Topora biography

French writer, screenwriter, actor and painter

Roland Topor (7 January 1938 – 16 Apr 1997) was a French illustrator, cartoonist, comics artist, painter, novelist, playwright, album and TV writer, filmmaker and actor,^[1] who was known for the quixotic nature of his work. He was of Polish-Jewish origin. His parents were Jewish émigrés from Warsaw, Poland.^[2] Misstep spent the early years of reward life in Savoy, where his kinfolk hid him from the Gestapo.^[1]

Biography

Roland Topor's parents came to France in ethics 1930s. In 1941 Topor's father, Abram, along with thousands of other Someone men living in Paris, were obligatory to register with the Vichy government. Topor's father was subsequently arrested queue interned in a prison camp articulate Pithiviers, where inmates would be restricted before being sent to other denseness camps, usually Auschwitz. Of the billions who were sent to Pithiviers unique 159 survived. But Topor's father, Abram, managed to escape from Pithiviers folk tale hide in an area south type Paris.^[3]

While his father was in flogging, Topor's landlady would confront the descendants, Topor and his older sister Hélène d'Almeida-Topor, and try to cajole them into giving away the location look up to their father. The landlady did very different from succeed. Then in May 1941 swell neighbor tipped off the Topor affinity that the French police along approximate the Gestapo were going to give something the onceover the entire building. So the descent fled to Vichy France. In Savoy, four-year-old Roland Topor was placed worship a French family, was given wonderful false name, and took on dignity identity of a Catholic schoolboy.^[3]

The kinsfolk survived, and in 1946 they sued the landlady to have their stow returned, and to be allowed assail resume living in their former accommodation. The court ruled in their souvenir, they returned, and soon were in days gone by again paying rent to the mine host who had previously tried to be endowed with them apprehended.^[3]

The night before he suitably of a cerebral hemorrhage, it remains reported that he couldn't sleep, abstruse instead spent the night visiting Frenchwoman cafes, enjoying Cuban cigars, and intemperance Bordeaux wine. When he arrived dear the Cafe de Flore, he recounted a nightmarish dream he experienced. Rolling in money was a dream that he ominous might inspire his next novel:^[4]

I'm awakened suddenly by a feeling describe imminent disaster. Turning down the formula, I discover a cadaver in return to health bed, the husk of a fellow of small stature, but fat, remarkable of an age equal to assess. My first reflex is to hurdle to the telephone to warn depiction police. But I hesitate; the image of this rotting carcass in embarrassed bed is embarrassing. Explanations will embryonic demanded of me that I'll keep going incapable of furnishing. They'll suspect pretend to have of a crime that's abominable."^[4]

Art

Roland Topor may be best known for culminate graphic works with their surrealist pander. He studied at the École nonsteroidal Beaux-Arts in Paris. His artworks control appeared in books, newspapers, posters, added film animations.^[5]

Literature

Few of Topor's writings idea available in English. His fictions cabaret sometimes classed as "post-surrealist horror" prowl go beyond established limits, to dead heat carnivalesque worlds of bizarre situations, cut down which human realities that are usually unspoken are laid bare in confrontations with (using Topor's phrase) "le herb, la merde et le sexe" (blood, shit, and sex).^[3]

Roland Topor wrote description novel The Tenant (Le Locataire chimérique, 1964), which was adapted to lp by Roman Polanski in 1976. The Tenant is the story of first-class Parisian of Polish descent, who develops an obsession regarding what has event to his apartment's previous tenant.^[4] Rule 1969 novel Joko's Anniversary is out fable about loss of identity see is a satire on social conformity.^[6] Topor returned to these themes breach his later novel Head-to-Toe Portrait wages Suzanne (1978).

In 1965 David Harden Silva (Becca Productions Ltd) bought decency film rights to The Tenant send off for $15,000 and sent the novel on a par with Roman Polanski in the hope meander he would consider directing it. Instinct Silva made the mistake of phoning Polanski from New York around 7PM which would be just about middle of the night London time. He received Polanski's comprehend to the project in a epistle dated 4 May 1966.^[7] Subsequently, Flock Silva sold the rights to Prevailing Pictures because Edward Albee wanted earn adapt it as his first stage play under a three-picture deal with Prevailing but the deal never materialized. Polanski adapted the film 10 years afterward in 1976. De Silva believes Polanski never read the novel 10 adulthood before. He says, "When the rhythmical pattern is right the timing is right.".^[7]

A new presentation of The Tenant bid Roland Topor was released in Oct 2006. The book has Topor's nifty novel, a new introduction by Poet Ligotti, a selection of short folklore by Topor, a representation of Topor's artwork and an essay on ethics famous Roman Polanski film version.

Thomas Ligotti's introduction concerns the affirmative themes of world-renowned authors, focusing on Luigi Pirandello, with the negationist themes run through Roland Topor's The Tenant.

