---
name: "Jean-Pierre Jeunet"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jean-pierre-jeunet"
fi1m_id: "jean-pierre-jeunet"
imdb_id: "nm0000466"
tmdb_id: 2419
wikidata_id: "Q217324"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "3 September 1953"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-26T20:30:05.074732+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jean-Pierre Jeunet

## Identity

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jean-pierre-jeunet
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jean-pierre-jeunet
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000466
- **TMDB ID:** 2419
- **Wikidata ID:** Q217324
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q217324, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000466/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2419

Director and writer. Born 3 September 1953 in Roanne, Loire, France.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 3 September 1953, Roanne, Loire, France
- **Active:** 1991–2004
- **Also known as:**  Jean Pierre Jeunet
- **Frequently works with:** [Dominique Pinon](https://film.one/person/dominique-pinon.md), [Audrey Tautou](https://film.one/person/audrey-tautou.md), [Claudie Ossard](https://film.one/person/claudie-ossard.md), [Gilles Adrien](https://film.one/person/gilles-adrien.md), [Guillaume Laurant](https://film.one/person/guillaume-laurant.md), [Jean-Claude Dreyfus](https://film.one/person/jean-claude-dreyfus.md), [Marc Caro](https://film.one/person/marc-caro.md), [Ron Perlman](https://film.one/person/ron-perlman.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 74 (3), 2000s 82 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 68 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Science Fiction 3, Comedy 2, Fantasy 2, Action 1, Adventure 1, Horror 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $339m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q217324, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000466/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2419

## Coming up

- *Violette* (2026-12-09), Director

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Delicatessen*](https://film.one/film/delicatessen.md) (83)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*The City of Lost Children*](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jean-Pierre Jeunet

> Jean-Pierre Jeunet builds elaborate fantasy worlds around vulnerable outsiders. We like him most when the visual invention serves someone worth caring about; his fondness for eccentrics can become a nuisance, but the precise comedy and unexpected warmth deserve our affection.

Above the butcher’s shop in *Delicatessen* (1991), an ex-clown takes a job and falls for the butcher’s daughter. Jean-Pierre Jeunet and co-director Marc Caro make cannibalism part of daily life without asking us to regard everybody in the building as equally unpleasant. We laughed at Louison’s physical comedy because Dominique Pinon keeps him sweet amid so much organised nastiness. The slapstick is exact, and the affection matters: there would be little pleasure in watching these people if they were all merely grotesque.

The trouble comes with the supporting residents, some of whom have an eccentricity where a personality ought to be. Jeunet, Caro and fellow screenwriter Gilles Adrien sometimes seem too pleased with these peculiarities to notice how little they tell us about the people. The romance then has to compete with characters whose odd habits are their principal contribution. We would happily lose a few of those flourishes for more time with Louison and Julie. Such elaborate sets and exaggerated colours need characters who can hold our attention without them.

Caro, whose work also includes design, co-directed the first two features, *Delicatessen* and *The City of Lost Children* (1995). After the Hollywood detour of *Alien Resurrection* (1997), Jeunet returned to France for the lighter *Amélie* (2001). Audrey Tautou became another important acting collaborator, alongside the recurring Pinon. *A Very Long Engagement* (2004) brought romance, war and fantasy together, rather than abandoning his taste for the unreal. The turn towards a more positive tone makes sense beside the kindness already present in Louison.

His worlds do not need to look like ordinary life to make us care about their inhabitants. Pinon supplies that connection without having to make the clown any less peculiar. That is a better defence of Jeunet’s elaborate filmmaking than counting the details in his sets. Start with *Delicatessen* for Pinon, and allow for some tiresome neighbours.

## Biography

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a French film director and screenwriter. He was born on 3 September 1953 in Roanne, Loire, France. He bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short films while studying animation. He met designer and comic-book artist Marc Caro at an animation festival in Annecy in the 1970s; the two became frequent collaborators.

Jeunet and Caro directed award-winning short animations and their first live-action short, *The Bunker of the Last Gunshots* (1981). Jeunet also directed advertisements and music videos. Their first feature film was the black comedy *Delicatessen* (1991), which Jeunet directed and co-wrote with Caro and Gilles Adrien. It won four César Awards, including for best debut and best original screenplay.

