Jacques Dutronc the gentleman actor: he hides nothing and says everything about his love for cinema

Klaus Kinski, Jean-Luc Godard, Sophie Marceau, Isabelle Adjani, Michel Piccoli, Jean-Pierre Marielle… Jacques Dutronc has rubbed shoulders with the great cacti of cinema.

For his 80th birthday, Jacques Dutroncthe eternal detractor of Playboys, reflected on his acting career, occurring just as serendipitously as his vocation as a singer. He hides nothing, he says everything! In his memoirs, entitled And me and me and me and published by the editions Le Cherche Midithe iconic Parisian exiled in Corsica says he was able to begin an acting career in 1973 with Antoine and Sébastienthanks to his friend and famous photographer Jean-Marie Périer.

“I never thought about being an actor, any more than I thought about becoming a singer. I had shot scopitones, where it was enough for me to sing in playback (…) but that had nothing to do with cinema, where the camera can be a hundred times more impressive than an audience of a thousand people .“

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The challenge was in order. It was necessary to take off this label of provocative singer to slip into the skin of sometimes colorful characters.

“At the time, the cinema looked down on singers who made films. It felt too much like “make a move”. And then everyone thought the singers were bad actors. (…) In general, in France, it is almost impossible to be an actor and a singer at the same time. You are a singer, you appear on television, 5 million spectators watch you. At the cinema, we travel to see you, it’s different. For the song, the guys turn on their TV: you’re at their house, if you piss them off they’ll zap you. At the cinema, they chose you, they paid to see you; and you are paid for them to come see you.”

The important thing is to love (1975), Andrzej Żuławski.

According to him, it is The important thing is to love ofAndrzej Żuławski which allowed him to emerge from his chrysalis as a singer to break out as an actor: “I never really felt like an actor, but this film immediately took me out of the image of the singer who works in cinema. I took off the label (…) I was also complimented a lot for this role, as was later for Van Gogh. I’m wary of compliments, I only half believe them, at best. Flowers are good for cemeteries.” did he declare.

Gloomy and impudent, the film tells the story of Servais Mont (Fabio Testi), a young photographer who meets Nadine Chevalier (Romy Schneider), an actress forced to act in porn films to survive. The photographer falls in love with this drifting actress, married to Jacques (Jacques Dutronc), a whimsical and fragile being.

“Playing also means not abandoning your comrades. Without improvising, therefore, I was more spontaneous than thoughtful. It’s better not to think too much, moreover, when you’re faced with something excessive like Żuławski.”, wrote Jacques Dutronc.

On the occasion of the filming of The important thing is to love, Jacques Dutronc has met Klaus Kinski : “Kinski was a true actor: he was an extraordinary exhibitionist, whose very excesses made him breathtaking. He was a true genius, totally insane, unpredictable, furious.” Jacques Dutronc collaborated again with Andrzej Żuławski in 1989 in My nights are more beautiful than your daysa romantic drama with Sophie Marceau.

Mado (1976) by Claude Sautet

In 1976, he toured in Mado with Michael Piccoli. The film is directed by Claude Sautetwho is none other than his cousin.

“Claude Sautet is my cousin – my father’s mother was his father’s sister. (…) He ended up hiring me on Mado – the only film I made with him. The filming was difficult: two months of wading through the slush, often at night, with all the technical difficulties that one could imagine.“

Madotells the story of Simon Léotard (Michael Piccoli), a 49-year-old real estate developer who finds himself ruined by a dishonest competitor. Thanks to Mado, a young prostitute, Simon manages to take revenge. We find the key issues of cinema from Claude Sautet, namely, man facing life and the dilemmas it causes. Here, it is Simon who must ask himself the right questions and make decisions about his private and professional situation. The director of Caesar and Rosalie cites the context of an emerging economic crisis as well as the fear of seeing competitors gain the upper hand.

