Released in theaters in 1997, Marchioness has all the great popular entertainment, with its period costumes and its star-studded cast. Behind the scenes, however, all was not rosy between the director Véra Belmont and her main actress, a certain Sophie Marceau.
It is a fact, Sophie Marceau is a great actress, probably the most glamorous actress in French cinema. International star, she still enjoys an intact love rating with the general public, more than thirty (!) Years after being revealed in The party, a generational comedy, cult film of the 80s. Now present on Instagram after a long absence, the actress is still close to her ex-companion Christophe Lambert. Since the start of her career, the actress has obviously changed, but has always kept this outspokenness that characterizes her.
Marchioness, sumptuous casting for a sparkling period film
Recently on the bill of the moving Everything went well, she had confided this summer on the reasons for its rarity in the cinema, before a very clear focus on her private life in front of a journalist. The ex-companion of Cyril Lignac evoked in filigree the period when she was hunted down by the paparazzi, which she had ended up trapping with humor. A franchise that she had already demonstrated years before, in a very different context. In 1997, Marchioness must be an event, with its cast of stars, Bernard Giraudeau, Lambert Wilson, Thierry Lhermitte, Patrick Timsit, and therefore Sophie Marceau. A sparkling and sumptuous period production by Véra Belmont, coupled with an endearing portrait of a woman, the film follows a young dancer under the reign of Louis XIV, who is introduced to the profession of actress in Molière’s troupe.
The shooting of Marchioness was “in hell” for Sophie Marceau
The controversy around Marchioness was born during the promotion of the film, which Sophie Marceau refuses to assume. “This shoot was hell. I have one of the worst memories of my life. I absolutely did not get along with Véra Belmont (…) Honestly, I do not want to defend the film“, she explains to the Parisian. Cash remarks which obviously made the director react.”She loves me one day, the next day she hates me. I think she doesn’t like being led by a woman. She saw the Marquise much more petty-bourgeois than I imagined. She’s the kind of actress, when you disturb her at what she’s decided to do on set, she hates you“, explains Véra Belmont at the microphone of France Inter. A pass of arms which undoubtedly harmed the career of the film, which only attracted more than 480,000 spectators in theaters.