Jean Michel Rollin Le Gentil (born November 3, 1938 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France) is a French auteur (filmmaker), actor, and author best known for his films in the fantastique genre. Rollin is credited as having made the first French vampire film (Le Viol du vampire, 1968) as well as the first French gore film (Le Raisins de la mort, 1978). He is also one of the early pioneers of French X-rated cinema.
Influenced by traditional French and German expressionist cinema, classic American horror, early serials, comics, fantastic literature and surrealist art, Rollin's fantastique films have been rightfully compared to a sort of visual poetry, juxtaposing the macabre with the sensual and the beautiful with the bizarre. His poetic images are often accompanied by minimal dialogue and simple but haunting musical scores, and the pacing is generally slow and deliberate. All of these qualities contribute to an atmosphere which is commonly described as surreal and dream-like.
Despite the limited budget of his productions, Rollin has been able to film in some spectacular locations: a rocky beach at Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, grand castles (châteaux), rolling countrysides, and cemeteries thick with gothic atmosphere. Like F.W. Murnau before him, Rollin typically employs the conventions of the horror genre, especially vampires, as a framing device for his unusual images. As a result, plot, dialogue, and narrative tend to be secondary to the visual art for which his films are known.
In the beginning, Rollin's films were generally not well received by his audience or critics. His first feature, Le viol du vampire, caused such a scandal that audiences booed, shouted, and threw trash at the screen. The reaction to the film was so hostile that Rollin considered quitting the film business. His next few films also failed to generate much praise. Harsh French film critics coined the derogatory term "Rollinade" (forged on Bérézinade) to describe his particular style of cinema, which they felt was cheap, amateurish, and nonsensical. Later on, fans would embrace the term and use it proudly.
While Rollin's peculiar combination of high-art and erotic horror camp failed to generate much financial or critical success, his ability to incorporate eroticism into his films earned him steady work as a director of adult films during the early years of French X-rated cinema. Rollin (under various pseudonyms such as Michel Gentil, Michel Gand, and Robert Xavier) directed a number of adult features from 1973 to the late 1980's, ranging from light-hearted softcore/comedy hybrids to hardcore pornography. 1975's Phantasmes was Rollin's attempt at making an X-rated feature with a real story and decent actors, but the average viewer was not interested in such a thing. At the request of his producers, Rollin also made X-rated versions of some of his serious films (Lèvres de sang; La Nuit des traquées) to help fund the productions.
While making Vibrations sensuelles, Rollin saw acting potential in French adult star Brigitte Lahaie and wanted her to act in his next horror film, 1978's Les Raisins de la mort. Lahaie was perfect for the role and she began a working relationship with Rollin that continues to this day. Lahaie's leading role in 1979's Fascination helped the film garner widespread acclaim, even among critics who had ridiculed Rollin's earlier films.
Jean Rollin frequently collaborated with Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, editor in chief of French magazines Fascination and Sex Stars System.
With most of his films now available on DVD worldwide, Rollin has gained a new generation of fans, as well as attracting further critical and academic attention. He currently resides in Paris and is working on his last film, La Nuit transfigurée.