“I shared the dressing room Piccoli. In his characters, he had the frightening charm of false calm. He never laughed: he smiled, and in his own, ambiguous way, which always predicted the worst. It was one of those smiles which transformed, at the least expected moment, into thunderous anger: this violence suppressed, the spectator feared it, before being relieved to see it burst out.”

The Entourloupe (1980) by Gérard Pirès.

“There were two types of great actors in the 1970s: actors with mustaches, and Piccoli. The art of Marielle or Rochefort, for example, came largely from their mustaches, because it was not just a question of wearing them, but of giving them meaning: they did not all tell the same story.“, said Jacques Dutronc in his memory.

Adapted from Our intentions are peaceful (1977) by Francis Ryck, The Entourloupe is a satire that marauds around the function of VRP. The plot tells the story of two dragoons, Olivier (Jacques Dutronc) and Roland (Gerard Lanvin). Living on expedients, these two thugs attempt the adventure of selling encyclopedias with Castelard (Jean-Pierre Marielle), an unscrupulous home sales expert. It is in the environment of Poitou that Valérie, their friend, arrives to wreak havoc. L‘Mean trick is a squeaky social comedy, bathed in a seventies atmosphere cleverly illustrated by signed dialogues Michel Audiard.

“The only thing I regret is not having discussed with Marielle, not even once. He still had things to say, and I to learn. Instead I drank whiskey with Lanvin. (…) I have had lots of opportunities to get to know the people I worked with better, to tell them all my admiration, but I never dared. I was content with the professional framework, I was too embarrassed to go beyond that. I didn’t want to disturb them.“, regrets the interpreter of The opportunist.

Van Gogh (1991), from Maurice Pialat.

“In the early 1990s, I was considered to play Van Gogh, but Daniel Auteuil, Jean Hugues Anglade And Lambert Wilson also. And all the actors I met at that time had dyed themselves red and were taking drawing lessons.”

After his stay in the asylum, Vincent Van Gogh took up residence in Auvers-sur-Oise, with Doctor Gachet. The last days of the painter give a glimpse of the psychological disorder combined with the conflicting relations he maintains with his brother Théo. Each plan is meticulously sculpted by Maurice Pialatknown for his demands – in Van Goghhe distorts the shell of reality in order to ingeniously expose it to the viewer’s gaze.

“Żuławskiyou almost had to wear a garter belt to seduce him; Maurice Pialat, to seduce him, you almost had to break his face. And to upset him, you had to flatter him. If he had offered me a role, after Van Gogh, I would have said no at first, to please him; then yes, to satisfy him.”

Awarded the César for best actor at the 17th César ceremony, Jacques Dutronc admits to having worked a lot and even to having thrown himself headlong into this intimate version of the famous painter:

“I worked like crazy for this film. Filming lasted eight months. I lost twelve kilos. The journalists concluded that I was a sub-clapper. Ten times they announced my death. (…) This role therefore not only brought me a Caesar, but cancer, polio, AIDS and tuberculosis. This is what they say about you when you work hard. In France, rumors quickly become tumors.“, concludes the Caesarized interpreter of Van Gogh.

Jacques Dutronc discovered his vocation: he says he replaced the glass of scotch with screenplays. Despite the missed opportunity with Steven Spielbergthe eternal opportunist had the opportunity to meet great filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard In Save whoever can (life) with Isabelle Huppert And Nathalie Baye. In his memoirs, he reflected on his meeting with the director:

“Often, moreover, I found his repartee superior to his images, his character greater than his films (…) In his genre, whether we like his work or not, it was truly the best. He was a great conductor. Obviously, since he forgot to give you the score, it was better to be a good musician.”

The actor-singer has appeared in no less than 20 films in 10 years. In 1977 he responded to Isabelle Adjanni In Violette and François of Jacques Roufioand admits to having been impressed by his game: “I was impressed by Isabelle’s concentration, her fixity. She looked at people, motionless, with wide eyes. I was asking : “Is she going to eat me or something?” “

These precious anecdotes (and more) can be found in the memories of Jacques Dutronc : And me and me and me.

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