SHE ONCE declared that “acting is a way of living out one’s insanity” but she has also called acting “a desire and a need, like eating...I’ve never blushed at any of the films I've made. I’ve been very lucky.”
She is Isabelle Huppert, one of France’s most distinguished actresses, and she is this year’s Galway Film Fleadh guest of honour. The fleadh will show four of Mme Huppert’s films - White Material (2009 ), The Piano Teacher (2001 ), Madame Bovary (1991 ), and Heaven’s Gate (1980 ). She will also take part in a public interview.
Born in Paris in 1953 and raised in Ville d’Avray, Mme Huppert’s acting ambitions were encouraged by her mother. She studied at the Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique and enjoyed a successful theatre career. She made her movie debut in 1971 and went on to star in Claude Goretta’s The Lacemaker (1977 ) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Sauve Qui Peut (La Vie ) (1980 ), which established her screen reputation.
Madame Bovary, based on Flaubert’s celebrated novel, will be shown on Wednesday July 11 at 4pm in the Galway Omniplex. It is directed by Claude Chabrol and features Mme Huppert in the title role.
White Material can be seen in the Galway Omniplex on Thursday 12 at 12 noon. This film explores racial conflict and the limits of human will. Mme Huppert stars as Maria Vial, a French woman attempting to run her family’s coffee plantation in an unnamed African country.
The Piano Teacher sees Mmd Huppert play piano instructor Erika, respected for her talent and feared for her disciplinarinism. See it in the Galway Omniplex on Saturday 14 at 11pm.
The public interview will take place in the Town Hall Theatre on Sunday 15 at 3pm and will be conducted by Sean Rocks of RTÉ Radio 1’s Arena. It will be followed by a screening of Heaven’s Gate, a bleak western where a sheriff struggles to protect immigrant farmers from wealthy cattle interests.
Tickets are available from the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 and www.tht.ie
