1.
2009 Cannes Film Festival
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The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May –24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury and it was announced on 19 March 2009, that Pixars film Up would open the festival. This marked the first time that a film or a film in 3-D opened the festival. * First animated film ever to open the festival, the following films competed for the Palme dOr
2.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
3.
Claudia Cardinale
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Claudia Cardinale is an Italian film actress who appeared in some of the most acclaimed European films of the 1960s and 1970s, mainly Italian or French, but also in several English films. From 1963, Cardinale became known in the United States and Britain following her role in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven, in 1982, she starred in Werner Herzogs Fitzcarraldo as the love interest of Klaus Kinski, who raises the funds to buy a steamship in South America. Outspoken on womens rights causes over the years, Cardinale has been a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for the Defense of Womens Rights since March 2000, in February 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named Cardinale among the 50 most beautiful women in film history. Claudia Cardinale was born Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale in La Goulette and her mother, Yolande Greco, was born in Tunisia to Sicilian emigrants from Trapani. Her maternal grandparents had a shipbuilding firm in Trapani, but later settled in La Goulette. Her father, Francesco Cardinale, was a worker, born in Gela. Her native languages were French, Tunisian Arabic, and the Sicilian language of her parents and she did not learn to speak Italian until she had already begun to be cast for Italian films. Cardinale was educated at the Saint-Joseph-de-lApparition school of Carthage, which she attended along with her younger sister Blanche and she then studied at the Paul Cambon School, where she graduated with the intention of becoming a teacher. Cardinales first film work was participating, along with classmates, in a film by French director René Vautier, Anneaux dor. The film made her a local celebrity, and led to her being spotted by Jacques Baratier. She accepted it reluctantly after Baratier explained he wanted a Tunisian actress rather than an Italian to star in the role opposite the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif. The appearance nonetheless marked her feature-film debut, after being spotted by several film producers at the event, she was invited to study at the Experimental Cinematography Center in Rome under Tina Lattanzi. She attended briefly as, despite her extremely photogenic looks, she had trouble with her acting assignments, on this discovery, he wanted her to have an abortion, but she decided to keep the child. She solved her problems by signing an exclusive contract with Franco Cristaldis production company Vides. Cristaldi largely managed her career, and she was married to him from 1966 until 1975. She portrayed Carmelita, a Sicilian girl virtually imprisoned in her home by her overpowering brother, the comedy was a huge success, making Cardinale instantly recognizable. Some newspapers were referring to her as la fidanzata dItalia. Later that year, she had a role opposite Yvonne Monlaur in Claudio Goras romantic comedy Three Strangers in Rome
4.
Catherine Deneuve
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Catherine Deneuve is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model and producer. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof, mysterious beauties for various directors, including Luis Buñuel, Francois Truffaut, in 1985, she succeeded Mireille Mathieu as the official face of Marianne, Frances national symbol of liberty. A 14-time César Award nominee, she won for her performances in Truffauts The Last Metro and she is also noted for her support for a variety of liberal causes. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for Belle de Jour, and she also won the 1998 Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for Place Vendôme. Other films include Scene of the Crime, My Favourite Season,8 Women and her English-language films include The April Fools, Hustle, The Hunger and Dancer in the Dark. In 2015, she starred in The Brand New Testament and Standing Tall, Deneuve was born Catherine Fabienne Dorléac in Paris, France, the daughter of French stage actors Maurice Dorléac and Renée Simonot. Deneuve was her mothers name, which she chose for her stage name. Her work for Buñuel would be her most famous, further prominent films from this early time in her career included Jean-Paul Rappeneaus A Matter of Resistance, and Demys musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. Her starring roles at the time were featured in films as A Slightly Pregnant Man with Marcello Mastroianni. She made her film as a producer in 1988, Drôle dendroit pour une rencontre. In 1997, Deneuve was the protagonist in the video for the song NOubliez Jamais sung by Joe Cocker. In 1998 she won acclaim and the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for her performance in Place Vendôme. In the late 1990s, Deneuve continued to appear in a number of films such as 1999s five films Est-Ouest, Le temps retrouvé, Pola X, Belle maman. In 2000, Deneuves part in Lars von Triers musical drama Dancer in the Dark alongside Icelandic singer Björk was subject to critical scrutiny. The film was selected for the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival and she made another foray into Hollywood the following year, starring in The Musketeer for Peter Hyams. In 2002, she shared the Silver Bear Award for Best Ensemble Cast at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance in 8 Women. In 2005, Deneuve published her diary A lombre de moi-meme, in it she writes about her experiences shooting the films Indochine and she also provided the voice role of Marjane Satrapis mother in Satrapis animated autobiographical film Persepolis, based on the graphic novel of the same name. In 2008, she appeared in her 100th film, Un conte de Noël, during an interview at the Cannes Film Festival with Ali Naderzad, Deneuve was asked which was her own favorite film
5.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
6.
