Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert (1900–1977) was a French poet and screenwriter whose accessible verse, surreal imagery, and films with Marcel Carné shaped French popular culture.

Paroles: A 1946 collection of Jacques Prévert’s poems, including many of his best-known works. This landmark collection established the reach of his conversational, image-rich poetry.
Colloquialism: The use of informal, everyday speech in writing or conversation. Prévert’s conversational diction makes poetic lines sound like spontaneous speech.
Marcel Carné: A French film director known for poetic realist films, many written by Jacques Prévert. Their sustained partnership produced Prévert’s best-known screenplays.
French Surrealism: The French literary and artistic movement that developed surrealism around André Breton and his circle. Prévert absorbed surrealist freedom without adopting the movement’s formal discipline.
French chanson: A French song tradition in which lyrics and their literary qualities are central. Prévert’s collaborations with composers helped bring literary poetry into the chanson repertoire.
Les Enfants du paradis: A 1945 French film directed by Marcel Carné and written by Jacques Prévert. Its layered story and poetic dialogue are the most celebrated result of their collaboration.
Surrealism: An artistic movement that sought to release imagination from rational control and convention. Surrealist habits inform his startling juxtapositions and transformations of ordinary scenes.
Octave Mirbeau: A French novelist, playwright, and art critic whose work influenced later French writers and artists. Prévert took part in the agitational Groupe Octobre, whose name echoed Mirbeau’s play.
André Breton: A French writer and poet who led the surrealist movement and wrote its principal manifestos. Prévert’s early contact with Breton’s circle links his imagery to surrealist experiments.
Joseph Kosma: A Hungarian-born French composer who collaborated with Jacques Prévert on songs and films. Their partnership turned Prévert’s words into enduring songs.

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