a visit to Reims to his friend Robert Maurisson, a banker with political views on the town hall, who hides, under an affable air and an irreproachable dignity, a libertine and cynical temperament. Charged by the notable with the restoration of paintings exhibited in the cathedral, the artist calls on Cathy, a young girl from the choir, to serve as his model. The young girl will be found dead a few hours after their interview, near one of Robert's properties.

The Witness

1978

The Witness poster
6.8

An Italian painter, Antonio Berti, pays a visit to Reims to his friend Robert Maurisson, a banker with political views on the town hall, who hides, under an affable air and an irreproachable dignity, a libertine and cynical temperament. Charged by the notable with the restoration of paintings exhibited in the cathedral, the artist calls on Cathy, a young girl from the choir, to serve as his model. The young girl will be found dead a few hours after their interview, near one of Robert's properties.

The Witness

1978

A Couple poster
3.5

After testing their love, Pierre and Anne decide to leave each other.

A Couple

1960

A Couple poster
3.5

After testing their love, Pierre and Anne decide to leave each other.

A Couple

1960

A Couple poster
3.5

After testing their love, Pierre and Anne decide to leave each other.

A Couple

1960

Le Pactole poster
5.6

Yves Beaulieu lives with his wife Anne, his daughter Stephanie and his mother-in-law. Tired of his dangerous, thankless, underpaid and unrecognized job as a deminer, Yves decides to try his luck and carries out a robbery in the nearby supermarket. Hunted by Inspector Rousselet (Patrick Sébastien), he is subjected to a mysterious blackmail and tries to escape justice to profit from the fruits of his crime.

Le Pactole

1985

Agent trouble poster
5.6

Amanda Weber is a museum employee. Her nephew, Victorien, who feels that wild animals should not be kept in zoos, while hitchhiking saw a mysterious bus with 50 dead tourists that later was found by autorities at the bottom of a lake. When Victorien gets in very serious problems due to what he saw Amanda seeks to find out what happened and soon also becomes a target.

Agent trouble

1987

Agent trouble poster
5.6

Amanda Weber is a museum employee. Her nephew, Victorien, who feels that wild animals should not be kept in zoos, while hitchhiking saw a mysterious bus with 50 dead tourists that later was found by autorities at the bottom of a lake. When Victorien gets in very serious problems due to what he saw Amanda seeks to find out what happened and soon also becomes a target.

Agent trouble

1987

The Stud poster
4.9

Veterinary surgeon William Chaminade is having a peaceful holiday in the South of France when he is witness to an event that will change not only his life but the destiny of France! A young woman tries to kill herself by jumping from the upstairs window of the hotel where he is staying. Thanks to the services of a passing athlete, the woman is unharmed, and she reveals that her distress is down to her husband’s apparent lack of interest in her. Immediately, Chaminade has a brainwave. He will open a special centre for people like this unfortunate young woman, who will be able to satisfy their romantic needs, at the tax payers’ expense. All is well until this innovative ’pleasure centre’ draws the attention of an over-zealous tax inspector, Dupuis...

The Stud

1970

The Stud poster
4.9

Veterinary surgeon William Chaminade is having a peaceful holiday in the South of France when he is witness to an event that will change not only his life but the destiny of France! A young woman tries to kill herself by jumping from the upstairs window of the hotel where he is staying. Thanks to the services of a passing athlete, the woman is unharmed, and she reveals that her distress is down to her husband’s apparent lack of interest in her. Immediately, Chaminade has a brainwave. He will open a special centre for people like this unfortunate young woman, who will be able to satisfy their romantic needs, at the tax payers’ expense. All is well until this innovative ’pleasure centre’ draws the attention of an over-zealous tax inspector, Dupuis...

The Stud

1970

The Stud poster
4.9

Veterinary surgeon William Chaminade is having a peaceful holiday in the South of France when he is witness to an event that will change not only his life but the destiny of France! A young woman tries to kill herself by jumping from the upstairs window of the hotel where he is staying. Thanks to the services of a passing athlete, the woman is unharmed, and she reveals that her distress is down to her husband’s apparent lack of interest in her. Immediately, Chaminade has a brainwave. He will open a special centre for people like this unfortunate young woman, who will be able to satisfy their romantic needs, at the tax payers’ expense. All is well until this innovative ’pleasure centre’ draws the attention of an over-zealous tax inspector, Dupuis...

The Stud

1970

Le Furet poster
4.4

From his locksmith's shop, a simple guy dreams of becoming a crime boss, at the wheel of his Cadillac surrounded by blonde bimbos. He starts small, assassinating petty criminals. Gaining renown in the newspapers as "Le Furet" (The Ferret), he soon sets his sights higher. The police and organized crime both take up the chase.

Le Furet

2003

Le Furet poster
4.4

From his locksmith's shop, a simple guy dreams of becoming a crime boss, at the wheel of his Cadillac surrounded by blonde bimbos. He starts small, assassinating petty criminals. Gaining renown in the newspapers as "Le Furet" (The Ferret), he soon sets his sights higher. The police and organized crime both take up the chase.

Le Furet

2003

Monsieur Cauchemar poster
4.0

The old Mr. Esbirol, a passionate bookseller of crime fiction, had waited for a long time that the three conditions necessary for committing a perfect crime materialize : murder, preferably by strangulation of an anonymous bystander walking in a deserted street.

Monsieur Cauchemar

2015

The Albatross poster
7.2

A prisoner escapes and kidnaps a woman with her he falls in love. He's involved in a bad business where politicians and underworld are leading the dance. He'll die like the albatross in Baudelaire's poem.

The Albatross

1971

The Albatross poster
7.2

A prisoner escapes and kidnaps a woman with her he falls in love. He's involved in a bad business where politicians and underworld are leading the dance. He'll die like the albatross in Baudelaire's poem.

The Albatross

1971

The Albatross poster
7.2

A prisoner escapes and kidnaps a woman with her he falls in love. He's involved in a bad business where politicians and underworld are leading the dance. He'll die like the albatross in Baudelaire's poem.

The Albatross

1971

Vénéneuses poster
5.0

An aging gangster (Jean-Pierre Mocky) escapes from prison and is taken in by a very beautiful blonde who asks him to kill her uncle (Richard Bohringer) because he guards her money but prevents her from using it. She asks the gangster to kill him and that way she won't turn the gangster in - she knows he's escaped. The gangster prepares to kill the uncle, except that he realizes he's a very good guy. He becomes friends with the uncle. He won't kill him and will simulate the murder.

Vénéneuses

2017

Vénéneuses poster
5.0

An aging gangster (Jean-Pierre Mocky) escapes from prison and is taken in by a very beautiful blonde who asks him to kill her uncle (Richard Bohringer) because he guards her money but prevents her from using it. She asks the gangster to kill him and that way she won't turn the gangster in - she knows he's escaped. The gangster prepares to kill the uncle, except that he realizes he's a very good guy. He becomes friends with the uncle. He won't kill him and will simulate the murder.

Vénéneuses

2017