Vittorio Gassman
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Vittorio Gassman, Knight Grand Cross, OMRI, popularly known as Il Mattatore, was an Italian theatre and film actor, as well as director. He was born in Genoa to a German father, Heinrich Gassmann, while still very young he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Accademia Nazionale dArte Drammatica. Gassmans debut was in Milan, in 1942, with Alda Borelli in Niccodemis Nemica, in 1946, he made his film debut in Preludio damore, while only one year later he appeared in five films. In 1948 he played in Riso amaro and it was with Luchino Viscontis company that Gassman achieved his mature successes, together with Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli and Paola Borboni. He played Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams Un tram che si chiama desiderio, as well as in As You Like It and he joined the Teatro Nazionale with Tommaso Salvini, Massimo Girotti, Arnoldo Foà to create a successful Peer Gynt. In 1956 Gassman played the role in a production of Othello. He was so well received by his acting in the series entitled Il Mattatore that Il Mattatore became the nickname that accompanied him for the rest of his life. Gassmans debut in the commedia allitaliana genre was rather accidental, in Mario Monicellis I soliti ignoti, famous movies featuring Gassman include, Il sorpasso, La Grande Guerra, I mostri, LArmata Brancaleone, Profumo di donna and Ceravamo tanto amati. He directed Adelchi, a work by Alessandro Manzoni. Gassman brought this production to half a million spectators, crossing Italy with his Teatro Popolare Itinerante and his productions have included many of the famous authors and playwrights of the 20th century, with repeated returns to the classics of Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky and the Greek tragicians. He also founded a school in Florence, which educated many of the more talented actors of the current generation of Italian thespians. In cinema, he worked both in Italy and abroad. He met and fell in love with American actress Shelley Winters while she was touring Europe with fiancé Farley Granger, when Winters was forced to return to Hollywood to fulfill contractual obligations, he followed her there and married her. With his natural charisma and his fluency in English he scored a number of roles in Hollywood, including Rhapsody with Elizabeth Taylor and The Glass Wall before returning to Italy and the theatre. While rehearsing Hamlet, he began an affair with Anna Maria Ferrero, his 16-year-old Ophelia and he and Winters were forced to work together on Mambo just as their marriage was unraveling, providing fodder for tabloids all over the world. He later voiced Mufasa in the Italian version of The Lion King, Gassman married three actresses, Nora Ricci, Shelley Winters, and Diletta DAndrea, by whom he had a son, Jacopo. In addition, he had an affair with actress Juliette Mayniel and he rendered them with the same professional skill that made him famous while reciting Dantes Divine Comedy. On 29 June 2000, Gassman died of an attack at his home in Rome
7.
Legion of Honour
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The Legion of Honour, full name National Order of the Legion of Honour, is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction, Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur, Grand Officier and Grand-Croix. The orders motto is Honneur et Patrie and its seat is the Palais de la Légion dHonneur next to the Musée dOrsay, in the French Revolution, all French orders of chivalry were abolished, and replaced with Weapons of Honour. The Légion however did use the organization of old French orders of chivalry, the badges of the legion also bear a resemblance to the Ordre de Saint-Louis, which also used a red ribbon. Napoleon originally created this to ensure political loyalty, the organization would be used as a facade to give political favours, gifts, and concessions. The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman legion, with legionaries, officers, commanders, regional cohorts, the highest rank was not a grand cross but a Grand Aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously,5,000 francs to an officier,2,000 francs to a commandeur,1,000 francs to an officier,250 francs to a légionnaire. Napoleon famously declared, You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led, do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning. That is good only for the scholar in his study, the soldier needs glory, distinctions, rewards. This has been quoted as It is with such baubles that men are led. The order was the first modern order of merit, under the monarchy, such orders were often limited to Roman Catholics, and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perks of the officers, the Légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions—only merit or bravery counted. The new legionnaire had to be sworn in the Légion and it is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the Légion has five arms, in a decree issued on the 10 Pluviôse XIII, a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a sash and a silver star with an eagle, symbol of the Napoleonic Empire, became known as the Grand Aigle. After Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804 and established the Napoleonic nobility in 1808, the title was made hereditary after three generations of grantees. Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his family and this collar was abolished in 1815. The Légion dhonneur was prominent and visible in the French Empire, the Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time
8.
