Renée Falconetti

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Renée Falconetti at the age of 18 (around 1910/11)

Renée Jeanne Falconetti (born July 21, 1892 in Pantin , † December 12, 1946 in Buenos Aires ), also known under the name Falconetti or Maria Falconetti , was a French actress . From the 1910s she appeared in the Parisian boulevard theater and was briefly a member of the Comédie-Française (1924–1925). Recognized for her appearances in both comedies and dramas (including Lorenzaccio , 1927; The Lady of the Camellias , 1928), her playing has been compared by contemporary critics with that of Gabrielle Réjane or Eleonora Duse . She achieved lasting fame through the title role of Joan of Arc in Carl Theodor Dreyer's silent film The Passion of the Maiden of Orléans (1928), which was to be her only appearance in a feature film.

biography

childhood and education

Renée Falconetti was born in Pantin in 1892 (other sources wrongly state the year of birth 1891 or 1893 and the place of birth Sermano , Corsica ) as the daughter of Pierre Falconetti, a Corsican by birth , and Lucie Lacoste († 1935), who was twenty years younger. The father worked as a salesman for silk in the Parisian department store Bon Marché . Falconetti, called "Nénette" ("Falco" in adulthood), grew up with a younger brother. The parents' marriage was unhappy and they separated when Falconetti was a child. She then lived with her maternal grandparents, who ran a tailor shop. She was later placed in a religious home by her working mother, separated from her brother. She never graduated from school.

Falconetti began to adore the actress Sarah Bernhardt at an early age and became enthusiastic about the acting profession at the age of eight. At the age of 13 she took on the lead role in a school performance. In 1910 her mother, who had met a textile entrepreneur, took the two children back to her home. Falconetti's career aspiration met with incomprehension from the other family members. Due to the difficult financial situation her family was in, she took up a job in an international company. She was then sent to the branches in Hamburg and Liverpool , among others .

Relationship with Henri Goldstuck and first appearances in the theater

During her stay in England, the young Falconetti met the much older Henri Goldstuck. The millionaire came from a Jewish family in Riga and had made his fortune by insuring cargo. Falconetti became his lover and two years later he moved into a house on Paris' Rue de Longchamp . Goldstuck enabled Falconetti to lead an upscale lifestyle and to take acting lessons from Maurice de Féraudy . In 1912, against the wishes of her family, she prepared for admission to the Paris Conservatoire d'art dramatique . At the same time she saw numerous plays with, among others, Jean Mounet-Sully and Gabrielle Réjane , who became one of her role models. As one of 15 students, Falconetti was finally accepted at the Conservatoire and entered the class of Eugène Silvain .

Falconetti attended lessons with Silvain twice a week and received classical acting training. Always cautious towards her fellow students, she first drew attention to herself as a drama student in the summer of 1913. At the public prelude (“Concours”) she interpreted a scene from the third act of George Sands Le Mariage de Victorine and took second place. She then switched to Mademoiselle du Mesnil's class in the second year and redoubled her efforts. In her second public audition in the summer of 1914, Falconetti chose a scene from the first act of Racine's tragedy Esther and, to her disappointment, again took second place.

During the First World War , Falconetti was obliged to tour Switzerland with other students of the Conservatoire for propaganda purposes . On May 29, 1915, she made her professional stage debut at the Théatre de l'Odéon in Paris with an appearance in Anton Chekhov's one-act play The Marriage Proposal . Falconetti was to belong to the ensemble of the Schauspielhaus for three years. She received her first artistically demanding role in the second year in the play Gretchen (1916). Her breakthrough as an actress followed in the same year with the supporting role of Hélène in Saint-Georges de Bouhélier's Le Carnaval des enfants , which was followed by the leading role of a blind man in the melodrama Les Deux Orphelines (1917) and more appearances in comedies . In 1917, Falconetti also appeared in the short film Le Clown , in which her former mentor Maurice de Féraudy took over the direction and played the lead role. In the same year she would also play a role in Georges Denolas and Jean Kemms silent film La Comtesse de Somerive (1917).

Successful on stage and contract actress at the Comédie-Française

Towards the end of the First World War, Falconetti moved into an apartment on Champs-Élysées 32. After the war she was able to build on previous successes with the lead role in Saint-Georges de Bouhélier's play La Vie d'une femme (1919). She then left the Théatre de l'Odéon. She went on tour in European casinos such as Interlaken , the Lido , Monte Carlo and Deauville and appeared in productions in various Parisian theaters. Successes such as Aux jardins de Murcie at the Théâtre Antoine (1919) or Jacques Deval's comedy Une faible femme (1920), with which she broke away from her collaboration with Saint-Georges de Bouhéliers, were followed by a few failures such as Firmin Gémier's provocative play La Captive (1920 ) or her little-noticed part in Sacha Guitry's Le Comédien (1921). For the jealous drama Le feu qui reprend mal (1921) she received high praise from critics, who compared her acting skills as a tragedy with those of a Réjane or Eleonora Duse . At that time Falconetti earned 500 to 800 francs per performance and had the advantage of being able to freely choose her theater roles. She also worked as a photo model for haute couture .

