Romy (EFFING) Schneider!!!
i would drop EVERYTHING to watch her in ANYTHING.
this is something i wrote long ago and i wanted to share it here on my tum-tumblr…
Sunday, 13 August 2006:
“The Trial” (directed by Orson Welles) was the first Romy Schneider film that I watched. Though, at the time, I did not watch it for her. I got it for Jeanne Moreau (another favorite of mine!). I remember thinking, “What the heck? I want more of Jeanne Moreau! Who is this other woman that has a bigger role?!!” Yes, I must admit to that, unwillingly! In this film, Romy plays, Leni, a woman that is attending on Orson Welles’ character. She has a moustache and webbed hands. Or was it webbed feet? I don’t even remember! I don’t even remember her having a moustache, quite honestly. I think I’m going to make a trip to the library and check it out again. So, my focus was totally on someone else and not Romy at that time. The thing is, she did make an impact, though I did not pay attention to it at the time. I remember thinking that she was very pretty even if she did have the moustache and webbed whatevers (you’d think that I’d remember those physical traits…). I remember not wanting Anthony Perkins to have a good time with her because I wanted him to be with Jeanne so that I could see her more! I also remember the joy in Romy’s face when she would smile.
Look at that face. Okay…now THIS is the film that turned me into an all-adoring and uber-loving fan of Romy’s, “L’Important C’est D’Aimer” (“That Most Important Thing: Love,” directed by Andrzej Zulawski). She plays, Nadine Chevalier, who does soft-core porn movies so that she can make a living “acting.” It was most heartbreaking. I remember flipping through channels and landing on the IFC. They were presenting Xan Cassavetes’ documentary on the Z Channel. And this was one of the films that they showed that would have been or was shown on that particular channel. I forget. The point is that this movie was on!!! Moving right along…I read the description and thought it was interesting. Plus, it was French and I usually can’t turn down a French film. Alright, onward… The opening is of her being directed in reherasals for a scene. I remember the music really getting to my core. It was very deep, resonant. The director (in the film) is this crazed, manic little woman shouting and shrieking. I remember flipping to other channels because I thought it was getting kind of strange (which it was, for me at that time, and certain scenes in the film are rather difficult to swallow, for lack of a better word. I know of 2 scenes in which I fastforward through, but don’t). But, something kept drawing me back to the film. Well…in the beginning, she is filming a scene and she is straddling a man that is dying or dead and she has to have the sex with him. You then hear the shutter of a camera and it’s this photographer that no one knows shooting these pictures of her while she’s rehearsing. She hears this and she faces him, puts her hand up and asks him not to take any pictures, and lets him know that she is a good actress. She really is and that she only does this to eat. That’s how the film starts off! It’s intense. It’s very passionate and raw, real. Real to the point that it was very uncomfortable. EXTREMELY uncomfortable and painful to watch. Especially in the violent scenes. Were they really hitting each other? Because it sure did look like they were! But, I believe that everything had to be choreographed to look like that. You find out that Nadine is married to a man, Jacques, that collects old photographs of old movie stars in America. And she is married to him at first because she does love him but stays with him out of some obligation. I think that she does truly love Jacques. The photographer, Servais, is deeply in love with her and goes out of his way to get her a part in a production of RICHARD III playing Lady Anne. The two of them share these intense passionate moments with each other but they do not consummate their feelings. There’s a point where she goes to him, finding out that it was him that helped her get the part. But, Servais will not sleep with her because he doesn’t want her to be with him because she “owes him something.” Jacques goes on and on about this “respite” that is owed him. He even goes to Servais’ studio to ask him why he didn’t sleep with Nadine. There is this great-great scene towards the end between Nadine and Jacques in a cafe. Klaus Kinski is also in this film. He’s very good. He reminded me of one of my good friends from college, Frank Astran III. I think because of his style of acting. I can see Frank playing the role he played. I could go on and on about this. The music alone breaks my heart. It truly hits to the core. I wish there was a soundtrack. She is absolutely beautiful in this film. I’m SO glad when it came on again. I now have it on VHS. One of her best performances. One of THE best performances anyone will ever see. For true.
***beginning last year (2009), this film is now available on dvd with english subtitles. it is a great transfer which was overseen by the film’s director. for the first time the soundtrack of the film is available - only if you purchase the limited edition which is said to only have 2000 copies (my copy is #0923). even if you don’t get the limited numbered editions the dvd alone is a great buy. wonderful extras.
