On March 27, Veteran French actress Stephane Audran died of illness at the age of 85. She is best known in the international film world for starring in films such as Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie and Babette's Feast, and as the wife of new wave director Claude Chabrol, Audrand was also a witness to the legend of the screen in the 1960s.
Stephanie Audrand. Oriental IC data
Stephanie Audrand was born on 8 November 1932 in Versailles, France, formerly known as Colette Dashweller and later as Stephanie Audrand. After graduating from secondary school, the young and frail Audrand resolutely embarked on the path of his beloved acting despite his mother's objections, studying under the famous Parisian theater teacher Charles Dullin, and among her classmates was Jean-Louis Trintignant, a famous French actor who later became her first husband.
At the age of 22, she married Trentingnan, who was two years her senior. At the age of 23, she graduated from school and officially appeared on stage to perform dramas, but she played all supporting roles and did not achieve much success. On the other hand, her marriage to Trentinion also went wrong. The young couple failed to withstand the glitz of showbiz, and Trentinion fell in love with partner Brigitte Bardot while starring in God Created Woman. Soon after, Audrand also met the real one in his life.
In 1957, seeing that he didn't have many opportunities on the stage of drama, Audran began to dabble in film, first co-starring with Maurice Pialat in the short film Le Jeu de la Nuit (Game of the Night), and then playing a small role in Houmai's debut "Le Signe du Lion", which had just been transformed from a film critic to director. Those years coincided with the alternation of old and new French cinema, and the so-called New Wave movement was in full swing. But Odrand admired their colleague Claude Chableau in the editorial board of the Film Handbook, but especially his Le beau Serge, which sounded the horn of the New Wave, more admired Mr. Audrand.
Claude Chableau and Stephanie Audrand. Visual China Information
Later, Chabrol made his second film, Les Cousins, and Audran, who met the director after being introduced by his lead actor Gerard Blain, finally got a few supporting roles. In the end, "Cousins" won the highest honor of the Golden Bear Award at the Ninth Berlin Film Festival, and Chabrol, who was proud of the spring breeze, fell in love with Stephanie Audrand, who was two years younger than herself, and harvested love.
However, the director himself is also married at this time. His wife, Agnes Goute, was the first nobleman in his life, and the reason why "Pretty Sergi" was made was because of the large inheritance that his wife inherited. However, Chabrol seems to have found the muse of his artistic life, starting with 1960's Les Bonnes Femmes, where each of his works is starred by his cohabitant girlfriend Audrand (even when Chabroler crossed the line to direct plays). Later generations often said that Audran was the source of Chabrol's artistic inspiration, but the director himself did not quite agree with this statement.
Stills from "The Good Woman"
In 1963, Audran gave birth to a son, Thomas (who is also a film and television actor today). In 1964, Chabrol divorced Agnes Gut and quickly married Audran.
Les Biches (1968) was the culmination of Chabrol-Audrand's "mom-and-pop" work, which won the Berlin Film Festival's Best Actress award, and her acting skills finally gained public recognition, no longer being regarded as a "vase" that relied purely on her husband to play. Interestingly, in this story about two women and a male love triangle, the male protagonist is played by Audran's ex-husband Jean-Louis Trentinion. The two have a large number of rival scenes in the film, and on the one hand, she is directed by her current husband. The interaction between the three people inside and outside the play makes people think of it.
Stills from "Female Deer"
Beginning with La femme infidele (1969), Chabrolol and Audran collaborated on five works of similar genre. The characters played by the latter are all named "Helen", and the image is almost all middle-class married women, living a carefree life, on the surface it seems gentle and elegant, but there is a dark tide in the heart, often falling victim to extramarital affairs.
Stills from "Infidelity"
Violette Noziere (1978) marked the end of the period. This time, Audran, who was in his early 40s, took a back seat and played the mother of female number one Isabelle Hupel. As a result, the latter became Chabrol's new muse, starring in several of his works in a row. Audrand's role in her husband's films is increasingly marginalized.
Two years later, Audrand and Chabrol were formally divorced, who instead threw himself into the arms of Aurore Pajot, who had long served as a player for him. Afterwards, Chabrol mentioned in his autobiography that it was Audran who was busy with his career at the time, alienated himself, and could not even accompany him on his birthday, but instead offered to let him spend his birthday with Aurora Bacho, which directly contributed to his extramarital affair. Audrand always denied this claim.
Hollande, who left Chablore, there are not too many masterpieces that can really come up with his hands. The earlier collaboration with Louis Buñuel on The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie was a pinnacle, in which she wore a variety of costumes designed for her by her friend Carl Lagerfeld and successfully played the hostess of the banquet, Mrs. Senecher, who won the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress that year. In addition, in the 1981 British TV series Brideshead Revisited, she played Carla, the mistress of the Marquis of Marchmaine, which was not the main character, but also impressed audiences around the world.
Stills from Babette's Feast
In 1987, Danish director Gabriel Axel filmed Babette's Feast, a fusion of gastronomic films and religious gospels, which was originally chosen by Catherine Deneuve, but for various reasons, he hesitated and did not take over the role at the first time. At this time, the director remembered Audran in "Violet Nozier" and thought that she was quite suitable. Axel even asked Chabrolol for advice, who replied that his ex-wife was best suited for the role. In this way, the 55-year-old Audran vividly played the role of the French kitchen lady, becoming an unforgettable character in the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1988, Stephanie Audrand participated in a talk show. Visual China Information
After this, Audran's physical condition began to deteriorate, and his memory began to decline, gradually moving away from the screen. During this time, she tried various treatments, and finally found many magic recipes in traditional Chinese medicine. In 2009, Audran published the book Une autre façon de vivre (Another Way of Living), teaching French readers a variety of dietary and health remedies based on his own experience.
In March, the 85-year-old Audran was admitted to the hospital for illness and died at home a few days after being discharged from the hospital, despite some relief from treatment. In her lifetime, she has cooperated with Chablore, who died in 2010, a total of 23 films, such a prolific couple file, looking at the world's film history is one of the best.