The usually cool crowd at the National Film Theatre are getting a bit hot under their collarless shirts. They have formed a tense queue at the box office and are hoping to secure a return for tonight’s cinematic spectacle: a live interview with French uber-vedette, Catherine Deneuve.
It is the climax of a glorious three-week Deneuve season at the NFT. Tonight’s occasion is officially billed “The Guardian Interview” because of its longstanding sponsor, and free copies of the newspaper are stacked up outside screen one. But the crowd - a mixture of silver-haired nostalgistes and eager film buffs - look like they might well have already read the Berliner-sized paper with their porridge that morning. “I really hope she speaks English,” says a gauche young hopeful with heavy plastic spectacles. “I don’t care - I just have to see her.”
The lucky 450 settle into the comfortable seats in screen one while Geoff Andrew, the jovial NFT programmer and master of ceremonies, advises that there is to be no smoking and jokes that Catherine (Cat-er-een) in particular had to be reminded of this. An appetiser of film clips follows, delving into a half-century of dazzling screen presence, from flaxen-haired hysteric in Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965) to Yves Saint Laurent-clad trick-turner in Luis Bunuel’s Belle de Jour (1967) to uptight wife in Andre Techine’s Ma Saison Preferee (1993).
When Deneuve finally takes her place on the stage next to Andrew, the audience unashamedly cranes forward, eyes narrowed, to get a better look. From my disadvantaged position in row K, she appears incredibly bien-preservee: dainty yet curvaceous in a tight black satiny number, her famously blonded locks coiffed and curled. It is hard to believe she is actually a 62-year-old grandmother. But, once the face of Chanel and model for the French national symbol Marianne, Deneuve is an unlikely candidate for slipping into middle-aged obscurity.
Andrew begins by quizzing Deneuve on her new book, Up Close and Personal, made up of extracts from the diaries she wrote while on set with various high-profile directors. What was it like working with Bunuel? “He doesn’t demand anything! That’s the danger,” she says in her light Left Bank accent. “He likes actors up until a point. He likes them if they are easy, simple, not too much of a fuss.”
And Francois Truffaut? “Ah yes, well, Truffaut loves actresses. He was very intense. All actresses I knew wanted to do a film with him, even American actresses.” But above all, Deneuve holds a soft spot for Jacques Demy, as it was Demy who hurtled the 21-year-old Deneuve to superstardom in 1964 with Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (she had appeared in her first film at the age of 13). Filming for this daring musical in which every word is sung was quite a challenge, Deneuve admits. Her second outing with Demy in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort was no less daunting, as filming for the seaside musical took place in August and she was “in a wig and heels and it was 40 degrees outside. Jacques was demanding a lot of us”.
Andrew moves on to more general questions about life as a grande cineaste and national treasure. Does the fame bother her? “I’m not always the nicest person to meet as I forget very easily that I am an actress when I am not working,” she replies with a laugh. “I would like to be famous when it is convenient for me,” she adds. And how does being considered one of the great beauties of modern cinema affect her, as she moves into her autumn years? The audience stiffens noticeably at this prickly subject, but Deneuve plays it down neatly: “Getting older is not nice for anyone. But it’s not a drama.” And she adds, with Gallic nonchalance. “If I didn’t look the way I looked I would never have been in films.”
Hands shoot up in the auditorium during the question-and-answer finale. Which contemporary directors would she like to work with? “Nanni Moretti, Jim Jarmusch, Coppola - of course, Scorsese - of course.” Which film actresses does she admire? “Carole Lombard, Judy Holliday, Greta Garbo.” And which actors would she like to work with? “De Niro, Pacino, Sean Penn,” Deneuve lists, adding coquettishly: “I wouldn’t say no to being in a film with Jude Law... “ And how does she feel about devoting her life to acting? “I didn’t devote my life!” she retorts, to everyone’s delight. “I never gave up personal things to work.”
Andrew winds it up neatly and the thunderous applause that follows suggests that the audience are thanking her for all her performances - not just tonight’s.
