best film: Jules and Jim. Jules and Jim is simply one of the crown jewels of the French New Wave on top of being one of the best films of all-time (currently sits at #19). That ranking makes it the single highest rated film of the French New Wave, Truffaut’s career, and the best film from a French director. This category strengthens Moreau’s case.
best performance: Jules and Jim. Moreau is transcendent in Truffaut’s masterpiece as Catherine. Catherine is mercurial and Moreau dominates when she is on screen (sorry and all due respect to Oskar Werner and Henri Serre). If one combines this with the paragraph above one is left with an all-time performance worthy of praise and appreciation. The film does not work if the viewer fails to fall in love with Moreau- like Jules, Jim (and Truffaut) clearly do.
I am picking a favorable place to start for Moreau’s case here- but if one looks at the best twenty films of all-time- only Falconetti, Maggie Cheung, and Janet Gaynor give performances on this level by a female actor.
stylistic innovations/traits: Thanks to Truffaut, Jules and Jim, those sublime freeze frames on her, the running scene dressed as a man- Moreau is a permanent fixture of art cinema and the French New Wave. But Moreau, with seventeen (17) archiveable films is far from a one-hit wonder. She was actually clipping along fine before the New Wave in the late 1950s and early 1950s. Her work with Malle is proof of that and she is superb in Elevator to the Gallows. Yet, her trajectory changed clearly with the rise of Truffaut’s star. She would go on to work with Antonioni, Bunuel and Demy as well in the early 1960s. All told, eleven (11) of her archiveable films are between 1958 and 1964. Moreau could play Deneuve’s deadpan calm beauty (The Bride Wore Black)—but also could express and animate (beyond what her blonde French counterpart Catherine Deneuve could) as well as anyone this side of Giulietta Masina.
unlike Deneuve or Karina- Moreau was established before the French New Wave- here in Elevator to the Gallows
directors worked with: François Truffaut (3), Louis Malle (3), Orson Welles (2)… and then once a piece with Michelangelo Antonioni, Jacques Demy, Luis Bunuel and a quick cameo with Jean-Luc Godard.
Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni at the absolute height of their powers in the early 1960s- from La Notte
top ten performances:
- Jules and Jim
- Elevator to the Gallows
- La Notte
- The Bride Wore Black
- The Lovers
- Diary of a Chambermaid
- Bay of Angels
- Monte Walsh
- Chimes at Midnight
- The Train
Moreau gives one of the best performances of the year three times in a five year stretch- 1958, 1961 and 1962- here from La Notte again
archiveable films
| 1954- Touchez Pas au Grisbi |
| 1958- Elevator to the Gallows |
| 1958- The Lovers |
| 1959- The 400 Blows |
| 1961- A Woman is a Woman |
| 1961- La Notte |
| 1962- Jules and Jim |
| 1962- The Trial |
| 1963- Bay of Angels |
| 1963- The Fire Within |
| 1964- Diary of a Chambermaid |
| 1964- The Train |
| 1966- Chimes at Midnight |
| 1968- The Bride Wore Black |
| 1970- Monte Walsh |
| 1976- The Last Tycoon |
| 1990- La Femme Nikita |
Maaaaan…idk Jeanne Mureau is my pick for best actress of all time. The fact that she had absolutely no barriers: not role, not money, NOT EVEN LANGUAGE. She just wanted to make the best movies.
She literally was unpaid for La Notte and that might be the best-acted movie of all time. Not her performance alone, but between a director and the 3 big actors, this might be the most star power in any movie not named The Godfather? All 4 are top ten in their respective categories (top 11 for you haha and we will have to wait on Vitti but I’m anticipating at least top 20. And all 4 of them at their absolute primes. Kind of wonder if something like it will ever happen again
@Matthew moore- Great work here- and excellent point about the four of them working together in their primes.
What a powerful, unique actress she was. Reading her film credits is really like reading the history of 20th century cinema, she worked with so many great names.
BTW, she also worked with Fassbinder too in Querelle (worth seeing for the crazy visuals) and her performance is hilariously weird. I’ve to yet seen Mr. Klein but I’ve read great reviews as well, even more to add to her already impressive resume! What a career.
Wait. Did you really do 4 screen grabs in this post and none of them are the freeze frame in Jules and Jim? Bold move.
@Matthew Moore- Yep, looked at a lot of great shots and a few freeze frames. Happy with these choices here.