Memorial | Michel Bouquet: Acting is a very lonely job

On April 13, local time, French national treasure actor Michel Bouquet passed away peacefully in Paris at the age of 96.
From 1947 to 2020, Bouquet has appeared in more than 100 film and television works. He has played roles such as Mitterrand and Renoir, as well as ordinary small roles with different identities and personalities. He has worked closely with a number of French "New Wave" directors, and can be said to be a witness and witness to the history of French cinema, but it was only in his old age that he won the French Film César Award for Best Actor twice. . In 2018, the Elysee Palace awarded him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, the highest honour for a French citizen, in recognition of his lifelong contributions to theatre and film.

"Renoir" stills

Michel Bouquet was born on November 6, 1925, into a family of policemen in Paris. Soon after the outbreak of "World War II", his father was captured by Nazi Germany, which invaded France, and became a prisoner. The young and old Bouquet had to drop out of school to work odd jobs to supplement his family. After the "World War II", he joined the French National Academy of Drama and devoted himself to learning acting. Four years later, Bouquet graduated from school and began to move around in Paris, where he starred in a large number of classic works by Molière, Beckett and Ernescu, and gradually made a name for himself.

young cloth cover

In 1947, at the age of 22, he made his debut on the screen. He played various small roles, and he was not particularly eye-catching. In fact, Bu Gai, whose appearance is not outstanding, was originally able to attract the audience's attention on the stage with his personal charm, but once he entered the film industry where handsome men and beautiful women abound, he could only play more supporting roles. In 1956, he had been in the industry for some years and finally got the chance to play the leading role, but he did not need to appear on the camera, but purely by his magnetic voice, in Alain Resnais's documentary about Auschwitz "Night." Responsible for the narration in "With the Mist".

The documentary "Night and Fog" was narrated by Bouquet.

Beginning with 1965's "Tigers Love Bombs for Perfume", Bouquet collaborated with Claude Chabrol, a "new wave" director five years younger than him, especially in the film "Infidelity" (1969). The jealous husband played by him leaves a deep impression on people. In addition, he and another "New Wave" director, François Truffaut, also had two collaborations, "The Bride in Black" (1968) and "Cheating Marriage" (1969).

Bouquet (left) in "Infidelity."

At the end of the 1970s, Bouquet gradually faded out of the film world and returned to his alma mater, the French National École Nationale Supérieure, as a professor. Until 1991, he reappeared in the world and played in Belgian director Jacques van Dommel's "Little Hero Toto". "In the old age of the protagonist Toto, won the European Film Award for the best actor of the year honor. In 2002 and 2006, the old and strong Bouquet won the César Award for Best Actor twice for "How I Killed My Father" and "The Last Years of Mitterrand", plus "Renoir" in 2012, The perfect ending to his acting career.

Boogie (left) in How I Killed My Father.

The Last Years of Mitterrand

"Performing is actually a very lonely job, a bit like painting. It seems to be carried out in front of everyone's eyes, but in the end it is a secret that only the parties themselves know." In an interview with the media in 2011, Michelle · Boogie once said.