Armand Gatti
Encyclopedia
Armand Gatti is a French playwright, poet, journalist, screenwriter, film-maker and former WW II resistance fighter. His 1963 film, El Otro Cristóbal
was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival
.
One of the most acclaimed theater writer/directors of the 20th century, Gatti was originally a member of the informal Left Bank group of filmmakers that included Alain Resnais
, Chris Marker
, Agnès Varda
, Henri Colpi
and Jean Cayrol
, but because none of his films have been released on video in the US, he remains an elusive figure for many cinephiles. He appears in Resnais’ Toute la mémoire du monde
(1956) and in Marker’s Immemory CD-Rom; he wrote China (1956) for Marker’s Petite Planète collection and traveled with Marker in the making of Letter from Siberia (1957), which inspired his book Siberia — Zero + Infinity the following year.
According to his 1989 biographer, Dorothy Knowles, Gatti was born in 1924 in a shantytown in Monaco
(his Italian anarchist father, who escaped murder in a Chicago
slaughterhouse because of his political activities, fled Benito Mussolini
’s regime); during World War II
, Gatti joined a small French resistance
maquis
. Captured, tortured, and sentenced to a concentration camp in Hamburg
where he was forced to work in a diving bell at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
, Gatti eventually escaped and joined a British Special Air Service
special forces
team. After the war, he worked as an award-winning journalist for many years until he traveled with Marker, published his first plays, and directed his first film, The Enclosure
(L’Enclos, 1961).
L’Enclos was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival
but it was hailed by Truffaut, Resnais, Cocteau and others.
El Otro Cristóbal
El Otro Cristóbal is a 1963 Cuban film directed by Armand Gatti. It was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Bertina Acevedo* Jean Bouise* Pierre Chaussat* Marc Dudicourt* Alden Knight* Eslinda Núñez* Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera...
was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival
1963 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Armand Salacrou *Rouben Mamoulian *Jacqueline Audry *Wilfrid Baumgartner *François Chavane *Jean De Baroncelli *Robert Hossein...
.
One of the most acclaimed theater writer/directors of the 20th century, Gatti was originally a member of the informal Left Bank group of filmmakers that included Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais
Alain Resnais is a French film director whose career has extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included Nuit et Brouillard , an influential documentary about the Nazi concentration camps.He began...
, Chris Marker
Chris Marker
Chris Marker is a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are La jetée , A Grin Without a Cat , Sans Soleil and AK , an essay film on the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa...
, Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda is a French film director and professor at the European Graduate School. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style....
, Henri Colpi
Henri Colpi
Henri Colpi was a French film editor and film director.Colpi directed the 1961 film Une aussi longue absence, which is well-known for sharing the Palme d'Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival with Viridiana, which was directed by Luis Buñuel...
and Jean Cayrol
Jean Cayrol
Jean Cayrol was a French poet, publisher, and member of the Académie Goncourt. He is perhaps best known for writing the narration in Alain Resnais's 1955 documentary film, Night and Fog...
, but because none of his films have been released on video in the US, he remains an elusive figure for many cinephiles. He appears in Resnais’ Toute la mémoire du monde
Toute la mémoire du monde
Toute la mémoire du monde is a documentary short film by Alain Resnais released in 1956.- Synopsis :An essay on the potential and the limits of dutifully archived human knowledge, masquerading as a documentary on the organisation of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.- Starring :*Jacques...
(1956) and in Marker’s Immemory CD-Rom; he wrote China (1956) for Marker’s Petite Planète collection and traveled with Marker in the making of Letter from Siberia (1957), which inspired his book Siberia — Zero + Infinity the following year.
According to his 1989 biographer, Dorothy Knowles, Gatti was born in 1924 in a shantytown in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
(his Italian anarchist father, who escaped murder in a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
slaughterhouse because of his political activities, fled Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
’s regime); during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Gatti joined a small French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
maquis
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
. Captured, tortured, and sentenced to a concentration camp in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
where he was forced to work in a diving bell at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, Gatti eventually escaped and joined a British Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
team. After the war, he worked as an award-winning journalist for many years until he traveled with Marker, published his first plays, and directed his first film, The Enclosure
The Enclosure
The Enclosure is a novel by Susan Hill. Hill wrote the novel when she was 15-years old....
(L’Enclos, 1961).
L’Enclos was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
but it was hailed by Truffaut, Resnais, Cocteau and others.
Sources
- Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0521434378.
External Links
- [Biography (in French) http://www.armand-gatti.org/index.php?cat=biographie]
- [DVD http://www.editionsmontparnasse.fr/p1364/Le-Lion-sa-cage-et-ses-ailes-DVD]