Lumière (film)
{{Infobox film
| name = Lumière
| image = lumiere.png
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Jeanne Moreau
| producer = Claire Duval
| starring = {{ubl|Lucia Bosè|Francine Racette|Keith Carradine|Jeanne Moreau|François Simon|Bruno Ganz|Niels Arestrup|Francis Huster}}
| screenplay = Jeanne Moreau
| music = Astor Piazzolla
| cinematography = Ricardo Aronovich
| editing = Albert Jurgenson
| distributor = Gaumont Distribution
| released = {{film date|df=y|1976|3|24}}
| runtime = 95 minutes
| country = France
| language = French
}}
Lumière ({{langx|en|link=no|Light}}) is a French drama film written and directed by Jeanne Moreau. The semi-autobiographical film is about the friendship between four actresses. It is credited as being one of the first films to focus on female friendship.{{cite news|last=James|first=Caryn|author-link=Caryn James|date=25 February 1994|title=A Femme Fatale For the Ages|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/25/movies/a-femme-fatale-for-the-ages.html|access-date=13 April 2022|issn=0362-4331}}
Plot
Sarah is an actress who is nearing 40. She invites Laura, her best friend of the past sixteen years, along with two other women, Caroline and Julienne, to a vacation retreat in Provence. Each woman is at a critical point in her life; Sarah has broken up with her longtime partner, while Laura is pregnant but her husband is carrying on an affair with another woman. Caroline is in an unhappy relationship, and Julienne is being pursued by an American actor.
Cast
{{Cast listing|
- Lucia Bosè as Laura
- Francine Racette as Julienne
- {{Ill|Caroline Cartier|fr}} as Caroline
- Jeanne Moreau as Sarah
- Keith Carradine as David
- François Simon as Grégoire
- Bruno Ganz as Heinrich Grün
- René Féret as Julien
- Niels Arestrup as Nano
- Francis Huster as Thomas
- {{Ill|Patrice Alexsandre|fr}} as Pétard
- Jacques Spiesser as Saint-Loup
- Chloé Caillat as Marie
- Marie Henriau as Flora
- {{Ill|Hermine Karagheuz|cs||fr||pt}} as Camille
- Carole Lange as Carole (credited as Carole Achache)
- Paul Bisciglia as The Candle
}}
Release
Lumière was screened as one of the three French films at the 1976 Toronto International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hollywood-flashback-1976-jeanne-moreau-821848/|last=Jang|first=Meena|title=Hollywood Flashback: In 1976, Jeanne Moreau Shined Her Light on the Very First TIFF|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=11 September 2015|access-date=18 June 2024}} Following screening, the film was released by the New World Pictures.{{cite news|last=Eder|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Eder|title=Jeanne Moreau's 'Lumier' Is Dazzling:Film on Women Written and Directed by the Actress, Who Stars|work=The New York Times|date=15 November 1976}}
On 16 March 2023, The Criterion Collection screened Lumière, The Adolescent and Lillian Gish at the Film Forum.{{cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8100-jeanne-moreau|title=Jeanne Moreau, Cinéaste|last=Hudson|first=David|publisher=The Criterion Collection|date=16 March 2023|access-date=18 June 2024}}
In 2023, Carlotta Films sold the distribution rights to Japan, who released Lumière, The Adolescent and Lillian Gish under an umbrella name Jeanne Moreau, Filmmaker.{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/carlotta-films-sells-jeanne-moreau-directed-features-to-japan-exclusive/5180101.article|title=Carlotta Films sells Jeanne Moreau-directed features to Japan|website=ScreenDaily|last=Noh|first=Jean|date=13 March 2023|access-date=18 June 2024}}
In 2024, Jeanne Moreau, Filmmaker was released on Blu-ray.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/film/jeanne-moreau-filmmaker-a-star-behind-the-camera-b758bb77|last=Tonguette|first=Peter|title='Jeanne Moreau, Filmmaker': A Star Behind the Camera|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=24 February 2024|access-date=18 June 2024}}
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Lumière has an approval rating of 60% based on 5 reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lumiere|title=Lumière|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date=18 June 2024}}
Lumière received critical acclaim. Critic Roger Ebert wrote positively of the film, commenting "as the strands of [Moreau's] story become clear and we begin to know the characters, the movie grows into a simple and strong emotional statement."{{cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|date=4 January 1977|title=Lumiere movie review and film summary (1977)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lumiere-1977|access-date=13 April 2022|website=Rogerebert.com}}
In a retrospective review, Richard Brody of The New Yorker wrote,
Working with the cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich, [Moreau] develops a gliding, peering, shifting aesthetic to match the glossy surfaces with which she conveys shuddering depths of feeling. The camera roves around the actors, capturing the agitation within their controlled gestures, suggesting the elegance of leisure and luxury within which high adventures of passion, pleasure, and power—of self-creation and self-definition—play out.{{cite magazine|last=Brody|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Brody|date=8 August 2017|title=Jeanne Moreau's "Lumière" Deserves to Be Revived|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/jeanne-moreaus-lumiere-deserves-to-be-revived|magazine=The New Yorker}}
Accolades
| class=wikitable style="width:99%;" | ||||
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=2|1976
|Chicago International Film Festival |Grand Prize (Best Feature) |{{nom}} | ||||
| Taormina Film Fest
|Golden Charybdis |Jeanne Moreau |{{nom}} | ||||
| rowspan=1|1977
|{{nom}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0074826}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20161030162134/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6af6230c Lumière]'' at BFI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lumiere}}
Category:French romantic drama films
Category:1976 romantic drama films
Category:Films directed by Jeanne Moreau
Category:Films set in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Category:1970s female buddy films
Category:French female buddy films