(Montreal) The artistic community has been in shock since the announcement, at the very end of the Sunday evening, of the sudden death of Jean-Marc Vallée in a chalet in the Quebec region. He was 58 years old, and the circumstances of the death were still unknown at the time of this writing.
First announced by the specialized American site Deadline, the sad news was confirmed at Press by Pierre Even, producer of the film CRAZY.
Born in Montreal in 1963, Jean-Marc Vallée became known as a filmmaker in 1995 by directing Blacklist, a thriller whose headliners were Michel Côté and Geneviève Brouillette. He will know international recognition 10 years later thanks to CRAZY., a film which, to this day, still holds the record for the largest number of trophies – 15 – awarded to a single production within the framework of a Quebec cinema gala.
PHOTO ANNE MARIE FOX, SUPPLIED BY REMSTAR
Jean-Marc Vallée with Matthew McConaughey during the filming of Dallas Buyers Club
This great success will lead Jean-Marc Vallée to shoot The Young Victoria, his first English-language feature film intended for the cinema, as well as Café de Flore. His enviable reputation as a Hollywood actor gained recognition in 2013 thanks to Dallas Buyers Club, a film shot with modest means, which will be cited six times at the Oscars (notably in the category of best film of the year) and which will win Matthew McConaughey the Oscar for best actor and Jared Leto, the one awarded to best supporting actor.
After Wild (with Reese Witherspoon) and Demolition (with Jake Gyllenhaal), the filmmaker turned brilliantly to the prestige series, notably directing all the episodes of Big Little Lies, which earned him numerous awards (including the Emmy Award for Best Director), as well as the series Sharp Objects. The realization of another series, Gorilla and the Bird, was included in his projects, as well as a feature film on the story of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
The newspaper Variety, his production partner Nathan Ross said: “Jean-Marc was betting on creativity, authenticity, and trying to do things differently. He was a true artist and a loving and generous man. Everyone who worked with him could not help but admire his talent and vision. He was to me a friend, a creative partner and a brother. The maestro will be sorely missed, but we will find comfort in knowing that his beautiful style and the work he shared with the world will live on. ”