He was already waiting for death, said Jean-Louis Trintignant in one of the interviews about Michael Haneke’s 2013 film “Amour”, which won the foreign Oscar. But then the master director came and offered him one of the roles of his life. Jean-Louis Trintignant died yesterday at the age of 91.
The actor was still in front of the camera even in old age and shaped French cinema for many decades in around 150 cinema and television productions. Trintignant, who was born on December 11, 1930, became known with “Ein Mann und Eine Frau” (1966), and became legendary with Michael Haneke’s “Amour” (2012).
Trintignant was last seen in cinemas in 2019 when he was in front of the camera for Claude Lelouch’s “The Most Beautiful Years of a Life”. The film followed on from the legendary classic “A Man and a Woman” from 1966, with which Lelouch shot a nouvelle vague epic and last but not least helped his actor Trintignant achieve an international breakthrough. He embodied a racing driver who falls in love with a widowed woman, played by Anouk Aimée. More than 50 years later, Lelouch brought the duo back to their earlier locations in “The most beautiful years of a life” – a cinematic farewell, as it now turns out.
Awarded at Cannes in 1969
His best-known works include “A Man and a Woman”, the scandalous film “And always attracts women” by Roger Vadim with Brigitte Bardot from 1956 – and last but not least the political thriller “Z” by Costa-Gavras, for which he filmed in Cannes in 1969 was awarded Best Actor. “The Great Error” by Bernardo Bertolucci or “The City of Lost Children” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro are further milestones in a great artist’s life.
Throughout his 70-year career, Trintignant has embodied mysterious and elusive characters who weren’t what they first seemed: cold-blooded killers, jealous husbands, uptight philistines and closet gays. With a few gestures, a controlled expression and seemingly expressionless eyes, Trintignant established himself as a multi-layered character actor. Born in Piolenc near Orange in southern France, the son of a wealthy industrialist discovered his love of acting while studying law in Aix-en-Provence when he saw Molière’s play “The Miser”.
Trintignant also had drama off the stage. When he fell in love with Brigitte Bardot in 1956 in “And always lures the woman”, the tabloids were in top form. To escape the media hype surrounding his liaison with Bardot, he fled voluntarily into the army and only returned about three years later.
Even later, the life of the actor did not go unnoticed. He lost one of his three children with his ex-wife Nadine to sudden infant death. His daughter and actress Marie Trintignant died in 2003 at the age of 41 as a result of violence from her boyfriend, rock star Bertrand Cantat. She had appeared in several films and plays along with her father.
Source: Nachrichten