“Le Mouton Enrage” (“Love at the Top,” directed by Michel Deville), made me mad because Romy gets killed in it. I have to watch the movie again. Jean-Louis Trintignant woos Romy on a dare by his friend. She’s married and the friend wants him to have an affair with her. The friend lives vicariously through Jean-Louis’ escapades with women. Romy gets shot by her husband. But, she cheated! Whoops! Anywho, I did (as usual) enjoy her performance.
Her beauty is so transcendent. Look at her! Look.At.Her. I bought, “Cesar et Rosalie” (directed by Claude Sautet), the same time as, “Le Mouton Enrage.” Both from Amazon.com. I also got a Jeanne Moreau film, “La Mariee Etait en Noir” (“The Bride Wore Black,” starring Jeanne Moreau and directed by Francois Truffaut). Which is a great, fun film! I received all 3 DVDs while working at OCPAC. I remember how utterly delighted I was by the package I received! This film should really be called, “Cesar et Rosalie ET David!” Seriously! David is a former flame of Rosalie’s. Rosalie has a child (from her marriage to David’s friend. David ran away to America and left Rosalie behind), is divorced, and has a new lover in the middle-aged Cesar. Isabelle Huppert is also in this film playing a relative of Romy’s. Sami Frey (who played David) is absolutely dreamy! There is a beautiful flowy dress/blouse that Romy wear’s for the wedding scene. It’s very simple and I love the back. It’s just a slit down the middle and it shows the back. Her face is incredible. You can read everything on it. Thoughts, emotions cascade across it. It seems so easy. So effortless for her. One moment that crosses my mind is when they are at the wedding reception and she says to David, “Don’t look at me like that.” Another one is when she tells Cesar, “Please, don’t kill anymore men for me,” something like that. Obviously, being very sarcastic because Cesar is a coward and at that point a cad for lying to David about what he’s done with and for Rosalie. I even love her in her silences. You always want to know what she is thinking. She’s good. She can even act with her back! Seriously. “B’acting.” I love those that can act with their backs facing the audience!!! She’s good. Period.
I bought, “The Cardinal” (directed by Otto Preminger) at Borders one day during my lunch at OCPAC. I was so excited to see it for the simple fact that Romy would be speaking in English. She spoke English for a split second in, “Cesar et Rosalie,” and it was nice to hear her. And “The Trial,” is also in English but remember, I didn’t know it was her!) I remember thinking, “Hm…I want to copy her accent one day for a role…” She is a student that falls in love with a man that is on a kind of sabbatical from his religious duties because he is confused as to where he truly wants to be. She falls in love with him. She is one of his students and they start to go out with each other. He’s struggling with his decision of where he belongs. They plan to meet at a cafe and Romy runs to the cafe’s window to peer through it and to see if he’s there. He is. He turns to her and she has this great smile on her face, and then you see him in his religious garb!!! Heart.Break.for her! I’ve got to watch it again because I’m very shaky on what happens at the end. I don’t even remember their character names! I know that they definitely do not get together. But, there’s trouble and I think she’s the one that can help him out of it. I’m not sure. This movie sort of made me upset because she wasn’t in it as much as I would have liked. Granted the title is, “The Cardinal,” not, “The Woman Forsaken By The Cardinal,” right? Right.
*le sigh* Mm. This film, “Les Choses de la Vie” (“The Things of Life,” directed by Claude Sautet)…Mm. I remember reading lines from this movie one day in Sam French. When Helene says to Pierre, “You love me because I’m here. But if you had to cross the street, you’d be lost.” I remember not wanting to read anymore because I wanted to see it before reading anything else about it. This is another film with great music. Romy sings the theme song, “La Chanson d’Helene,” and Michel Piccoli speaks in between her singing. I love the song. It has such a sad, mournful tone to it. (The other day I found a google video of Romy and Michel recording the song! Her face in that video! I wish it was clearer. But, still. Her face. Especially at the end!) He ends up dying in the end. She isn’t there at the time that his ex-wife, Catherine, (or is she still his wife?), father and pal find out. She’s on her way to meet him at a hotel and she notices the car that’s wrecked on the road is his. She rushes to the hospital. During that time, the nurse gives the valuables that were found during the accident to Catherine: a light blue chiffon scarf, some other trinkets and a letter that he wrote to Helene saying that their break-up is official (Pierre wrote that letter but decided not to mail it because he realized how ridiculous he was being. He calls Helene’s place and leaves a message for her to meet him at some hotel to tell her he was being silly). Catherine sees Helene running outside and she tears the letter up. What a lady. I remember crying and crying when she did that. Romy finds out from the nurses that Pierre’s dead. She leaves in silence. She turns into a zombie pretty much. It’s so heavy. It ends with her walking out of the hospital in a haze. Mm-mm-mm. It was a good story. A man re-examining his life. He really deeply thinks about it as he’s dying, thinking that he is going to survive, and you think that he is going to survive and you hope for it. But he dies and it’s too late. Mm. Tell the people you love and care about that you love and care about them. Don’t wait. Tell them. Let them know. Take care of each other.
