Audrey Tautou and the grandes dames of French cinema
Annabelle Steffes-Halmer / rbAugust 9, 2016
Audrey Tautou, who became an international film star through "Amélie" and "The Da Vinci Code," is celebrating her 40th birthday. With her acting skills and charm she's proven to be a "grande dame" in French cinema.
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12 'grandes dames' of French cinema
Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau: Hardly any other country has so many grandes dames of cinema as France. Here are some of the country's most unforgettable artists — and those who might still become one.
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Catherine Deneuve — the 'grande dame'
She is one of the most important French film actresses of our time. Born in Paris in 1943, it was the film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" that made her famous at the tender age of 21. The woman with the flawless appearance and cool expression played in films by renowned directors such as Roman Polanski, Francois Truffaut or Luis Bunuel.
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Isabelle Huppert — the unapproachable
She seems unapproachable and distant. Just a facade? One who should know is director Michael Haneke (pictured left). Huppert is his favorite actress; their latest collaboration was on the drama "Happy End." The exceptional actress became famous with films like "The Lacemaker," "Madame Bovary" and "The Piano Teacher."
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Jeanne Moreau — star of the Nouvelle Vague
She shot films with almost every famous director. Moreau starred in very influential films such as "Elevator to the Gallows," "Jules et Jim" or "The Lovers." In 1965 her striptease with Brigitte Bardot in the revolutionary comedy "Viva Maria!" caused a real scandal. The legendary actress died in July 2017.
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Brigitte Bardot — the erotic icon
Speaking of Brigitte Bardot... She should not be missing from this list, of course. In the 1960s she became an erotic icon as an actress, singer and model. She made film history through her role in "Contempt" by Jean-Luc Godard from 1963. Here she's lounging with Maurice Ronet in "Les Femmes."
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Sophie Marceau — the Bond girl
In the 1980s she became a star and was the crush of many teenage boys after playing in "La Boum." After part two, the then 16-year-old got out of the contract so she wouldn't have to shoot a third part. Through the erotic drama "Descent Into Hell" she proved she was not an innocent teenager anymore. Here she is seen as a Bond girl in "The World Is Not Enough."
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Fanny Ardant — the muse
Fanny Ardant, Francois Truffaut's last muse and companion, is one of the most popular actresses on the screen and on stage in her home country. Director Truffaut discovered Ardant in a TV series and wanted to get to know her. A lunch with him and Gerard Depardieu followed. In 1981 she had her breakthrough in the "The Woman Next Door."
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Isabelle Adjani — femme fatale with humor
She celebrated her first major success at the Comedie Francaise, but it was Truffaut's "The Story of Adele H." that made her famous as a film actress. By working with many renowned directors she soon became one of the sought after cinema names in Europe — and her image changed from comedy actress to femme fatale.
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Juliette Binoche — the picky one
From a very young age, the daughter of a theater director and an actress was present on stages and celebrated her film debut at 18. It did not take long for Hollywood to take note. In 1996, she won an Oscar for best supporting actress in "The English Patient." Binoche is considered to be very headstrong: She refused a role in the blockbuster "Jurassic Park."
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Audrey Tautou — the fabulous
She is one of the divas of the new generation: Audrey Tautou. She couldn't completely rid herself of the image of the strange but lovable Amelie Poulain. The movie "Amelie" helped her with her breakthrough as an actress and she later starred in several other successful films. Tautou created a buzz internationally by playing alongside Tom Hanks in "The Da Vinci Code."
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Charlotte Gainsbourg — the daredevil
The daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg created a stir in Lars von Trier's "Nymphomanic." The film shows a woman who experiments with her sexuality in all kinds of ways. It is not Gainsbourg's first appearance in a daring role. The film "Antichrist" (pictured), also directed by von Trier, gained a reputation as a scandalous film.
Long before her highly debated death scene in "Batman — The Dark Knight Rises" the beautiful Marion Cotillard was talked about. In 2011 she was named the best-paid French actress. Cotillard has shown that she can be very versatile — particularly in her role as Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose," for which she won an Oscar in 2008.
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Lea Seydoux — the indie star
Seydoux is another French actress who became a Bond girl (here with Christoph Waltz in "Spectre"). She first became famous with "Blue Is the Warmest Color" — a film that both fascinated and shocked critics and audiences, particularly with its seven-minute lesbian sex scene. Together with co-star Adele Exarchopoulos and director Abdellatif Kechiche, Seydoux received the Golden Palm in 2013.
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The image of the whimsical, but absolutely adorable Amélie Poulain will always be associated with her. (In French, Poulain fittingly means "foal.") It is this role that made Audrey Tautou world famous practically overnight.
In Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amélie," Tautou makes every effort to make the lives of others a little bit better. And in the end she even finds her true love. Accompanied by the melancholic music of Yann Tiersen, the comedy was a blockbuster in 2001.
The role of Amélie brought Tautou overnight fameImage: AP
After her success with "Amélie," Tautou was showered with movie options. In the beginning she continued to work with lesser known directors and starred in "L'Auberge Espagnole" (2002) and its sequal, "Russian Dolls" (2005) with director Cédric Klapisch.
She found international recognition as an actress when she played in the 2006 adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code," based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. Co-starring with Tom Hanks, the duo try to unlock the secrets behind Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings and to explore the myth that Jesus Christ had fathered physical descendants with Maria Magdalena.
The new face of Chanel
Tautou most recently made headlines thanks to her role as fashion designer Coco Chanel. In "Coco Before Chanel" (2009), she delivered her most multifaceted acting performance. In the film, director Anne Fontaine focused exclusively on Chanel's early days in Paris.
Playing alongside Tom Hanks brought Tautou international recognitionImage: Sony Pictures
Although some reviews were moderate, most underlined Tautou's strong identification with the person of Coco Chanel. It was only logical that Tautou became the new face for the brand and for its perfume classic Chanel No. 5 starting in 2009.
It is due to her charisma and her performance that Audrey Tautou joins the ranks of the greatest French actresses. Click through the gallery above for more grandes dames of French cinema.
