INTERVIEW: Ludivine Sagnier on "Love Crime", Her Star Persona and Catherine Deneuve

If you first discovered Ludivine Sagnier, as many movie lovers did in the early 00s through the films of François Ozon, the sensation was something like wide-eyed whiplash. One moment she was the exuberant tomboyish daughter of Catherine Deneuve in the musical 8 Women and the next she was anything but as a lusty bikini-clad (or unclad) vixen causing trouble for Charlotte Rampling in the thriller Swimming Pool. Both films were international hits and her turn as "Tinker Bell" in the UK/USA/Australia production of Peter Pan further upped her profile.  Sagnier has been a movie star in France ever since. 

 Ludivine Sagnier in Alain Courbet's Love Crime

Currently both The Devil's Double in which she plays leading lady to a Dominic Cooper double-act and the thriller Love Crime  in which she plays headgames with Kristin Scott Thomas are now in theaters and  Beloved with Catherine Deneuve will undoubtedly follow; consider her international profile revived. 

I sat down to talk with one of my favorite French actresses earlier this year during New York City's annual Rendezvous with French Cinema event. After introductions and a bit of small talk about French cinema and The Film Experience's actressy nature, we got down to business. 

NATHANIEL: You started so young Cyrano de Bergerac (1990). You were all of 9 or 10! 

LUDIVINE: People always ask me how I got started. My story is so common that it's a bit tiring. I went to an audition with my sister who wanted to be an actress and they asked me if I wanted to do an audition and they picked me and didn't take her. It happens so many times in the industry. I've talked to a lot of actresses...

Deneuve and Sagnier in Cannes in MayNATHANIEL: So when you were first coming up as an actor in France were you conscious of this great legacy. Like you're next in line after Huppert and Deneuve and well, so many actresses... France makes great ones.

LUDIVINE: NO! I Didn't see myself that concretely... I didn't like myself that much in the beginning. But it's funny because I just shot a movie where I was playing Catherine Deneuve in the 1960s and she is playing me older. It's Beloved from Christophe Honoré who I did Love Songs with. Maybe this time I had the feeling that we are part of the same family, that we have a common story. First she was my mom in 8 Women. Then I was Chiara's sister in Love Songs and Chiara is her daughter. And now Chiara is my daughter in Beloved. Everything is so mixed up!!!

And now I dare think we share the same history. When I started... NO.

Continue For Ludivine's Feelings on Star Persona, International Careers and Genre Hopping 

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TIFF Begins... Tonight

The Venice jury hasn't even handed out their prizes yet (Will Shame win the Lion?) but Toronto kicks it off tonight with their opening presentation of Davis Guggenheim’s From the Sky Down, a rock documentary on U2. It's actually the first time a documentary has opened the 36 year old film festival. I'm personally going to be incommunicado this weekend. Perhaps it sounds like bad timing but I knew I'd need to be away from NYC this weekend (can't take all the 9/11 obsessing). More importantly, it's my last breather / eye rest (begone computer screens!) for the next six months until the post-Oscar ceremony wrap-ups. 

Paolo and Amir. The Film Experience correspondents for TIFF 2011

Just as with Venice, I've enlisted some correspondents. You'll be hearing from Paolo (who you've already met) and Amir (of Amiresque) as they hit the fest. That's them above so stay tuned!

I'm here until tomorrow and I'll be back Monday late night. You won't even miss me. 

Hey Girl, It's Link Time: Young Lars, Drunk Charlize, Best Pictures

Grantland has Mark Harris (yay) on the four supposed Best Picture contenders we've seen thus far: Midnight in Paris, The Tree of Life, The Help and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two
Stale Popcorn loves the teaser poster for Young Adult and so do I. Isn't it the most... to say the least? Makes you want to "open it" right away and start reading enjoying.

My favorite detail is that Caldecott-like gold stamp, with Jason Reitman's credits on it. Gah, why can't all posters be this fuuuuunnnnn?

Vulture Did you hear Reese Witherspoon got hit by a car (she's fine). I knew this would rile her number one fan up! haha
24 Frames AFI Fest will open with Clint Eastwood's Oscar-buzzy J Edgar. 

This video which I discovered at the WOW report, from WeHoGuy30, does a gay riff on Beauty & The Beast. "Bonjour Girl" ...very funny if you enjoy this sort of thing.

The Lost Boy Ricky Gervais is threatening to host the Golden Globes again live podcast during the Golden Globes ... with comedian friends including Louis CK sounding off on the Hollywood back-patting. 
Broadway Blog interviews Jeff Calhoun who is helping to bring new versions of Newsies and Bonnie & Clyde to the stage. He also appeared in the 80s movie musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And yes, he talks Dolly Parton.   
Movie|Line Bad Movies We Love: Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal in The Main Event.  
PopMatters on Contagion and this age of zombie epidemics and vampiric viruses and real world terror

Today's Must Read
Ultra Culture was gifted a copy of an old Swedish documentary on Lars von Trier called Tranceformer (1997) and shares five things he learned from it. Very entertaining. Why is Lars so entertaining? Why is Ultra Culture so entertaining? He just is. They just are. Incidentally, I just saw Melancholia which I'm still mulling over but it is an absolute must-see as there is much to discuss about it. Which we will do soon.

Ask and Meryl Shall Receive.

UPDATED WITH NEWLY SCHEDULED LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT INFO

An Imagined Kennedy Center Honors Honor Photo OpDo you think Meryl Streep ever gets tired of hearing how awesome she is?

Do you think she ever has moments of doubt on set or has she ascended to a higher mortal plane? By now, 30+ years into her regularly lauded big screen career, the role she's had the most rehearsal time playing is that of "Gracious Recipient of Compliments". This will only continue this December with this year's Kennedy Center Honors on December 4th. The other recipients this year are all musicians: Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, and Sonny Rollins so I think they should make Streep sing for this particular supper; she's good at that, too. 

[Tangent: In other Streep news this headline about a "10th anniversary screening of Mamma Mia!" nearly gave me a heart attack today. It's 2018 already????? What have I done with my liiiiiiiiffffffeeee.]

The topic of Lifetime Achievement and Oscar is an annual one. Someone gets that treatment every year though it's far from infallible as campaign options go. And every year people get that treatment who aren't even in the Oscar race, which muddies the water in terms of who people are feeling exceptionally generous towards in one calendar year. There will be a limit on how many stars can get a boost from it, or it's younger cousin (the simpler "Tribute"). This year has already seen tributes to George Clooney and Tilda Swinton (both at Telluride), and lifetime honors for Shirley Maclaine (at Deauville) and soon the list will include Michael Douglas (Santa Barbara), Warren Beatty (BAFTA Los Angeles), Mary Tyler Moore (SAG), Glenn Close (San Sebastian) and Meryl Streep (Kennedy Center Honors). It doesn't end there.

We're probably obviously headed straight towards Lifetime Achievement Territory with the campaigns for Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus), Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Nick Nolte (Warrior)?

How many of these not so subtle "It's Time!" or "It's Time Again!" campaigns will really take off? AMPAS almost never goes  with a whole group of already rewarded actors or an "all veteran quartet" in the acting races (though there was The Strange Case of 1994). Care to place your bets?

Fan Bingbing with Shaved Head and Elephants

File Under: Why Not?