Sandrine Kiberlain is Sarah Bernhardt, history’s first superstar, in this funny biopic

CINEMA – She was nicknamed “the Unique”, but also “the Enchantress” and even “the Monstrous”. This Wednesday, December 18, it will be Sarah Bernhardt, la Divineafter the title of the very amusing biopic by Guillaume Nicloux dedicated to the famous French actress, considered by many to be the first global superstar in our history.

In the title role? Sandrine Kiberlain. The Sarah Bernhardt she portrays certainly has a melon. But she is a free woman, sometimes rebellious, funny and exuberant most often. His strong point: punchlines. “ I’m so tired I could yawn in my sleep “, she quips, between two mocks.

There is no question, in this film, of returning to the genesis of the character, who died a little over a hundred years ago. Nor on his favorite pieces, like The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas or Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo. It would be too long. During her sixty-year career, Sarah Bernhardt took on more than 140 roles, making her the queen of drama.

Instead, Sarah Bernhardt, la Divine takes us back to several significant elements of her life: her affair with Lucien Guitry, her leg amputation (which will not prevent her from playing, but from now on she will do it sitting) and the “Sarah Bernhardt Day”. Organized by a handful of friends in 1896 to the glory of the actress, this sumptuous event worthy of a coronation brought together all of Paris.

Check out the trailer below:

The diva never did things by halves. Eccentric to her fingertips, she is seen in the biopic with her pets, asps. A scene later, she asks to have a panther tail transplanted into her. We don’t know if it’s true, but the idea fits the image of this woman, who has always cultivated her difference.

Sarah Bernhardt, the original

Same red hair, same skinny look… Sandrine Kiberlain has remained faithful to the appearance of Sarah Bernhardt, who – far from the beauty canons of the time (a ” beautiful strand of thread “, according to Alexandre Dumas) – has always covered herself with jewelry and furs, refusing all her life to put on a crinoline, the most fashionable garment of her time.

Worthy of Isabelle Huppert in Ten percentSarah Bernhardt was overflowing with energy. She was eager for new adventures, keen to constantly push the boundaries of her experience as an actress. She had an insatiable thirst for originality, loved to innovate and break away from old traditions.

Which could sometimes be surprising. “ Now leave me. I have to leave », she says to those around her in the film’s trailer to get into character before going on stage. An intransigence which was not without consequences. As in the biopic, it is said that she could be odious, even tyrannical, including with her friends.

Edmond Rostand, Victor Hugo (whom she considered a father), the painter Louise Abbéma… Sarah Bernhardt was immersed in the star system, surrounded by the most bankable people. Her love life was worthy of a melodrama. If the film ignores her marriage to the Greek actor Aristides Damala, it does not fail to describe the actress’s court where her admirers and courtiers met.

Sarah Bernhardt, the rebel

She had hegemonic fame. Even though they existed, her rivals were eclipsed, says performing arts historian Claudette Joannis in a biography of the artist. In the middle of the street, people asked him for an autograph. It was unprecedented. We loved her as much as we hated her. Enough to convince her to hire a bodyguard.

The star of yesteryear and those of our time have more than one thing in common. We saw the great designers rushing to dress her, like Louis Vuitton, behind the design of the 200 trunks with which she left for her first world tour. The Frenchwoman was knighted abroad, and in particular in the United States, a country which she crossed aboard a privatized train. Just that.

Behind these luxury tastes, however, hid a rebellious woman. Guillaume Nicloux’s biopic does not return to his rant against the Comédie Française nor to the one she pushed onto an American liner to denounce its social conditions. However, he highlights his unwavering support for Dreyfus, at the risk of displeasing or alienating show business and society. A commitment that all our people today cannot boast about.

Also see on HuffPost :