French Navy
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The French Navy, informally La Royale, is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces. As of June 2014, the French Navy employed a total of 36,776 personnel, the reserve element of the French Navy consisted of 4,827 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The French naval fleet includes more than a hundred vessels and nuclear type submarines, the history of the French Navy dates back to the History of the French Navy of Antiquity to the Renaissance, part of the History of the French Navy. The French Royal Navy was quasi inexistent prior 1624, the Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem, which was both a religious and military order, had its own respective international war fleet which assured the policing of the seas in the Mediterranean. The members which had satisfied obligations for periods in service at sea fulfilling their service, were granted the rank of Knights Hospitaller, however, many considered the naval service formation to integrate later, while being well formed, their respective navy. The Ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem was one of the ancestors of the French naval schools and in principal, the Order accordingly formed most of the ships Captains, Officers of the French Royal Navy and Admirals of the Marine française de guerre de la Méditerranée. During the Revolution, the French Navy succeeded to the French Royal Navy, under the First French Empire and the Second French Empire, the navy was designated as the Imperial French Navy. The French Navy is still designated today familiarly as La Royale and this expression was used by commercial sailors due to their military service at the corps of the navy by the institution of maritime inscription. The implementation then of the Ministère de la Marine later the de la Marine de guerre française at rue Royale. The symbol of the French Navy, which was since origin a golden anchor » and this symbol featured on all naval vessels, the arms, uniforms, the couriers, equipment, and general arms of the navy. This symbol was replaced in 1990 by a logo featuring a bow section of a warship with two ascending red and blue spray foams, and the inscription Marine nationale. The Chief of Staff of the French Navy was Admiral Bernard Louzeau, the navy became a consistent instrument of national power around the seventeenth century with Richelieus efforts under Louis XIII, and Colberts under Louis XIV. Under the tutelage of the Sun King, the French Navy was well-financed and -equipped, managing to score several victories in the Nine Years War against the Royal Navy. Financial troubles, however, forced the navy back to port and allowed the English, before the Nine Years War, in the Franco-Dutch War, it managed to score a decisive victory over a combined Spanish-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Palermo. The French Navy scored various successes, as in the campaigns led in the Atlantic by Picquet de la Motte, in 1766, Bougainville led the first French circumnavigation. During the American Revolutionary War the French Navy played a role in supporting the Americans. French warships participated in the battle by bombarding British ground forces, in India, Suffren waged campaigns against the British, successfully contending for supremacy against Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes. In the Mediterranean, the French Navy waged a campaign during a 1798 French invasion of Egypt
9.
