Colette

Writing

Colette

Born January 28, 1873 · Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Yonne, France

Died August 3, 1954 · aged 81

Colette's fame extends to being probably the only female writer known by her mononym—She is always and only Colette, though in fact this most feminine of names was her surname: She was born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette on 28 January 1873 in the French village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye. Her work—mostly at novella length, short and sharp—survives because her chief subject is one that never goes out …

Known For

GigiGigi · 1958
Gigi
6.21958
MovieComedyRomance
A home, a motorcar, servants, the latest fashions: the most eligible and most finicky bachelor in Paris offers them all to Gigi. But she, who's gone from girlish gawkishness to cultured glamour before our eyes, yearns for that wonderful something money can't buy.
ChériChéri · 2009
Chéri
6.12009
MovieDramaComedy
The son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love.
Journey to ItalyJourney to Italy · 1954
Journey to Italy
7.21954
MovieDramaRomance
Married for eight years with no children, Brits Katherine and Alex Joyce are driving to Italy, their ultimate destination just outside of Naples to sell the villa they have just inherited from his uncle, the villa where they will be staying during their time there. On the drive, they come to the realization that this trip marks the first time that they have truly been alone together, and as such don't really know one another in the true sense.
GigiGigi · 1949
Gigi
6.11949
MovieRomanceComedy
Gilberte is a sixteen year old girl raised by her aunt and grandmother to be a demimondaine. But she's not ready for that yet, and spends her days in lessons and in teasing Mamita's old friend, the rich playboy Gaston LaChaille, and following his affairs from afar. But when Gaston throws off his latest mistress, it looks as if Gigi just might be ready to begin her destined career.
The Seven Deadly SinsThe Seven Deadly Sins · 1952
The Seven Deadly Sins
6.01952
MovieComedyDrama
A compilation of segments covers the seven deadly sins of greed, wrath, envy, pride, lust, sloth, and gluttony.
The Game of LoveThe Game of Love · 1954
The Game of Love
5.81954
MovieDramaRomance
Friends since infancy, two youngsters struggle as their platonic bond blossoms into romantic love with adolescence.
Break of DayBreak of Day · 1980
Break of Day
6.11980
MovieDramaRomance
A writer in her fifties spends the summer in her Saint-Tropez home, tending to her garden and animals while reflecting on her past. As nature thrives around her, a handsome young man and a restless woman draw near, bringing the uncertainties of desire and romance. Adapted from Colette's quasi-autobiographical novel.
MitsouMitsou · 1956
Mitsou
5.81956
MovieComedy
During the First World War, the Empyrée Montmartre, a Paris music-hall, is dedicated to patriotic revues whose star is the charming Mitsou. The young artist is not without talent but she is mainly well-connected. She is indeed the cherished mistress of Pierre Duroy-Lelong, a rich industrialist. One night, thanks to Petite-Chose, an ebullient singer-dancer and her co-star, she gets to know a handsome army, Lieutenant Bleu. Mitsou falls madly in love with him and Lieutenant Bleu is physically attracted to her. The trouble is that Bleu comes from a distinguished family and cannot put up with her lack of culture and artistic bad taste...

Filmography

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ColetteColette · 1951
Colette
6.51951
MovieDocumentary
In conversation, in her Paris apartment, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, mime, dancer, novelist, wonders whether she should give the green light to a proposed film about the houses in which she lived. “I’m no longer photogenic,” she insists; nearly 80, marriages, affair with a stepson and intermittent lesbianism behind her, refusing now even to mention the arthritis that confines and assaults her, Colette is vivacious. Yannick Bellon’s captivating postmodernist film, as much a study of evanescence as any poem by Dickinson, segues into the film that Colette, a few years before her end, has just said she doesn’t want to do. Giving voice(over) to her own commentary, she goes back, first, to the home in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Yonne, where she was born.