CAMERA FEMINA

JEANNE MOREAU, CINÉASTE
March 17-30 at Film Forum

Following JEANNE MOREAU, ACTRICE, a two-week retrospective of nineteen of the iconic star’s greatest performances (including the Duras-directed NATHALIE GRANGER on March 8),  JEANNE MOREAU, CINÉASTE presents an exciting rare opportunity to see Moreau’s rarely seen work as a director, all in new restorations:  LUMIÈRE (1976), THE ADOLESCENT (1979), and the documentary LILLIAN GISH (1984). March 17-30 at Film Forum.

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Jeanne Moreau as Director
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Jeanne Moreau, LUMIERE. Image courtesy Film Forum.

LUMIÈRE

Directed by Jeanne Moreau; starring Lucia Bosè, Francine Racette, Caroline Cartier, Jeanne Moreau, Keith Carradine; in French with English subtitles; approx. 102 min. DCP. France, 1976. New 4K restoration.

“A riveting, lovingly crafted character study […] eschewing the more traditional narratives of films like Godard’s Contempt or Truffaut’s Day for Night (where the character played by Jacqueline Bisset was supposedly based in part on Moreau). [An] achingly personal endeavor.” (Max Borg)

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Jeanne Moreau, LILLIAN GISH. Image courtesy Film Forum.

LILLIAN GISH

Directed by Jeanne Moreau; starring Lillian Gish, Jeanne Moreau; in English; approx. 58 min. DCP. France, 1984.

The leading lady of French cinema interviews the “First Lady of American Cinema” in a documentary that is both a revealing conversation between peers and an homage to a Hollywood legend. This film was the only one realized in a projected series of portraits of American actresses, including Elizabeth Taylor, Faye Dunaway, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda and Jessica Lange.

As a companion to the documentary, two of Gish’s greatest silents will be screened in 35mm: Victor Sjöström’s THE WIND (1928) and THE SCARLET LETTER (1926) — both with live piano accompaniment — along with Charles Laughton’s THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955), Gish’s most memorable late performance.  

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Jeanne Moreau, THE ADOLESCENT. Image courtesy Film Forum.

THE ADOLESCENT

Directed by Jeanne Moreau; starring Simone Signoret, Jacques Weber, Edith Clever; in French with English subtitles; approx. 93 min. DCP. France, 1979. New 4K restoration.

Drawing on autobiographical experiences, Moreau’s THE ADOLESCENT recounts a fateful summer with Mamie (Simone Signoret), based on Moreau’s grandmother, and Marie, a girl on the brink of womanhood.