Jeunet and Caro next co-directed *The City of Lost Children* (1995). Jeunet went on to direct *Alien Resurrection* (1997), *Amélie* (2001), *A Very Long Engagement* (2004), *Micmacs* (2009) and *The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet* (2013).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Amélie* (2001), Fi1m 82, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/amelie.md)
- *Alien Resurrection* (1997), Fi1m 60, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/alien-resurrection.md)
- *The City of Lost Children* (1995), Fi1m 78, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.md)
- *Delicatessen* (1991), Fi1m 83, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/delicatessen.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Violette* (2026), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Amélie: The Real Story* (2023), Writer, Director
- *Bigbug* (2022), Producer, Screenplay, Director
- *Looop* (2019), Producer
- *Two Snails Set Off* (2017), Director, Writer
- *Casanova* (2015), series, Director
- *Casanova* (2015), Director
- *The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet* (2013), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Micmacs* (2009), Director, Writer, Producer
- *A Very Long Engagement* (2004), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Amélie* (2001), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/amelie.md)
- *Inside the Making of - Amélie* (2001), Director
- *Alien Resurrection* (1997), Director — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/alien-resurrection.md)
- *The City of Lost Children* (1995), Director, Screenplay, Additional Dialogue — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-city-of-lost-children.md)
- *Eurotrash* (1993), series, Actor
- *The King of Ads, Part 2* (1993), Director
- *Delicatessen* (1991), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/delicatessen.md)
- *Things I Like, Things I Don't Like* (1990), Director, Writer, Editor
- *De l'autre côté* (1989), series, Director of Photography
- *No Rest for Billy Brakko* (1983), Director, Screenplay, Editor
- *The Bunker of the Last Gunshots* (1982), Director, Costume Design, Editor, Director of Photography, Writer
- *The Carousel* (1981), Writer, Animation, Director
- *L'évasion* (1978), Director
- *Temps mort autour de Caro & Jeunet*, as Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- *Devils and Saints*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Publizist Robert Fischer (Mitte) moderierte auf dem Filmfest München 2014 ein Gespräch mit Kinderdarsteller Kyle Catlett und Regisseur Jean-Pierre Jeunet über d](https://film.one/media/person/78828/gallery-c1b16dcecccd.jpg) Publizist Robert Fischer (Mitte) moderierte auf dem Filmfest München 2014 ein Gespräch mit Kinderdarsteller Kyle Catlett und Regisseur Jean-Pierre Jeunet über d — Kalligraf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Catlett_Fischer_Jeunet_2014.JPG/1280px-Catlett_Fischer_Jeunet_2014.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Pierre Jeunet présentant "Alien: Résurrection" aux Publicis Cinémas en octobre 2022](https://film.one/media/person/78828/gallery-0d7fd7685455.jpg) Jean-Pierre Jeunet présentant "Alien: Résurrection" aux Publicis Cinémas en octobre 2022 — ManoSolo13241324, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_2022.jpg/1280px-Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_2022.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Pierre Jeunet présentant "Alien: Résurrection" aux Publicis Cinémas en octobre 2022](https://film.one/media/person/78828/gallery-eecf842f558d.jpg) Jean-Pierre Jeunet présentant "Alien: Résurrection" aux Publicis Cinémas en octobre 2022 — ManoSolo13241324, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_2022_cropped.jpg/1280px-Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_2022_cropped.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Regisseur Jean-Pierre Jeunet auf dem Filmfest München 2014.](https://film.one/media/person/78828/gallery-df4d2a86dd27.jpg) Regisseur Jean-Pierre Jeunet auf dem Filmfest München 2014. — Kalligraf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_M%C3%BCnchen_2014.JPG/1280px-Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_M%C3%BCnchen_2014.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://film.one/media/person/78828/gallery-290b0eb7d4b9.jpg) Jean-Pierre Jeunet — Image via TMDB
- ![Jean-Pierre Jeunet](https://film.one/media/person/78828/gallery-1f479cebf340.jpg) Jean-Pierre Jeunet — Kalligraf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Jean-Pierre_Jeunet_M%C3%BCnchen_2014_%28cropped%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2002: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Amélie*

### Other awards — 10 won, 1 nominated

- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres 2016: Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (won)
- Officer of Arts and Letters 2010: Officer of Arts and Letters (won)
- Edgar Awards 2005: Edgar Awards (won)
- César Award for Best Director 2002: César Award for Best Director (won), for *Amélie*
- Lumière Award for Best Screenplay 2002: Lumière Award for Best Screenplay (won), for *Amélie*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2001: European Film Award for Best Director (won), for *Amélie*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2001: European Film Award for Best Film (won), for *Amélie*
- European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director 2001: European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director (won), for *Amélie*
- Sitges Film Festival Best Director award 1991: Sitges Film Festival Best Director award (won), for *Delicatessen*
- Young European Film of the Year 1991: Young European Film of the Year (nominated), for *Delicatessen*
- Special Award of the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 1983: Special Award of the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jean-pierre-jeunet