The death of Bob Rafelson, the new Hollywood figure and director of The Postman, always rings twice.

He was one of the faces of New Hollywood and directed The Postman Always Rings Twice and Five Easy Pieces. Bob Rafelson left us this Sunday, July 24th at the age of 89. He died of natural causes.

A disc jockey in Tokyo

Born in New York, Bob Rafelson left his family at age 15 to compete in rodeos, then left the country for a stint in Europe and Japan, where he worked on an ocean liner and then as a disc jockey in Tokyo. A few decades later, the characters of his film “Blood and Wine” (1996) take refuge on the same boat. Returning to America at the age of 18, he continued his adventures and became a drummer in a Mexican jazz orchestra before going on to study philosophy at Dartmouth College. He completed his military service, completed his studies in philosophy, then became a film critic. He soon settled into television as a script consultant for David Susskind’s Show Needs. “play a week”. This was followed by the creation of the show in 1966 “Monkeys”for which he receivesEmmy Best Comedy Series.

Jack Nicholson’s friend

predecessor New HollywoodThe young director had a significant impact on American cinema from the beginning of his career. He quickly became one of the big names that allowed independent cinema to move into the Hollywood machine, helping to spread films that had previously remained in the shadows. Significant development: The introduction of popular music of the 1960s and 70s into feature film soundtracks. This is evidenced by the transposition of his show on the big screen “Monkeys”. In the name of Head (1968), the film tells the story of the comic-psychedelic adventures of the pop-rock band The Monkees, inspired by Help! (1965) Directed by Richard Lester. In the script, the actor is still unknown, whom he will meet more than once: his friend Jack Nicholson.

Accompanied by four band members equipped with tape recorders and plenty of bootleg production, they record every idea that runs through their foggy heads. The result: a surreal collage that parodies almost everything American cinema has in terms of genres. Confounding even the band’s fans, the film was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. In 1969, Bob Rafelson founded the BBS Manufacturing Company with Bert Schneider and placed Jack Nicholson In the casting of Easy Rider, Dennis Hopper’s libertarian manifesto, which he produced. Against all odds, the film quickly became an emblem of the American counterculture New Hollywood. It should be noted that the director Lazlo Kovacs, precisely at the origin of this special light in St. Easy RiderWill choose Rafelson for the next few films.

Five simple pieces

We need to wait for 1971 and its second realization Five simple pieces Rafelson experienced his first public recognition. An autobiographical story of a young Hollywood security guard and an emblematic walkabout, the film doesn’t show or say anything other than the characters’ wanderings into an existential void of which they seem unaware. Celebrated by critics, the public’s success is there. opportunity as well Jack Nicholson To know the first major role of his career. You don’t change a winning team: The following year, the actor would join the director on the set of Marvin’s King of the Gardens (1972). Stripped of everything that binds it to the genre, it is certainly Rafelson’s most radical work. The filmmaker’s denial of any trace of spectacle results in an almost complete absence of narrative progression, wrongly causing critics and the public to shun the film. After making several important films such as The Last Session (1971) by Peter Bogdanovich and Maman and Putin (1973), directed by Jean Eustace, in 1976 he directed Stay Hungry, a bodybuilding feature starring Jeff Bridges and. For his first major role, Arnold Schwarzenegger. For this occasion, the Austrian actor received the Golden Globe for the best new actor. Sports, romance, comedy, once again we don’t know which box to put the item in.

Pay homage to film noir

In 1981, it was released in dark rooms The postman always rings twicewhere Rafelson discovers Jack Nicholson, accompanied by Jessica Lange. It is a remake of the film of the same name directed by Tay Garnett and adapted by James M. From a literary classic written by Kane. It’s easy to immerse yourself in film noir this time. Unlike the first adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice, here the couple is driven by both sentimental and sexual attraction. An attraction that screenwriter David Mamet also emphasizes by integrating erotic scenes that were particularly daring at the time, and even more so for actors of this scale.

at the sources of the Nile

Bob Rafelson then explores different registers, including the thriller Black Widow (1986) or the adventure film Aux sources du Nil. For his fourth collaboration Jack Nicholson, he then directed the romantic comedy Man Trouble (1992). The poor reception of the latter then marked the decline of the career of the director, who subsequently directed mainly television films and a few episodes of erotic series.

However, she did surprise with her eventual reunion with The Shining actor in 1996. blood and wine (1996) in his favorite genre. In the same angle as King of Marvin Gardens (1972), which already revolved around the relationship of brothers and especially Five simple pieces (1971), a film about father-son bonds. A hybrid work (detective and intimate), which almost 25 years later sounds like the closure of a trilogy of conflicted relationships. between restraint and histrionics, NicholsonYesterday’s son is given the role of father this time. Six years later, the director made another detective film, For No Reason (2002), in which many stars gathered, including Samuel L. Jackson, Milla Jovovich and Stellan Skarsgård.