Jeanne Moreau passed away in Paris this morning at the age of 89.
Moreau is known for her acting in films that were unlike anything that came before. ‘Jules et Jim’ directed by François Truffaut, for example. It’s considered a classic of French cinema today but when it came out in 1962, it was unconventional, in several ways.
The story of two friends who both fall in love with the same woman didn’t conform to the rules of society or what the public expected to see at the movies when it came out. Love triangles weren’t the way people lived in France during the period depicted, World War I, and they weren't the norm in 1962, when the film was released, ether.
But you’d never know that by looking at the film. That was Truffaut’s magic. He presented warmth and intimacy. joy and cruelty, love and separation, without explaining.
In this scene, Moreau sings ‘Le Tourbillon de la vie’ (‘The Whirlwind of Life’.)