Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski) (via)

“My aim was to show Carole’s hallucinations through the eye of the camera, augmenting their impact by using wide-angle lenses of progressively increasing scope. But in itself, that wasn’t sufficient for my purpose. I also wanted to alter the actual dimensions of the apartment — to expand the rooms and passages and push back the walls so that audiences could experience the full effect of Carole’s distorted vision.  

Accordingly we designed the walls of the set so they could be moved outward and elongated by the insertion of extra panels. When ‘stretched’ in this way, for example, the narrow passage leading to the bathroom assumed nightmarish proportions.”

-Polanski, quoted in Roman (1984)

Catherine Deneuve in Vice and Virtue (1963, dir. Roger Vadim)

Catherine Deneuve in opening titles for Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski) Title designer: Maurice Binder

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Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski) (via)

“My aim was to show Carole’s hallucinations through the eye of the camera, augmenting their impact by using wide-angle lenses of progressively increasing scope. But in itself, that wasn’t sufficient for my purpose. I also wanted to alter the actual dimensions of the apartment — to expand the rooms and passages and push back the walls so that audiences could experience the full effect of Carole’s distorted vision.  

Accordingly we designed the walls of the set so they could be moved outward and elongated by the insertion of extra panels. When ‘stretched’ in this way, for example, the narrow passage leading to the bathroom assumed nightmarish proportions.”

-Polanski, quoted in Roman (1984)

Catherine Deneuve during the filming of Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski) (via)

Catherine Deneuve in Benjamin (1968, dir. Michel Deville)

“I need uncertainty in everything…I always try to keep that feeling of being on the edge. It’s very complicated but it’s because I’m afraid of knowing too well and seeming mechanical. It’s also a way to expose myself, like I was in Les Voleurs, to be in a difficult situation. Since then, I have thought a lot about that, but I cannot completely give up. I have to put myself in a little danger so as not to arrive completely sure. I’m afraid of being too sure, to just deliver.”

-Catherine Deneuve, The Guardian (photo via)

Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski)

Catherine Deneuve on promotional tour for Belle de Jour (1967, dir. Luis Bunuel)

“I prefer to be associated with Belle de Jour than a lot of other things, frankly. I think it’s a great film. I was very lucky to do films like that, and like Umbrellas of Cherbourg, at a young age. I think it was great luck for an actor to be involved with very important directors young, because it gives you another view of cinema.”

What, in particular, did they teach her? “It’s not what they taught me,” she says, “it’s what I learned through the making of the film. It’s like being with intelligent people - it’s very difficult to say or to know what you’ve learned, because sometimes you learn without them trying to say anything. I suppose you always read things differently, you see things differently, when you’ve done films like that.”

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Czech poster art for Belle de Jour (1967, dir. Luis Bunuel) Artist: Karel Machálek

Catherine Deneuve in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, dir Jacques Demy)

”[The Umbrellas of Cherbourg] was a film that existed before it was even shot. I remember that when we heard the music, we were all incredibly moved, even though there were no images yet. Jacques Demy was very demanding but also very shy, and he liked to laugh. I recognized myself completely in his way of working. The making of the film was pretty nonsensical and I found that very attractive: everything seemed extraordinary. And I think that I felt that he regarded me as indispensable.

I realized that cinema had the potential to be like that: meetings between people who want to do very unusual things. If the film hadn’t done well, I think it would have been a different story—it confirmed that the most important thing was to do the things you want to do with people you trust and whose ideas don’t seem too conventional to you. For me, something truly shifted when I worked with Jacques. Something profound happened around the relationship you can have with a film.”

-Deneuve, Film Comment (Nov./Dec. 2008)

Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour (1967, dir. Luis Buñuel)

“Sex without religion is like cooking an egg without salt. Sin gives more chances to desire.”

-Luis Buñuel