This is a crazy (in a fun and frivolous way) movie. “What’s New, Pussycat?” (directed by Clive Donner). I know I know I know. I can’t believe I got it either! Seriously. But how can I not when Romy’s in it? I HAD to get it! Plus, it was pretty cheap at Borders. It’s no surprise why. It’s so silly! But Romy speaks in English in the movie as well! It was just a fun, chaotic film. It was sexually-charged in that light sort of way. It was fun and Romy was adorable. Plus, the beginning credits of the movie inspired my, “Grey Gardens,” painting. The swirls and curls made me think of using those kinds of strokes in a painting. I did and “Grey Gardens,” came out.
I didn’t actually see this whole film. I’ve seen only clips from YouTube. I found them the other night. I know that I’ve searched for Romy clips on there before but never found any until recently. This film was very sweet, gentle and tender. It’s called, “Madchen in Uniform” (“Maidens in Uniform,” directed by Geza von Radvanyi). Romy plays Manuela von Meinhardis, a young girl that loses both her parents and is sent to a Prussian boarding school. There she falls in love with her teacher, Fraulein Elisabeth von Bernburg, played by Lilli Palmer (who is magnificent and from what I’ve researched, a very good writer). There is this tender scene in which Bernburg has Manuela practice her part of Romeo with her. She does as her theatre teacher had told her to do and Bernburg says, “No, no! Romeo is a boy in love,” something like that. And you see Manuela’s face light up and she gets all excited and says the lines as if Bernburg is truly her Juliet and then she kisses her teacher! That totally caught me by surprise. It was very tender. I think it’s a great film. I’d like to see the whole thing. The thing is, Bernburg doesn’t love her student back in that way. She’s a very caring teacher (also strict and disciplined, wanting her students to do well and grow) but she doesn’t love the same way Manuela does, that is unless I missed something not watching the whole film because I’ve only seen clips. But she even tells Manuela that her love for her is wrong. Which is the heartbreak with Manuela. She confesses after her performance of ROMEO AND JULIET to all the girls that she loves Bernburg because the punch was spiked and she was downing mugs of the punch! The headmistress comes in and hears her confession. Manuela says that she doesn’t care if they know that she loves her and that Bernburg loves her as well, even though she has never said it to her. Then, she faints. She gets in trouble. Bernburg is told that she has to leave the school by the headmistress. Manuela tells her teacher that she will die without her and falls to her knees when she goes over to embrace her teacher. She tries to kill herself by jumping off the flight of many stairs of the school. But she is stoppped by the students and her teacher. It’s a wonderful scene! She is sent into the infirmary. The headmistress asks Bernburg to stay for Manuela’s sake and she shakes her head and says, “Manuela will find her own way. I have to get out of here. I’d only get in her way.” It’s so touching. It’s a good film (from the clips I saw). I believe the reason that she falls in love with her teacher is for the simple fact that she needs more attention and affection, and she has transferred all these feelings to a woman that has given her that attention, or that she wants attention from. I mean…for goodness’ sake (!), she just lost BOTH her parents! The film is simple and gentle. Tender. Also, I haven’t seen this film in its entirety and maybe this blurb on it is all wrong! I mean, I say this because there may be scenes of significance that I’m missing. But, I’m writing about what I saw through the clips=) Such a beautiful piece.
So…I suppose to say that I Love Romy Schneider is rather superfluous, eh? I’ll say it anyway…
I LOVE ROMY SCHNEIDER!
She is stunning. There should be some kind of movement to get all her films on DVD or SOMETHING! She shouldn’t have been taken away from us so early in her life. I wish there was some American or English biographer out there that would write her story. She is yet another of a slew of actresses who had their lives laced with tragedy.
(I’m such a nerd…)
PS Since writing that blahg on her, I’ve seen a couple more of her films: “Ludwig”, “The Last Train”, “Innocents with Dirty Hands”, “The Assasination of Trotsky”, “Le Trio Infernale”, “Boccaccio ‘70”, “La Piscine”, “10:30PM Summer”…
PPS I can attest to Lilli Palmer being a very good writer. I bought her autobiography CHANGE LOBSTERS AND DANCE
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