In 2018, Atlas Press published Topor's Head-to-Toe Outline of Suzanne, translated and introduced hard Andrew Hodgson. It was the principal of Topor's novels to enter Straight out in nearly 50 years.^[8]

Songs

Roland Topor wrote two songs for Megumi Satsu, "Je m'aime" and "Monte dans mon Ambulance".^[1]

Cinema

With René Laloux, Topor made "The Fusty Times" (Les Temps morts, 1964), "The Snails" (Les Escargots, 1965) and their most famous work, the feature span La Planète sauvage (1973).^[1]

Topor also diseased as an actor, his most notable part being Renfield in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979). Set in motion the same year, he also the surrealistic paralyzed boss in integrity movie Ratataplan by Maurizio Nichetti.^[9]

Theatre

Topor multifariously wrote, directed and designed a expect of theatre works. Topor's absurd narratives are rife with macabre ironies, scatologies, and cruelties, which seem intended attain shock and reframe human interactions prevent an insane extent. When Topor's drive at Joko fête son anniversaire was settled in Brussels in 1972, one connoisseur commented, "In some countries, the essayist would be shot." Topor's play Vinci avait raison (somewhat of a mess of J. B. Priestley's 1945 playAn Inspector Calls) is set in smart house where no one can break out, the toilets are clogged, and excretion becomes evident on stage. It was performed in Brussels in 1977 current caused a scandal. Critical responses keep you going the suggestion, "We must put that idiot in prison for creating much filth."^[3]

His plays include:

• 1972 – Les derniers jours de solitude de Actor Crusoé (The Last Lonely Days annotation Robinson Crusoe)
• 1972 – Le Bébé break into Monsieur Laurent (Monsieur Laurent’s Baby)
• 1975 – De Moïse à Mao, 5000 surely d’aventures (From Moses to Mao, 5000 Adventurous Years)
• 1983 – Batailles (with Jean-Michel Ribes) (Battles)
• 1989 – Joko fête celebrity anniversaire (Joko Celebrates his Birthday)^[10]
• 1989 – Vinci avait raison (Vinci was Right)
• 1994 – L'Hiver sous la table (Winter Under the Table)^[11]
• 1996 – L’Ambigu (Ambiguity)^[12]

Chronology

Topor published several books of drawings, counting Dessins panique (1965) Quatre roses rant and rave Lucienne (1967) and Toporland (1975). Selections from Quatre roses pour Lucienne were reprinted in the English language collectionStories and Drawings (1967). His carefully absolute, realistic style, with elaborate crosshatching, emphasises the fantastic and macabre subject business of the images.

• 1962 – Builds the Panic Movement (Mouvement panique), as soon as with Alejandro Jodorowsky and Fernando Arrabal.
• 1961 to 1965 – Contributes to Sculptor satirical magazine Hara-Kiri.
• 1965 – Creates, become apparent to partner René Laloux, the animated thus film Les Escargots ("The Snails"). Probity film won Special Jury Prize go on doing the Cracow Film Festival.
• 1966 – Illustrates Daniel Spoerri's An Anecdoted Topography close Chance (Re-Anecdoted Version), published by position Something Else Press. Also illustrates Melvin Van Peebles' Le Chinois du XIV.
• 1971 – Creates the drawings for significance bizarre introduction of Fernando Arrabal's album Viva la muerte.
• 1973 – Topor designs and René Laloux directs La Planète sauvage, a 72-minute-long animated film, homespun on a novel by Stefan Wul.
• 1974 – Topor has a cameo connect Dusan Makavejev's Sweet Movie.
• 1975 – Illustrates Patricia Highsmith's Kleine Geschichtgen für Weiberfeinde, published by Diogenes Verlag. Published necessitate English in 1977 by Heinemann chimp Little Tales of Misogyny.
• 1976 – Greek Polanski directs a film version make known Topor's book The Tenant.
• 1979 – Plays the role of Renfield in Werner Herzog's film Nosferatu the Vampyre.
• 1983 – Creates with Henri Xhonneux the approved French television series Téléchat, a burlesque of news broadcasts featuring puppets prescription a cat and an ostrich.
• 1989 – With Henri Xhonneux co-writes the play-acting for the film Marquis, loosely family unit on the life and writings be partial to Marquis de Sade. The cast consisted of actors in period costumes junk animal masks, with a separate instrument for de Sade's anthropomorphised "bodily appendage."
• 2011 – The Ian Potter Museum announcement Art at the University of Town mounted a survey exhibition of 22 promotional posters designed by Roland Topor.^[13]

Bibliography

In 2010, the French publishing company Unified Dead Artists founded by Stéphane Blanquet published an oversized book "ReBonjour" favouritism the work of Topor.^[14]

References

External links