In 1923, Falconetti appeared alongside Harry Baur and Charles Boyer in her first trouser role as Charly , for whose preparation she had taken singing and ballet lessons. After two further acclaimed stage roles ( La Fille perdue , 1923; Le Bien-Aimé , 1924), she became a member of the renowned Comédie-Française ensemble on February 22, 1924 . With this step Falconetti hoped for roles in the great classical tragedies in which Sarah Bernhardt had shone. However, she could not get used to the strict repertoire system there and the prevailing competition. Because of the tension, she began to suffer from difficulty sleeping. She skipped rehearsals and stayed at the estate of actress Anna Judic in the countryside in Chatou , not far from Paris. An offer by his friend Georges de Porto-Riche to appear in a modern comedy was turned down by Falconetti and instead made her debut at the Comédie-Française with a production of Beaumarchais ' Le Barbier de Séville (1924). With the piece, however, she was not a success with critics. Although Falconetti's modern style of playing was praised in the play Amoureuse that same year , she said goodbye to the Comédie-Française after staging the play Bettine (1925) with Maurice Escande.

Cooperation with Carl-Theodor Dreyer

After leaving the Comédie-Française, Falconetti successfully returned to tabloid comedies. She reappeared in 1925 in the title role of Charly at the Théâtre de l'Étoile and in Claude Roger-Marx ' Simili, each on the side of Charles Boyer. The two plays were followed by the theatrical version of Victor Margueritte's successful novel La Garçonne , through which the Danish film director Carl Theodor Dreyer became aware of the actress. Dreyer was staying in Paris at the time, where he was invited by the Société Générale after the success of his comedy You should honor your wife (1925). The French production company offered him the opportunity to make a film about a historical female figure. Dreyer had the choice between Katharina von Medici , Marie Antoinette and Johanna von Orléans . He chose the latter, which gave him enough time to film and a budget of seven million francs. He chose Falconetti as the title heroine after a two-hour conversation.

It took over a year and a half from the beginning of the preparations to the final cut of the silent film The Passion of the Maiden of Orléans . Dreyer rewrote the script, which was originally based on Joseph Delteil's award-winning novel, with the historian Pierre Champion and was based on the original documents of the court case. At the same time, he had Hermann Warm and Jean Hugo create a complex, detailed set of walls, towers, houses, a drawbridge and a church. During the shoot, Dreyer mainly worked with close-up shots of Falconetti's face, which were preferably taken from below, and with highly stylized camera movements. This should displease some critics, who later described the film as "an extension of still photography" . Both Falconetti and the rest of the acting ensemble around their former mentor Eugène Silvain, Antonin Artaud and Michel Simon did not wear any make-up during filming. Falconetti isolated himself from the others in order to be able to identify himself completely with the role. She also had her head shaved for the final scene of Johanna's execution. This way of dealing with his leading actress should bring Dreyer the reputation of a demanding and tyrannical director. Rumor has it that he would have achieved Falconetti's deeply suffering expression by kneeling on the stone tiles for several hours and repeating the same scene until she was completely exhausted. Although The Passion of the Maid of Orléans was a commercial failure, the film received rave reviews and is now considered one of the highlights of silent filmmaking because of its ornate black and white images and Falconetti's portrayal.

At the same time as the filming, Falconetti and Henri Goldstuck obtained a highly acclaimed performance of Alfred de Mussets and George Sand's drama Lorenzaccio at the Monte Carlo Theater in 1927 . Falconetti took on the male title role under the direction of René Blum . This was first embodied by Sarah Bernhardt at the premiere of the piece in 1896. The performance, with Harry Krimer in the role of Alexandre, was later moved to the Parisian Théâtre de la Madeleine and received fabulous reviews.

Career decline

In 1928, Falconetti's patron Henri Goldstuck was killed in a car accident at the age of 73. In his will he did not consider his long-time lover, only Falconetti's daughter. From then on, their inheritance was administered by Falconetti's mother, Lucie Lacoste. Falconetti challenged the will in vain. She stayed away from the performances of Dreyer's The Passion of the Virgin of Orléans , in which she was performed as Maria Falconetti . The premiere in Paris drew protests from the Catholic Church. At that time, the actress lacked the capital to fulfill her long-cherished wish and acquire her own theater. Goldstuck had always rejected this plan for more artistic freedom. Falconetti then rented the Théâtre Femina in June to present Michel Carré's pantomime play L'Enfant prodigue , which was combined with dance and music. After several months, Falconetti returned to the theater stage in September of the same year and interpreted the highly acclaimed role of the lady of the camellias , one of Sarah Bernhardt's star roles.