Henri-Georges Clouzot
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Henri-Georges Clouzot was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the film genre, having directed The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques. Clouzot also directed films, including The Mystery of Picasso. Clouzot was an fan of the cinema and, desiring a career as a writer. He was later hired by producer Adolphe Osso to work in Berlin, after being fired from German studios due to his friendship with Jewish producers, Clouzot returned to France, where he spent years bedridden after contracting tuberculosis. Upon recovering, Clouzot found work in Nazi occupied France as a screenwriter for the German-owned company Continental Films, at Continental, Clouzot wrote and directed films that were very popular in France. His second film Le Corbeau drew controversy over its harsh look at provincial France, as a result of his association with Continental, Clouzot was barred by the French government from filmmaking until 1947. After the ban was lifted, Clouzot reestablished his reputation and popularity in France during the late 1940s with successful films including Quai des Orfèvres. After the release of his comedy film Miquette et sa mère, Clouzot married Véra Gibson-Amado, in the early and mid-1950s, Clouzot drew acclaim from international critics and audiences for The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques. Both films would serve as material for remakes decades later. After the release of La Vérité, Clouzots wife Véra died of an attack and Clouzots career suffered due to depression, illness. Clouzots career became less active in years, limited to a few television documentaries. Clouzot wrote several unused scripts in the 1970s and died in Paris in 1977, Henri-Georges Clouzot was born in Niort, France, to mother Suzanne Clouzot and father Georges Clouzout, a book store owner. He was the first of three children in a middle-class family, Clouzot showed talent by writing plays and playing piano recitals. In 1922, Clouzots fathers bookstore went bankrupt and his moved to Brest, France. In Brest, Henri-Georges Clouzot went to Naval School, but was unable to become a Naval Cadet due to his myopia, at the age of 18, Clouzot left for Paris to study political science. While living in Paris, he became friends with several magazine editors and his writing talents led him to theater and cinema as a playwright, lyricist and adaptor-screenwriter. The quality of his work led producer Adolphe Osso to hire him and send him to Germany to work in Studio Babelsberg in Berlin, throughout the 1930s, Clouzot worked by writing and translating scripts, dialogue and occasionally lyrics for over twenty films
10.
Jean-Louis Trintignant
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Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant is a French actor, screenwriter and director who has enjoyed international acclaim. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival as well as the Best Actor Award at the César Awards 2013, Trintignant was born in Piolenc, Vaucluse, France, the son of Claire and Raoul Trintignant, an industrialist. At the age of twenty, Trintignant moved to Paris to study drama, trintignant’s acting was interrupted for several years by mandatory military service. After serving in Algiers, he returned to Paris and resumed his work in film and he had the leading male role in the classic A Man and a Woman, which at the time was the most successful French film ever screened in the foreign market. Throughout the 1970s, Trintignant starred in films and in 1983 he made his first English language feature film. Following this, he starred in François Truffauts final film, Confidentially Yours, and reprised his role in the sequel A Man. In 1994, he starred in Krzysztof Kieślowskis last film, Three Colors, though he takes an occasional film role, he has, as of late, been focusing essentially on his stage work. After a 14-year gap, Trintignant came back on screen for Michael Hanekes film Amour, haneke had sent Trintignant the script, which had been written specifically for him. Trintignant comes from a wealthy family and he is the nephew of race car driver, Louis Trintignant, who was killed in 1933 while practising on the Péronne racetrack in Picardy. Another uncle, Maurice Trintignant, was a Formula One driver who won the Monaco Grand Prix as well as the 24 hours of Le Mans. Raised in and around automobile racing, Jean-Louis Trintignant was the choice of film director Claude Lelouch for the starring role of race car driver in the 1966 film, A Man. He suffered a leg injury from an accident in June 2007. His first wife was actress Stéphane Audran and his second wife, Nadine Marquand, was also an actress as well as a screenwriter and director. They had three children, Vincent Trintignant, Pauline and Marie Trintignant, at the age of 17, Marie performed in La terrazza alongside her father and later became a successful actress in her own right. She was killed at the age of 41 by her boyfriend, singer Bertrand Cantat, in a room in Vilnius. Trintignant is good friends with Anouk Aimée and it was he who recommended Aimée to film director Claude Lelouch for the female lead in A Man and a Woman. Jean-Louis Trintignant biography on newwavefilm. com Jean-Louis Trintignant at the Internet Movie Database Jean-Louis Trintignant at New Wave Film
11.
