Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski) (via)
“My aim was to show Carole’s hallucinations through the eye of the camera, augmenting their impact by using wide-angle lenses of progressively increasing scope. But in itself, that wasn’t sufficient for my purpose. I also wanted to alter the actual dimensions of the apartment — to expand the rooms and passages and push back the walls so that audiences could experience the full effect of Carole’s distorted vision.
Accordingly we designed the walls of the set so they could be moved outward and elongated by the insertion of extra panels. When ‘stretched’ in this way, for example, the narrow passage leading to the bathroom assumed nightmarish proportions.”
-Polanski, quoted in Roman (1984)
Being a film actor is very different from, say, a theater actor. You get involved with a character after spending a long time waiting, and this demands a lot of energy and concentration. So I am very involved with the character, but I have to leave it as soon as it’s finished. And also, you always have to be at the right level when it’s time to shoot, which is not always the best time for the actor. Sometimes, if you’re shooting a complicated scene, you have to stay in a position and wait for the technician to do his job, and then you have to be where you’re supposed to be, right on the spot. You don’t rehearse all that much on films. If I think of the amount of time I spend on set compared with the time spent shooting, it’s ridiculously short. But that’s what I like about film - it can be bizarre, classic, normal, romantic. Cinema is to me the most versatile thing.Catherine Fabienne Dorléac aka Catherine Deneuve | 22 October 1943
HAPPY 69TH BIRTHDAY CATHERINE DENEUVE!
