The Amateur Actors of Cannes 1999: A Shock to the (Star) System

Abstract

At the Cannes film festival in 1999 the perennial tension within French film between popular cinema and auteur cinema came to a head with the award of the Palme d’Or to the Dardenne brothers’ Rosetta. Moreover, three amateurs were given Best Actor awards: Émilie Dequenne for Rosetta, plus Emmanuel Schotté and Séverine Caneele for L’Humanité. This article analyses the performances of the amateur actors in the above films, and evaluates to what extent they offer a challenge to conventional modes of representation, and in particular to the idealised embodiments of masculinity and femininity traditionally presented by film stars. The notion of the amateur as Bressonian model will also be addressed, as will the possibility of amateur actors challenging the supremacy of the auteur and moving into the realm of popular stardom.

Keywords

auteur cinema Cannes festival jeune cinéma popular cinema star system stardom

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

[Anon.] (1999) ‘Cannes 1999’, Cahiers du cinéma, 536 (June): 21-21.

Austin, G. (2003) Stars in Modern French Film. London: Arnold .

Benoliel, B., and Toubiana, S. (1999) ‘“Il faut être dans le cul des choses”: Entretien avec Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne’, Cahiers du cinéma, 539 (Oct.): 47–53.

Beugnet, M. (2000) ‘Le Souci de l’autre: Réalisme poétique et critique sociale dans le cinéma français contemporain’ , Iris, 29 (Spring): 53–68 .

Burdeau, E. (1999) ‘La Défricheuse’, Cahiers du cinéma, 539 (Oct.), 45–46.

Ciment, M. (1999) ‘Cannes 1999: Présentation’, Positif, 461/2 (July/Aug.): 105–106.

Dugaris, P. (1999) ‘Français, avec qui rêvez-vous d’une aventure?’ , L’Événement, 765 (1–7 July): 72-72 .

Dyer, R. (1986) Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society. London: British Film Institute .

Dyer, R. (1997) White. London and New York: Routledge .

10.

Ferenczi, A. (1998) ‘Le Business Jacquouille’, Télérama, 2510 (18 Feb.): 20–22.

11.

Goudet, S., and Vassé, C. (1999) ‘Ces idées qui tuent le ciné: L’abécédaire de Positif’, reproduced in L’Événement, 760 (27 May–2 June): 11–12.

12.

Gouslan, E. (1999) ‘Les Malheurs de Sophie’, L’Événement, 760 (27 May–2 June): 10-10.

13.

Gouslan, E. (2000) ‘Quand les amateurs narguent les pros’, L’Événement du jeudi, 26 (11–17 May): 30–32.

14.

Jeancolas, J.-P. (1999) ‘Requalifier le politique’, Positif, 455 (Jan.): 46–48.

15.

Konopnick, G. (1999) ‘Cinéma intello-chiant et misérabiliste’, L’Événement, 760 (27 May–2 June): 9-9.

16.

Lardeau, Y. (2000 [1978]) ‘Cold Sex (on Pornography and Beyond)’, in D. Wilson (ed.), Cahiers du cinéma, iv: 1973–1978: History, Ideology, Cultural Struggle, 191–220. London; New York: Routledge .

17.

Morgan, J. (2004) ‘The Social Realism of Body Language in Rosetta’ , The French Review, 77(3): 526–537 .

18.

O’Shaughnessy, M. (2003) ‘Post-1995 French Cinema: Return of the Social, Return of the Political?’ , Modern and Contemporary France, 11(2): 189–203 .

19.

Pliskin, F. (1999) ‘Dumont: Pharaon des Flandres’, Le Nouvel Observateur, 13–19 May: 55.

20.

Romon, P. (1999) ‘20 ans après, elle est toujours la préferée des Français’, L’Événement, 765 (1–7 July): 73-73

21.

Rouyer, P., and Vassé, C. (1999) ‘Entretien: Bruno Dumont. L’Invisible ne se filme pas’, Positif, 465 (Nov.): 9–13.

22.

Ruquier, L. (1999) ‘C’est pas du jeu!’, L’Événement, 760 (27 May–2 June): 13-13.

23.

Toubiana, S. (1999) ‘Le Cinéma retrouvé’, Cahiers du cinéma, 536 (June): 22–23.

24.

Vincendeau, G. (2000) Stars and Stardom in French Cinema. London: Continuum .

25.

Williams, L. (1999). Hard Core: Power, Pleasure and the ‘Frenzy of the Visible’. Berkeley; London: University of California Press .