Michelangelo Antonioni & Monica Vitti

A thought occurred to me as I was writing my recent post Agent Provocateur. I had focused on two films starring Anna Karina (Pierrot Le Fou) and Harriet Andersson (Summer with Monika), in which both had played characters who were unsympathetic on paper and yet were transformed into charismatic roles on film. These challenging roles had been written specifically for them and directed by their respective lovers – and this is when the thought occurred to me. The most memorable female roles that I have seen committed to film, the best work and performances by actresses, have all been created and directed by their lovers. I am aware that this is a sweeping generalisation but does anyone remember any of the films Anna Karina starred in which weren’t directed by her husband, Jean-Luc Godard?

John Cassavetes & Gena Rowlands

This thought stood out to me so clearly because great female characters are so rare to find on film. Roles that are complex and intriguing have been written by directors deliberately to challenge and showcase the talents of their chosen muses. Who can forget how vivacious and compelling Jeanne Moreau was in Francois Truffaut’s ‘Jules et Jim?’ The exhilaration on her face as she races the boys across the bridge, or when the camera freeze frames as she mockingly moves from melancholy to happiness.

Louis Malle, Jeanne Moreau & Francois Truffaut

Often the male director has a svengali persona but also a patience to nuture their lover and the actress will in turn submit to their direction because of an implicit trust between the two of them. This unique balance allows the actress to be pushed to her limit to create outstanding performances. She is able to be vulnerable and bare her emotions more freely if it is done with someone they are intimate with in their personal life. The work that these actresess made with their lovers are often their most critically acclaimed from their career. An amusing example of how much these actresses relied on their lover’s direction is an incident that occurred on the set of Modesty Blaise, which is re-counted in Eve Arnold’s ‘Film Journal.’

‘The director Joe Losey steps up to the camera, calls ‘Action’ and as he directs his star, Monica Vitti, she moves in the opposite direction from the instructions she was given in rehearsal. Losey looks behind him and sees Michelangelo Antonioni over his shoulder directing Miss Vitti with body gestures. Miss Vitti has a problem. She has been told that she is ugly in profile, that she looks like a housemaid in profile, so she is countermanding her director’s instructions and taking direction from her lover, who has directed all her Italian films. This is her first American film. Losey plays it cool, keeps in filming, but somehow that half-hour is the only time Antonioni is seen on set.’

Bibi Andersson, Ingmar Bergman & Liv Ullmann

There is also the superficial benefits of being filmed more kindly than by other directors. He is able to disguise the bad and highlight the good, studiously framing the face and letting the camera linger longer than expected for the audience to stare in awe at the visual beauty on display. These directors had the ability to turn their muses into icons. Godard was well adept at this skill. Karina’s characters had various looks which have managed to infiltrate popular culture. For instance, playing Natacha Von Braun in Alphaville, Karina has a sharp black bob, heavily kohl rimmed eyes and wears a black velvet coat (the hem rimmed with white fur). It is a striking look that works well on black and white film. It is a striking look that has been replicated from fashion editorials to music videos.

Anna Karina & Jean-luc Godard

I’d be intrigued to find out other people’s opinions on this topic. Can you think of any other partnerships which illustrate a strong female performance from an actress romantically involved with the director? Get to writing and let me know what you think.

To end I thought I’d show clips of some of my favourite collaborations – however since I’m cheap, I’ve used a free trial dvd ripping software which limits me to 3 minutes per clip. It’s impossible to fully show the best parts limited to 3 minutes but I think you’ll be able to appreciate how symbiotic these personal relationships were to creating celluloid magic.

Persona [1966]
Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann were both Ingmar Bergman’s lovers – in fact Ullmann had a daughter with him. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during the filming of Persona…

Jules et Jim [1962]
The only other film Francois Truffaut and Jeanne Moreau worked on was ‘The Bride Wore Black.’ That is if you don’t include Moreau’s part in Truffaut’s ‘The 400 Blows’ as ‘Woman with dog.’

Ascenseur pour l’échafaud [1958]
Moreau had numerous affairs with her directors; Truffaut, Orson Welles, Tony Richardson to name a few but Louis Malle directed most of her films, including the controversial ‘The Lovers.’

Vivre Sa Vie [1962]
Anna Karina starred in 7 of her husband’s films. His films with her often reflected the state of their marriage which ended in 1964 – but they still managed to film 3 more films together, although their relations on set were besieged with animosity.

L’Avventura [1960]
Michelangelo Antonioni used his lover, Monica Vitti – the way that Fellini used Mastroianni. She was the embodiment of the director on film – his viewpoint.

A Woman Under the Influence [1974]
Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes filmed ten films together (two of which Rowlands was nominated for two Academy Awards). There’s was a deeply collaborative experience – so much so that both their families were involved playing various roles and all three of their children have since made careers as a director.