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Juliette Binoche
Biography
Early Life
Juliette Binoche was born in Paris on March 9 1964 to a movie-director father and an actress mother. At age 4 her parents were divorced and Binoche was dispatched to a boarding school with her sister Marion. She began acting in amateur stage productions, at 17 she directed and starred in a student production of the Eugene Ionesco play, Le roi se meurt. The next year, she studied acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris. She found an agent through a friend, and joined a theater troupe that toured France, Belgium and Switzerland under the pseudonym Juliette Adrienne.
After graduation, she followed her mother's footsteps and became a stage actress, occasionally taking bit parts in French feature films. Her first screen role was a small part in the 1983 TV film Dorothee, danseuse de corde by Jacques Fensten followed by a small part in the provincial TV film Fort bloque by Pierrick Guinnard. Binoche secured her first big screen appearance in Pascal Kane's Algeria themed Liberty Belle. At this point Binoche decided to pursue a career in cinema.
1984 to 1991
Juliette Binoche at press conference for Chocolat at the 2001 Berlinale (photo by Michael Weiner)Small roles in Les Nanas(1984) and Adieu blaireau (1985) led to more significant exposure in Jean-Luc Godard's Je Vous Salue, Marie and Jacques Doillon's La Vie de Famille which cast her as the teenage step-daughter of Sami Frey's character. This film was to set the theme and tone of the early career.
In 1985 Juliette Binoche secured the lead role in Andre Techine's Rendez-vous. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year winning Best Director. In 1986 Binoche was nominated for her first Cesar Award for Best Actress for the film. Binoche's next film was a role in Mon beau-fri¨re a tue ma sÅ“ur by Jacques Rouffio. The film was a critical and commercial failure.
In 1986 Binoche starred opposite Michel Piccoli in Leos Carax's Mauvais Sang. The film was a critical and commercial success leading to Binoche's second Cesar Award nomination.
In August 1986 Juliette Binoche won the role of Tereza in Philip Kaufman's The Unbearable Lightness of Being based on the Milan Kundera novel. This was Binoche's first English language role and was a worldwide success with critics and audiences alike.
After her international success Binoche decided to return to France rather than pursue an international career. In 1988 She filmed the lead in Pierre Pradinas's Un tour de mani¨ge (1989) a little seen French film. Late in 1988 Binoche began work on Leos Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. The film was beset by problems and took three years to complete. When it was released in 1991 Les Amants du Pont-Neuf was a critical success. Binoche won a European Film Award for best Actress as well as her third Cesar Award Nomination.
Juliette Binoche's early films saw her firmly established as a French star of some renown. The recurring themes of these films were of contemporary young women exploring their lives and their sexuality.
1992 to 2000
Following the long shoot of Les Amants du Pont-Neuf Binoche relocated to London for production of Wuthering Heights (1992) and Damage (1992) which considerably developed her international reputation. For Damage Binoche received her fourth Cesar Award Nomination.
In 1993 Juliette Binoche appeared in Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs Bleu to much critical acclaim. The film premiered at the 1993 Venice Film Festival. The film also landed Binoche a Cesar Award for Best Actress as well as a Golden Globe nomination.
Following this success Binoche took a short sabbatical during which she became mother of a son Raphael.
In 1995 Binoche appeared in a big budget adaptation of Jean Giono's Le Hussard sur le Toit directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. The film was a box-office success around the world and Binoche was again nominated for a Cesar Award for Best Actress. This role as a romantic heroine was to color the direction of many of her roles in the late 1990s.
In 1996 Binoche appeared in A Couch in New York by Chantal Akerman. The film was a flop, but Binoche had another film that year to pin her hopes on. The English Patient based on the acclaimed novel and directed by Anthony Minghella was a world wide hit garnering 9 Academy Awards including Best supporting Actress for Juliette Binoche.
After this international hit Binoche returned to France where she reteamed Andre Techine for Alice et Martin (1998) followed in 1999 by Les Enfants du Sii¨cle in which Binoche played the role of 19th Century French writer George Sand.
Late in 1999 Binoche gave birth to a second child, Hana.
2000 saw Binoche appear in four successful but different roles. Firstly was La Veuve de Saint-Pierre (2000) by Patrice Leconte which saw binoche nominated for a Cesar Award for Best Actress.
Next she appeared in Michael Haneke's Code Inconnu (2000), a film which was made following Binoche's approach to the Austrian director.
2000 was finished with a double success in the US. Binoche made her Broadway debut in Harold Pinter's Betrayal for which she was nominated for a Tony Award.
Back on screen Binoche was the heroine of the Lasse Hallstrom film Chocolat (2000) for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Bafta for Best Actress and won a European Film Award for Best Actress.
The 1990s saw Juliette Binoche rise to become a major European star around the world specializing in intelligent and assured portrayals of women in love.
2001 to 2006
Following the success of Chocolat, Juliette Binoche returned to France for an unlikely role. Decalage Horaire (2002) opposite Jean Reno saw Binoche play a ditzy beautician. The film was a box office hit in France and saw binoche once again nominated for a Cesar Award for Best Actress.
Decalage Horaire was not to form thr shape of Binoche's subsequent roles. Following instead from Code Inconnu which tackled racism Binoche went to South Africa to film John Boorman's In My Country (2004) opposite Samuel L. Jackson.
Next came a reteaming with Michael Haneke for Cache in (2005). The film was an immediate success winning Best Director at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Binoche was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actress for her role. Binoche's next film was Bee Season with Richard Gere.
Mary (2005) saw Binoche collaborate with Abel Ferrara for an investigation of modern faith and Mary Magdalene's position in the Catholic Church. The film was an immediate success winning the Grand Prix at the 2005 Venice Film Festival.
2006 saw Binoche take part in the portmanteau work Paris, je t'aime appearing in a section directed by Nobuhiro Suwa. September 2006 saw Binoche at the Venice Film Festival to launch Quelques jours en septembre by Santiago Amigorena. Later in the month she travelled to the Toronto Film Festival for the premiere of Breaking and Entering her second film with Anthony Minghella in the directors chair.
The 2000s have seen Juliette Binoche consolidate her position as that of a major French and international star while she found time to appear in works by some of cinemas great mavericks. Rather than continuing to explore the themes of women in love in romantic epics Binoche has instead focused on political and social issues in her films.
2007 Onwards
2007 will see Binoche appear in Ballon Rouge by the Chinese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Dan in Real Life with Steve Carrel and Paris by Cedric Klapisch. She is also due to film Desengagement by Amos Gitai, Souvenirs du Valois by Olivier Assayas and Rithy Panh's Un Barrage Contre le Pacifique.
Awards
Won
Nominations
Filmography
Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno at Cannes, 2002 (photo by Rita Molni¡r)Source: Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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