Sébastien Japrisot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sébastien Japrisot
Born	Jean-Baptiste Rossi (1931-07-04)4 July 1931 Marseille, France
Died	4 March 2003(2003-03-04) (aged 71) Vichy, France
Pen name	Sébastien Japrisot Robert Huart
Occupation	Author Screenwriter Film director
Period	1950–2003
Genre	Literary fiction, Crime fiction
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Sébastien Japrisot (born Jean-Baptiste Rossi; July 4, 1931 – March 4, 2003) was a French writer, movie writer, and film director. His pen name, Sébastien Japrisot, was a special word puzzle called an anagram of his real name. This means the letters in "Jean-Baptiste Rossi" were mixed up to create "Sébastien Japrisot."

He was well-known for changing the usual rules of crime stories. He would take apart the normal ways crime stories were told and put them back together in new and surprising ways. Even though his books might not seem as experimental as some others from his time, they still used new ideas and techniques.

Not many people in English-speaking countries know about him, but all his books have been translated into English. Also, almost all of his novels have been made into movies!

About Sébastien Japrisot

Jean-Baptiste Rossi was born on July 4, 1931, in Paris, France. His family had moved there from Italy. When he was six years old, his father left the family. His mother supported him, and he went to study at the Ecole de Provence and later at the Lycée Thiers. It was there that he started writing his first book, Les Mal-partis.

He later moved to Paris to study philosophy at the Sorbonne. But he spent most of his time finishing his first novel. This book was published in 1950 by Robert Laffont. It became very popular in the UK and the U.S., selling many copies.

After that, Rossi wrote a shorter novel called Faces of Love and Hatred in 1950. He also worked as a translator, changing English books into French. He translated famous books like The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. To make a steady living, Rossi started working in advertising. He wrote ads and managed campaigns for big companies like Air France.

Rossi was also very interested in movies. He wrote and directed two short films: La machine à parler d’amour (1961) and L’idée fixe (1962).

In the early 1960s, he needed to earn more money. A friend suggested he write a crime novel and offered him a good payment upfront. Not sure how it would turn out, he decided to use the pen name 'Sébastien Japrisot'. He quickly wrote two crime novels: The Sleeping Car Murders and Trap for Cinderella. The second book won a big award called the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 1963. Both books were later made into movies in 1965.

Japrisot then wrote The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun. This book won him another award in France in 1966. It also won the Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger award in the UK for the best thriller by a foreign writer. This book was also made into a movie in 1970.

During the 1960s and early 1970s, Japrisot worked a lot in movies. He wrote original movie scripts for films like Farewell Friend (1968) and Rider on the Rain (1970). He also directed the movie version of his first novel, Les Mal-partis, in 1975.

He returned to writing novels in 1977 with One Deadly Summer. This book won an award in 1978. The movie version of One Deadly Summer, made in 1983, won four Césars (which are like the French Oscars). Japrisot himself won a César for writing the best adapted movie script.

From then on, Japrisot split his time between writing books and working on movies. His next novel, The Passion of Women, came out in 1986. In 1988, he wrote and directed a thriller called Juillet en septembre. This movie was not very successful and was his last time directing a film.

In 1990, Japrisot moved from Paris to a house near Busset, France. His last novel, A Very Long Engagement, was published in 1991. It was praised by critics in France and other countries and won the Prix Interallié that same year.

Japrisot then wrote two more movie scripts for director Jean Becker: The Children of the Marshland (1999) and A Crime in Paradise (2001).

He passed away on March 4, 2003, in Vichy. His new novel, Là-haut les tambours ("Drums on the Heights"), was not finished. Jean-Baptiste Rossi is buried in the cemetery of Busset.

How Sébastien Japrisot Wrote

Sébastien Japrisot's crime novels are often like puzzles. They usually start with a crime that happened before the story begins. The story then slowly puts together what happened, like solving a mystery. Each book often has different characters telling their side of the story.

This means that Japrisot's books make you think about how people tell stories and how they try to convince others of their version of events. The "truth" in his stories often comes from putting together different pieces of information from various characters.