A few months later, in the spring of 1929, Falconetti rented the Théâtre Femina again to establish a self-created variety theater called Chanson des bois, des rues et d'ailleurs . However, her singing, dancing and playing was received with restrained criticism. Nonetheless, Falconetti planned to set up his own “socially educational” theater at the Théâtre de l'Avenue. She hired two young journalists, made André Bloch-Desmorget the responsible director and appointed Pierre Lazareff as secretary of her theater. She should also direct the productions herself. Falconetti signed Jeanne Lion , Jean-Max , Sylvette Fillacier , Maurel, Daste, Aman Maistre and Ray Roy for the cast .

At the end of November 1929, Falconetti's ensemble made its debut with La Rouille at the Théâtre de l'Avenue. The Russian-based piece with political content, in which Falconetti played a supporting role alongside Jean-Max and Germaine de France , fell through with the audience. Nevertheless, it was still on the program and Falconetti appeared in parallel in classic roles such as Racine's Phèdre and Alfred de Musset's Les Caprices de Marianne . She also had Juliette ou la clé des songes by the hitherto unknown Georges Neveux performed. Falconetti's theater went into debt, however, and after six months of playing at the Théâtre de l'Avenue, her ensemble gave their last performances in early April 1930 with Aux jardins de Murcie and in late May with the Divertissement program .

Moved to Switzerland and emigrated to South America

Financially troubled by the failure of her theater project, Falconetti sold her apartment in Paris and her country house near Compiègne and moved to Switzerland. In the following two years she only appeared sporadically in Paris in her former successful pieces The Lady of the Camellias , La Vie d'une femme (both 1931) and Lorenzaccio (1932). In 1934 she played Joan of Arc again in the 50-star Paris production of Saint-Georges de Bouhélier, followed by Ferdinand Bruckner's Die Kreatur (1935) with Pitoëff. Her career in Paris ended that same year. Falconetti was last seen in the Paris revue Bœuf sur le toit, in which she sang and recited verses under the pseudonym Orroza , as well as with the role of Andromache in Louis Jouvet's production of The Trojan War Does Not Take Place (both 1935). Falconetti received 10,000 francs per performance for the successful piece by Jean Giraudoux , which was highly topical due to its action shortly before the German Wehrmacht invaded the demilitarized Rhineland (1936).

At the end of her theater career, Falconetti moved back to Switzerland. Projects in the United States failed due to the global economic crisis . Falconetti then traveled to other European countries and lived in Rome for a year from 1937 , where she took singing lessons. Due to her lavish lifestyle, the actress owed 400,000 Swiss francs in 1940. With the beginning of the Second World War and the occupation of France by the German Empire , Falconetti and her son began to prepare for a trip to South America.

Falconetti's grave on the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris (2006)

At the end of May 1941, Falconetti traveled to France, where she received visas from the Prefect of the municipality of Lapalisse to Argentina via France, Spain and Brazil. However, the papers for entry into Spain were invalid. Only after the intervention of the Spanish ambassador in Geneva did Falconetti receive valid visas for Spain on January 29, 1942. In Portbou , Catalonia , Falconetti embarked on February 10th and reached Rio de Janeiro on March 22nd. She stayed there for fifteen months and used up all her savings. On June 7, 1943, Falconetti moved to Buenos Aires , where she found access to local society on the recommendation of the poet Gabriela Mistral, who had met in Rio . With financial support from French emigrants, Falconetti taught an amateur drama group and had Jean Cocteau's Les Monstres sacrés , Paul Claudel's dramas L'Otage and L'Echange, and Le Carnaval des enfants performed, in which she herself played the part of the mother.

Renée Falconetti died on the morning of December 12, 1946 in Buenos Aires, frustrated and hinting at suicide weeks beforehand. Though she vomited several times the night before, she refused to be treated by a summoned doctor. She died at the age of 54. Her body was transferred to France and buried on the Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris .

Private life

From around 1910 until his death in 1928, Renée Falconetti was the lover of the wealthy Henri Goldstuck, who supported her career throughout her life. In 1915 Falconetti had a daughter, Hélène Falconetti, who grew up mostly with her maternal grandmother, Lucie Lacoste. Another son was born in 1931, who grew up with Falconetti in Saanen, Switzerland, and later in South America. Falconetti sought successful claims against the child's father for recognition of paternity and later for alimony. Falconetti had affairs with the author Saint-Georges de Bouhéliers and her fellow actor Charles Boyer .

In 1987 Hélène Falconetti published under the title Falconetti a double biography about her mother and son Gérard Falconetti (1949-1984), who also worked as an actor.