Claude Jade
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Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade, was a French actress. She is known for starring as Christine in François Truffauts three films Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board and Love on the Run, Jade acted in theatre, film and television. Her film work outside France included the Soviet Union, the United States, Italy, the daughter of university professors, Jade spent three years at Dijons Conservatory of Dramatic Art. In 1964 she played on stage 40 times the part of Agnès in Molières Lécole des femmes, in 1966 she won the Prix de Comédie for Jean Giraudouxs stage play Ondine, performed at the Comédie Boulogne. She moved to Paris and became a student of Jean-Laurent Cochet at the Edouard VII theater, while performing as Frida in Pirandellos Henri IV, in a production by Sacha Pitoëff at the Théâtre Moderne, Jade was discovered by New Wave film director François Truffaut. He was completely taken by her beauty, her manners, her kindness, and her joie de vivre, during the filming, Truffaut fell in love with her, and there was talk of marriage. American critic Pauline Kael wrote that Jade seems a less ethereal, playing the same character, Jade appeared in two more movies by Truffaut, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run. Some months after Truffauts Stolen Kisses Claude Jade starred in Alfred Hitchcocks Topaz, as Michèle Picard, recommended to Hitchcock by Truffaut, she was 19 years old when cast, with Dany Robin playing her mother. Hitchcock said he chose the two actresses to provide glamor, and later quipped, Claude Jade is a quiet young lady. Jade recounted that they talked in a Paris hotel about cooking, and I gave him my recipe for soufflé and told him I liked Strangers on a Train, Hitchcock said she resembled his former star Grace Kelly, and in France she was a younger Danielle Darrieux. Some of her scenes were deleted and restored for the cut of Topaz in 1999. Topaz was Jades only Hollywood film, universal Pictures offered her a seven-year contract, which she turned down reportedly because she preferred to work in French. Director Tony Richardsons film Nijinsky, based on a screenplay by Edward Albee, was canceled during pre-production by producer Harry Saltzman and it was to have starred Jade as Vaslav Nijinskys wife, alongside Rudolf Nureyev as Nijinsky and Paul Scofield as his lover Sergei Diaghilev. She had a role as Linda in Sous le signe de Monte-Cristo by André Hunebelle. Here the 19 years young actress starred alongside French cinemas veterans like Pierre Brasseur, Jade starred in Édouard Molinaros My Uncle Benjamin alongside Jacques Brel. As Manette she refuses Brels advances until he produces a marriage contract, at the End Manette realizes she prefers happiness to a marriage contract after all. Her career continued in Belgium, where she played a young English teacher who is intrigued by a murderer in the 1969 film The Witness. Her fiancé is this movie was played by Jean-Claude Dauphin, to whom she was engaged at this time, also in 1969 she starred as Helena in a film adaptation of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream by Jean-Christophe Averty, Le Songe dune nuit dété
12.
Max von Sydow
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Max von Sydow is a Swedish actor who became a French citizen in 2002. He has appeared in films in many languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, English, French, Italian. He received the Royal Foundation of Swedens Cultural Award in 1954, was made a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 2005, Sydow has appeared in well over a hundred films and TV shows. In 2016, Sydow joined the cast of HBOs hit series Game of Thrones, Max von Sydow was born Carl Adolf von Sydow in Lund, to a wealthy family. His father, Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, was an ethnologist and professor of Irish, Scandinavian and his mother, Baroness Maria Margareta Greta, was a schoolteacher. Some of his ancestry is German, his family’s origin is in Pomerania, now a region mostly in Poland, formerly part of Prussia, the particle von means of and usually indicates aristocratic descent. Sydow was brought up as a Lutheran and later became an agnostic and he attended Lund Cathedral School, where he learned German and English, starting at the age of nine. At school he and some friends founded a theatrical company. He completed his service before studying at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. During his time at Dramaten, he made his debuts in Alf Sjöbergs films Only a Mother and Miss Julie. In 1955, Sydow moved to Malmö, where he met his mentor and his first work with Bergman occurred on stage at the Malmö Municipal Theatre, and he would go on to work with Bergman on films such as The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and The Virgin Spring. In The Seventh Seal, Sydow is the knight who plays a game with Death. The chess scenes and the film were international breakthroughs for actor and director alike and it was in these films that Sydow honed and perfected his craft. Max von Sydow came to dominate the screen as he did the stage, critical recognition came as early as 1954 when he was awarded the Royal Foundation Culture Award. He worked profusely on both stage and screen while in Scandinavia, resisting the calls from the United States to go to Hollywood. As his talents were soon in demand in other American productions, von Sydow, from 1965, he became a regular on the American screen while maintaining a presence in his native Sweden. In 1969, he appeared in John Hustons The Kremlin Letter, though often typecast as a villain, he was rewarded in the United States with two Golden Globe nominations, for Hawaii in 1966 and The Exorcist in 1973. In the mid-1970s, Sydow moved to Rome and began to appear in a number of Italian films, becoming friendly with another screen legend, Marcello Mastroianni
