New Book Illuminates Pierre Etaix's Burlesque Cinema
A new edited volume by Christian Rolot, 'Pierre Etaix. Histoire d'un itinéraire', published by Cinergon, fills a gap in scholarship on the French filmmaker and clown. Etaix, an admirer of Buster Keaton and student of Jacques Tati, created a 'cartoonized' cinema rooted in drawing. The book includes a 2011 interview, preparatory drawings, and an unpublished 1977 synopsis for an unfilmed project. It examines how Etaix's low output and focus on gags and circus marginalized him amid the French New Wave of Alain Resnais, François Truffaut, and Éric Rohmer. His characters seek escape into a fantastical drawn world, revealing a persistent stylization of reality.
Key facts
- Christian Rolot edited the volume 'Pierre Etaix. Histoire d'un itinéraire'.
- The book is published by Cinergon.
- Etaix was an admirer of Buster Keaton and a student of Jacques Tati.
- The volume includes a 2011 interview, preparatory drawings, and an unpublished 1977 synopsis.
- Etaix's cinema is described as 'cartoonized', with drawing as its primary source.
- His work was marginalized by the French New Wave directors Alain Resnais, François Truffaut, and Éric Rohmer.
- Etaix aimed to revive the 1920s American comedy of Max Linder.
- The book reveals Etaix's characters seeking escape into a fantastical drawn world.
Entities
Artists
- Christian Rolot
- Pierre Etaix
- Buster Keaton
- Jacques Tati
- Alain Resnais
- François Truffaut
- Éric Rohmer
- Max Linder
- Diane Elguer
Institutions
- Cinergon
Sources
- artpress —