Plays (selection)

year Play role stage
1915 La demande en mariage Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 Charles II et Buckingham Sarah Duncan Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 Gretchen Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 Le barber de Séville raisin Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 La Bonne Mère Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 Les Grandes Mademoiselles Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 L'Arlésienne Vivette Théatre de l'Odéon
1916 Le Carnaval des enfants Hélène Théatre de l'Odéon
1917 Les Deux Orphelines Louise Théatre de l'Odéon
1917 Les Bouffons As long as Théatre de l'Odéon
1917 La Chercheuse d'esprit Théatre de l'Odéon
1917 Le Joli Rôle Théatre de l'Odéon
1917 La Souris Théatre de l'Odéon
1918 Le Mariage de Victorine Théatre de l'Odéon
1918 Annette and Lubin Théatre de l'Odéon
1919 La vie d'une femme Théatre de l'Odéon
1919 Aux jardins de Murcie Théâtre Antoine
1920 La captive Théâtre Antoine
1920 Une faible femme Théâtre Femina
1920 Simoun Comédie Montaigne
1921 Le Comédien Théâtre Édouard VII
1921 Le feu qui reprend mal Théâtre Antoine
1922 La Chair humaine Théâtre du Vaudeville
1922 L'Avocat Théâtre du Vaudeville
1923 Charly Charly
1923 La Fille perdue
1924 Le Bien-Aimé Theater de la Renaissance
1924 La Férie amoureuse
1924 Le barber de Séville raisin Comédie-Française
1924 Le Cocu imaginaire Comédie-Française
1924 Amoureuse Comédie-Française
1925 Bettine Comédie-Française
1925 Charly Charly Théâtre de l'Étoile
1925 Simili Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier
1926 La Garçonne La Garçonne Théâtre de Paris
1927 Lorenzaccio Lorenzo Théâtre de Monte-Carlo
Théâtre de la Madeleine
1927 Miche
1928 La Dame aux camélias Marguerite Gautier Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt
1928 Chanson des bois, des rues et d'ailleurs (Varieté) Théâtre Femina
1929 Ces dames aux chapeaux verts Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt
1929 La Rouille Théâtre de l'Avenue
1929 Juliette ou la clé des songes Théâtre de l'Avenue
1930 Divertissement (variety) Théâtre de l'Avenue
1931 La Dame aux camélias Marguerite Gautier Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt
1931 La vie d'une femme Théatre de l'Odéon
1932 Lorenzaccio Lorenzo Théatre de l'Odéon
1934 Joan of Arc Joan of Arc Théatre de l'Odéon
1935 La Créature Théâtre des Mathurins
1935 La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu Andromaque Théâtre des Mathurins

Filmography

literature

Web links

Commons : Renée Jeanne Falconetti  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 15
  2. ↑ cf. Renée Falconetti . In: Passek, Jean-Loup (Ed.): Dictionnaire du cinéma . Paris: Larousse, 1986. - ISBN 2-03-512303-8 . P. 231
  3. ↑ cf. Cappa, Felice: Dizionario dello spettacolo del '900 . Milano: Baldini + Castoldi, 1998 (accessed via World Biographical Information System Online )
  4. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . Pp. 16-17
  5. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . Pp. 25-27
  6. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 41
  7. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . Pp. 35-36
  8. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 39
  9. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 46
  10. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 81
  11. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 109
  12. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 119
  13. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 129
  14. ↑ a b c d cf. Carl Theodor Dreyer . In: Wakeman, John (Ed.): World Film Directors . Volume One, 1890-1945. New York: The HW Wilson Company, 1987. - ISBN 0-8242-0757-2 (accessed via WilsonWeb)
  15. ↑ a b c d cf. The Passion of the Maid of Orléans . In: The large TV feature film film lexicon (CD-ROM). Directmedia Publ., 2006. - ISBN 978-3-89853-036-1
  16. ↑ a b cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 159
  17. ↑ a b cf. Review of The Passion of the Virgin of Orléans in film-dienst 43/1953 (accessed on September 2, 2010 via Munzinger Online )
  18. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 177
  19. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 181
  20. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 189
  21. ↑ cf. Interview between Hélène Falconetti and Richard Einhorn (1995). In: The Passion of Joan of Arc (US purchase DVD). The Criterion Collection, 1999.
  22. ↑ cf. La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu . In: Kindlers Literatur Lexikon Online. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2009. - ISBN 978-3-476-04019-0 (accessed on September 1, 2010)
  23. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 228
  24. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . Pp. 233-234
  25. ↑ a b cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 237
  26. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 245
  27. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . Pp. 205-209, 231
  28. ↑ cf. Falconetti, Hélène: Falconetti . Paris: Ed. du Cerf, 1987. - ISBN 2-204-02845-2 . P. 85
personal data
SURNAME Falconetti, Renee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Falconetti, Renée Jeanne (full name); Falconetti, Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION french actress
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Pantin , France
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1946
Place of death Buenos Aires , Argentina