TRIBUTES AND RETROSPECTIVES
Femininspiration - Jeanne Moreau |
Lillian Gish
Jeanne Moreau
1984 - France - 58mn
Screenings :
sunday 21 - 8:30 pm - Grand Théâtre - presented by Jean-Michel Frodon - journalist and film critic
New York, summer 1983. Jeanne Moreau goes to meet Lillian Gish to film a portrait of her. The star of American silent films invites her to her apartment and discusses her career from its beginnings on film in 1912. She remembers the conditions on stage when she was a child, the first Hollywood blockbuster, D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915), and her passion for cinema guided by an inexhaustible curiosity.
Jeanne Moreau continued her exploration of what it means to be an actress in this interview she directed on Lilian Gish. “The depth of their exchanges expresses Jeanne's affection and admiration for Griffith's favourite leading lady. She captures a sparkle in her eye showing how she has remained young at heart. She is curious and attentive, acquiescent, smiling, posing questions with warmth and respect, exploring the mystery of such an exceptional career… Almost as if she was surprised by her own. Jeanne succeeds in showing Lilian Gish as being gentle, moving and full of humour, the portrait of a woman for whom every memory is resolutely alive.” (Jean-Claude Moireau; Jeanne Moreau, l'insoumise). Jeanne Moreau had planned to direct further portraits of American actresses, but the project never came to fruition. They included Elizabeth Taylor, Faye Dunaway, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda and Jessica Lange.
CAST AND CREW
Cast : Lillian Gish, Jeanne Moreau
Cinematography : Tom Hurwitz
Editing : Noëlle Boisson
Music : Roland Romanelli
French distributor : Carlotta