In the whirlwind of Jeanne Moreau's life

On July 31, 2017, the curtain came down on the life of the great French actress Jeanne Moreau. The legendary actress, who defined herself as a “woman who acts,” who attached to herself the dual titles of “mystic and frivolous,” died in her apartment, not far from Place Tern in Paris, near the Halle de Fleille, at the age of 89. Her housekeeper discovered her in bed, lifeless, in the morning, and burst into tears. For the past two years, Jeanne had secluded herself in her apartment, which was unusual throughout her turbulent life.

Her best friend, director Jean-Pierre Mucci, said that Jeanne could no longer act due to weakness and felt abandoned. In 2015, she appeared in her last film, “The Talent of My Friends,” directed by Alex Lutz. In addition, she suffered greatly from the half-ridicule she was the target of. Her voice, which grew hoarse over the years, aged with age, attracted imitations that hurt the soul of the admired actress. Jeanne Moreau, determined, opinionated, honest, generous, led a long and successful career of 65 frantic years with a high hand. The famous actress, inFrance And throughout the world, she was a close friend of directors, actors, musicians, singers, writers, and artists in general. She supported young people at the beginning of their careers and artists who needed help, and was very active in various cultural events and festivals.

Jeanne Moreau has acted, since the early 50s, in more than 130 films under the baton of many directors, including François Truffaut, Louis Malle, Jacques Demy, Jean Renoir, Roger Vadim, André Técina, as well as Luis Buñuel, Orson Welles, Michelangelo Antonioni, Joseph Lucey, Elia Kazan, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Jeanne Moreau has won honorary awards for her life's work from the Festival Cannes, Berlin and Venice and many other awards. In 1958 she became a star following her appearance in two Louis Malle films, “Elevator to the Gallows” and “The Lovers.”

Her meeting with Louis Malle was an important milestone in her artistic path. For the first time, her face, which had been considered “asymmetrical,” was photographed as it was, without trying to adapt it to the aesthetic standards of the time. “The Lovers,” which was bold for its time and caused a scandal, was her parting gift to the director. Jeanne used to leave her lovers first because she was afraid of being abandoned.

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Jeanne Moreau was born in 1928 to a father who owned a restaurant in the 9th arrondissement and an Anglo-Irish mother who was a dancer. She spent most of her childhood in Vichy. When her father went bankrupt, the family moved to a cheap hotel in Montmartre. Jeanne's uncle paid for her dance lessons and developed in her a passion for reading books. Her father, on the other hand, was narrow-minded, strict and violent. The quarrels between her father and mother, an unsuitable couple, marred Jeanne's difficult childhood. Her dream as a girl was to be a dancer, like her mother. A classical dancer, or, if not, at least a music hall dancer. If she had joined her mother when she separated from her father, she would have pursued a career as a dancer in the Anglo-Saxon world. But life determined that Jeanne would act.

She began her career as an actress in the theater, which she never left. Jeanne, a theater queen, acted in about 60 plays throughout her life. The German director Klaus Michael Gruber, she said, had a profound influence on her and changed her life. From small roles in the Comédie Française, she quickly rose to leading roles. Her acting talent was immediately recognized and appreciated, and the greatest directors came to her rescue. And so, one day, Jeanne's father discovered his daughter's picture in the newspaper "France Soir", and he was shocked! His daughter was an actress! Jeanne studied acting and became an actress in secret from her parents.

For Jeanne's old-fashioned father, born in the 19th century, the word "actress" was synonymous with "whore." The rebellious daughter received a resounding slap and was thrown out of the house. The expulsion only increased the novice actress's drive to cling to her calling, her freedom, and her independence. Jeanne devoured life and was not deterred by any obstacle. And, ironically, she played the roles of prostitutes one after another. In time, she forgave her father, and he even ended his life in her home.

Gilles and Jim, a song and a film

Three years after her success in Louis Malle's films, Jeanne played the character of Catherine in François Truffaut's film "Gilles et Jime", which was her best-known role. The song that accompanied the film, "The Whirlwind of Life", became even more famous than it, and the story of its extraordinary success is linked to Jeanne's own private love life. The song was actually written long before the film. Jeanne married for the first time in 1949 to actor, director and screenwriter Jean-Louis Richard. That same year, she appeared in her first film, "Last Love", directed by Jean Staley. The turbulent, on-and-off relationship between Jeanne and her partner took place under the watchful eye of her good friend, Serge Razvani, who inspired the song "The Whirlwind of Life": We met, we knew, we parted, we came back, we parted...

