Japrisot, Sébastien

(Jean-Baptiste Rossi / July 5, 1931, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France - March 4, 2003, Vichy, Allier, France)

   Of Italian descent, he was educated by the Jesuits and completed his studies at the Sorbonne Uni­versity. In 1950, when he was only eighteen years old, he published a critically acclaimed first novel, Les Mal-Partis (Robert Laffont). Three years later, he translated into French J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. In the 1950s, he earned his living as an advertising chief for two Parisian agencies. In 1960, he met producer Pierre Braunberger, who financed his three shorts. Under the pseudonym of Sébastien Japrisot (an anagram of his name), he published two detective novels written in fifteen days. They were immediately adapted by himself and brought to the screen by André Cayatte (1965 Piège pour Cendril-lon / Non sono un'assassino / UK and USA: A Trap for Cinderella, France / Italy) and Costa-Gavras (1965 Compartiment Tueurs / UK: The Sleeping Car Murder / USA: The Sleeping Car Murders). He became much in demand as a screenwriter (1968 Adieu l'Ami / Due sporche carogne / Tecnica di una rapina / USA: Farewell, Friend / Honor Among Thieves, as screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist, Jean Herman, France / Italy; 1969 Le Passager de la Pluie / L'uomo venuto dalla pioggia / USA: Rider on the Rain / US video, as author of original novel, screenwriter, René Clément, France / Italy; 1970 The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun / La Dame dans l'Auto avec des Lunettes et un Fusil, as author of original novel, co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, Anatole Litvak, UK / France; 1972 La Course du Lièvre à travers les Champs / La corsa della lepre attraverso i campi / USA: And Hope to Die, as screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, René Clément, France / Italy; 1975 Histoire dO / Die Geschichte der O. / USA: The Story of O, as screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, Just Jaeckin, France / West Germany; 1983 L'Eté meurtrier / USA: One Deadly Summer, as author of original novel, as screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, Jean Becker; 1999 Les Enfants du Marais / UK: The Children of Marshland, as screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, Jean Becker; 2001 Un Crime au Paradis / UK and USA: A Crime in Para­dise, as co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, Jean Becker). After his death, Jean-Pierre Jeunet adapted his novel Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles / USA: A Very Long Engagement (2004, France / USA).

 Filmography

        ◘ La Machine à parler d'Amour (as Jean-Baptiste Rossi; short; also screenwriter, dialogist, voice)

        ◘ L'Idée fixe (as Jean-Baptiste Rossi; short; also screenwriter, monologue)

1964 ◘ L'Homme perdu dans son Journal (as Jean-Baptiste Rossi; short; also screenwriter)

1976 ◘ Les Mal Partis (as Jean-Baptiste Rossi; also original novel, screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)

1988 ◘ Juillet en Septembre (also screenwriter, dialogist)