Jean Renoir and the Cooperative

This chapter is devoted to Jean Renoir, son of the great painter Auguste Renoir, who became a giant of cinema. But he did not do it alone. Renoir experienced filmmaking as the act of building a community. His wives, his brothers, his nephew, and a trusted circle of friends became, for him, a collaborative visionary company. Together, they made films that spanned a gamut from comedy to melodrama, from film noir to historical narratives. He was a master of the subtle moving camera and his vision of France, its politics and culture, came with an insight that culminated in one of the most cited and controversial statements made in film: “the awful thing about life is this—Everyone has their reasons.”