Seven years later, in 1962, Jean, playing Catherine, the female lead in the film triangle “Gilles et Jims,” sang the immortal song in her husky, sensual voice, a song that would stick with her forever. The song, originally intended for a small group of people who sang on trips in rented cars, unexpectedly gained much wider distribution. François Truffaut asked Razvani for permission to play the song in his film, in which the heroine hesitates between the men in her life and decides, in the end, to love them all. The filming of the film encountered budget problems and accidents that delayed the work. “We will sing,” Truffaut said. And Jean sang “The Whirlwind of Life” with Razvani accompanying her on guitar. The segment, filmed in a large wooden cabin in the Vosges Mountains, was incorporated into the film.

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On May 17, 1995, Vanessa Paradis sang “The Whirlpool of Life” at the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival, in front of the president of its jury, Jeanne Moreau. The latter, rising from her seat, joined the young singer-actress and finished the song with her. At the end of the moving performance, Jeanne planted a kiss on the back of Vanessa’s hand. The song, which was intended to be nothing more than a small surprise, became the hallmark of the 48th Cannes Film Festival, a mythological duet in the history of the French singer.

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In 1949, the year Jeanne began acting in films, her only son was born. Jeanne was not destined to be a mother. She would say so later. She gave birth within two hours and immediately called the director to let him know that she felt wonderful and was available for work. Her children were the characters she played, to whom she had given life and for the time being she had no other needs. She had built Jerome with love, despite everything, in her own way. When the child was injured in a car accident, in the car of Jean-Paul Belmondo , and fell into a seventeen-day coma, Jean did not leave his bed. But Jerome, who suffered from being the son of, was not happy. Only late in life did he find himself and his destiny and reconcile with his parents. Today, Jerome Richard, 68, lives in Los Angeles as a painter.

When Jeanne was 31, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and has since been prevented from becoming a mother again. This is the year she split from the great designer, Pierre Cardin, after a romance of almost five years. All Paris knows that Cardin loves men. But Jeanne, who fell in love with him at first sight, knew that Cardin could love a woman. The designer highlighted the unique beauty of the admired actress in his luxurious outfits. The couple both wanted a child together, but life decreed otherwise.

Love life

Jeanne Moreau led her love life, she said, as a man. Her relationships were always born out of appreciation for the artistic activity of the beloved. Among the lovers of the femme fatale were François Truffaut, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Marcello Mastroianni, Sacha Distel, Orson Welles, Tony Richardson (who left Vanessa Redgrave for her), Raoul Levy (film producer, director and screenwriter who committed suicide at the age of 44 in 1966), Georges Moustaki. Jeanne did not like the latter's infidelities and left him to sigh without saying a word to him for the rest of his life. In 1951, she separated from her first husband, the father of her son, Jean-Louis Richard, but remained on good terms with him and continued artistic collaboration (Richard wrote scripts with Truffaut). In 1977, she married her second husband, director William Friedkin (“The Exorcist,” “The French Connection”). The couple separated after two years because Jean could not stand life in the United States.

Passion for reading

Jeanne Moreau was an avid reader and particularly admired James Joyce and Guillaume Apollinaire. Her apartment, where she had lived for 33 years, was filled with books. Philosophy books were out of the question. Jeanne was not ashamed to declare that philosophy bored her. She also said that she would fall asleep with books in her bed. Her close friends included Hemingway, Anaïs Nin, Tennessee Williams, Marguerite Duras Called “Margo,” Joyce Carol Oates adapted scripts from her books.

The legacy of Jeanne Moreau

Jeanne Moreau is considered a symbol of the New Wave and French cinema in general. The great actress won many awards, including international ones, including an honorary Oscar awarded to her by Sharon Stone in 1998 for all her work. “Jeanne la Francese,” as she was called outside her country, was the best ambassador of French cinema around the world.

Every film lover has their own Jeanne Moreau. Some remember her with Brigitte Bardot in Louis Malle's "Viva Maria", some remember her as Celestine in "The Maid's Diary", directed by Luis Buñuel, based on the novel by Octave Mirbeau, some as a top prostitute in Joseph Lucie's "Eva", some as a teacher in Tony Richardson's "Mademoiselle", some as a mother who is more than necessary attached to her son in "Moderato Cantabile", directed by Peter Brook, based on the novel by Marguerite Duras, some as Lydia in Antonioni's film, "The Night", some as Jacqui in Jacques Demy's "Bay of Angels", some as Julie in François Truffaut's "The Bride Wore Black", some as Marguerite de Valois in Jean Darville's film, "Queen Margot", some as Lady M. In Laurent Heinemann's film, "The Old Woman Who Walked the Sea," based on the novel by Frédéric Dar, she is the grandmother in François Ozon's film, "The Time That Remains," as Rebecca, Victor's mother, in "Later," directed by Amos Gitai, based on the autobiographical book by Jérôme Calman. And many will always remember her as Catherine, a modern woman who despises conventions, in François Truffaut's "Gilles et Jim," the one who sings for her own pleasure the "whirlwind of life."