Constant on the screens, Sandrine Kiberlain powerfully embodies, in Sarah Bernhardt. La Divine, the leading actress, who became a myth, who dazzled the world throughout her career until her death.
Guillaume Nicloux (In the shoes of Blanche Houellebecq) was also not expected in this biopic on screens Wednesday December 18, all in all classic, but of very good historical and romantic mastery.
On February 22, 1915, the world’s first star, Sarah Bernhardt (Sandrine Kiberlain) was amputated above the knee following gangrene. With her companion Lucien Guitry (Laurent Lafitte) at her bedside, they evoke times past, when the actress at the height of her glory at the end of the 19th century hit the headlines as a lover, bisexual, modern and full of freedoms, known on the five continents, embodying a constant challenge to conventions.
If Guillaume Nicloux has already given in the biopic, offbeat, with In the shoes of Blanche Houellebecqwe did not expect it to lead that of Sarah Bernhardt, especially in a form that is so respectful of the genre. However, he identifies the world’s first star with an equally unexpected and perfect actress in the role, Sandrine Kiberlain. At her side, Laurent Lafitte is no less in tune with that of Lucien Guitry, with whom she composes a most delicious duet.
Guillaume Nicloux reconstructs Paris at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries with the greatest care, and it is a pleasure to see the capital at the time of the Impressionists, of Manet, Caillebotte or Monet who painted it. Paris is like the setting where Sarah Bernhardt became a queen, and the emblem of France throughout the world, by exporting her talent. But the director digs just as deeply into his intimacy, his stormy love affair with Lucien Guitry, as well as his female conquests.
Observer, more than analyst of Sarah Bernhardt, Guillaume Nicloux lifts the veil on the woman for whom Jean Cocteau invented the expression “sacred monster”. Hats off to Sandrine Kiberlain for her talent in taking on this prestigious role, in an ambitious, uncompromising production, whose acting pays homage to an icon of French heritage, somewhat forgotten and rehabilitated.
Genre : Drame/Biopic
Director : Guillaume Nicloux
Actors: Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Lafitte, Amira Casar, Pauline Etienne, Mathilde Ollivier, Laurent Stocker, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Clément Hervieu-Léger
Pays :France / Belgium
Duration : 1h38
Sortie : December 18, 2024
Distributer :Memento Distribution
Synopsis :Paris, 1896. Sarah Bernhardt is at the height of her glory. Icon of her time and first world star, the actress is also a lover, free and modern, who defies conventions. Meet the woman behind the legend.