He often used special writing tricks. For example, he would tell stories from just one character's point of view. This keeps the reader guessing, just like the character, until the big reveal. He also sometimes wrote in the present tense, making it feel like the events are happening right now. This makes the story more exciting and less like someone looking back and telling you what happened.

Because he used these complex ways of telling stories, it was sometimes hard for publishers to decide if his books were just "crime fiction" or more serious "literary fiction." Japrisot himself said that crime-fiction critics thought his books were too literary, while literary critics thought they were too exciting!

What Inspired Him

Sébastien Japrisot said he didn't really like reading a lot. He believed that Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Ernest Hemingway’s Fifty Grand were all you needed to learn how to write well. He also liked the writers G. K. Chesterton and Georges Simenon.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, were very important to Japrisot. He often used quotes from these books at the beginning of his own novels, like One Deadly Summer and A Very Long Engagement. These quotes hinted that his characters, like Alice, might not fully understand what was happening around them.

Carroll's books might have also given Japrisot the idea for his young female characters who are searching for answers and who they are. Just like Alice, Japrisot’s characters often find themselves in strange situations where things are not clear, and they have to figure out who they are.

His Impact and Legacy

When Sébastien Japrisot passed away, France's Minister of Culture, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, said that Japrisot was a "master of storytelling" and a writer loved by both critics and the public. He said Japrisot's love for his characters and for French history was at the heart of his work.

In 2004, a group called the Association Sébastien Japrisot was started in Busset to help keep his books and ideas alive.

In 2005, a special meeting was held at the University of Bristol to talk about Sébastien Japrisot's work. Experts from different countries came together to discuss his contributions to crime fiction and movies. They later published a book called "Sébastien Japrisot: the Art of Crime."

Many experts believe that Japrisot's work should be studied more, even though he was often seen as "just" a crime fiction writer. They argue that his books used new and interesting ideas, even if they didn't seem as "experimental" as some other writers of his time. His writing often broke down the usual rules of detective stories and put them back together in new and surprising ways.

Books by Sébastien Japrisot

Movies by Sébastien Japrisot

• 1961: La machine à parler d'amour (short film) (director, writer)
• 1961: L'idée fixe (short film) (director, writer)
• 1964: L'homme perdu dans son journal (short film) (director, writer)
• 1965: Trap for Cinderella (writer, based on his book)
• 1965: The Sleeping Car Murders (based on his book)
• 1968: Adieu l'ami (also known as Farewell, Friend) (writer)
• 1970: Rider on the Rain (writer)
• 1970: The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (based on his book)
• 1972: And Hope to Die (writer)
• 1975: Story of O (writer)
• 1975: Folle à tuer (also known as Mad Enough To Kill) (writer)
• 1976: Les Mal Partis (director, writer, based on his book)
• 1983: One Deadly Summer (writer, based on his book)
• 1988: Juillet en septembre (also known as July In September) (director, writer)
• 1992: Daam Autos (The Lady in the Car), Estonia (based on his book The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun)
• 1999: Children of the Marshland (writer)
• 2000: Traektoriya babochki (Trajectory of the Butterfly), Russian TV show (based on his book Trap for Cinderella)
• 2001: Dama v ochkakh, s ruzhyom v avtomobile (The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun), Russian TV show (based on his book)
• 2001: A Crime in Paradise (writer)
• 2004: A Very Long Engagement (based on his book)
• 2013: Trap for Cinderella (based on his book)
• 2015: The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (based on his book)

Awards Sébastien Japrisot Won

• 1963: Grand Prix de Littérature policière for Piège pour Cendrillon
• 1966: Prix de l'Unanimité for Les Mal Partis
• 1966: Prix d'Honneur for La Dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil
• 1968: Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel (Best Foreign) for The Lady in the Car
• 1978: Prix des Deux-Magots for L'Été meurtrier
• 1981: The Martin Beck Award (Swedish Academy) for Vedergällningen (L'Été meurtrier)
• 1984: César for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie L'Été meurtrier
• 1991: Prix Interallié for Un long dimanche de fiançailles
• 1996: Adult Great Read (Honorable Mention) for A Very Long Engagement

Images for kids

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  Sébastien Japrisot's signature

See also

In Spanish: Sébastien Japrisot para niños