From Perversion to Purity: The Stardom of Catherine Deneuve - Hardcover

Lisa Downing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719073383 ISBN 13: 9780719073380

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2007

Synopsis

Catherine Deneuve is indisputably one of the world s most celebrated actresses, both in her own native France and throughout the world. Her career has spanned five decades during which she has worked with the most significant of French auteurs, as well as forging partnerships with international directors such as Bunuel and Polanski. The Deneuve star persona has attained such iconic status as to come to symbolise the very essence of French womanhood and civic identity. In this wide-ranging and authoritative collection of essays by a selection of international film academics and writers, the Deneuve persona is scrutinised and illuminated. Beyond the glamorous iconographic status of Yves Saint Laurent s muse, and the epitome of sexual inviolability, Deneuve s status as actress is foregrounded. The book will be essential reading for students and lecturers in star studies.

About this title

Review:

A studious but approachable collection of essays and discussions, this should more than satisfy admirers of the star, as well s more serious students keen to explore the myth and meaning of her important contribution to international cinema. --Howard Maxford, Film Review April 08

Synopsis:

This book traces the career - both filmic and extra-filmic - of one France's most enigmatic and emblematic film stars. The authors investigate a star persona that is particularly ambiguous and apparently contradictory: purity and sexuality; bourgeois and dissident; public and private. Due to these contradictions, Deneuve is one of the few actors that can be the subject of such an analysis, being one of the brighter stars of the last 40 years. She has worked with some of the biggest directors, including Bunuel, Polanski, Techine, Truffaut, Ozon, Von Trier, even Tony Scott

About this edition

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0719073383
• ISBN 13: 9780719073380
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Lisa Downing, Sue Harris