Jean Rochefort, the irony of fate
We recognize Jean Rochefort by his unforgettable mustache and his warm tone of voice.
The popular French actor with the look of a mischievous child left us on October 9, 2017 and we never tire of rediscovering his good words and his phlegmatic style through the cinema of yesterday.
Encounters, unwavering friendships
Saint-Lunaire and friend Pierre
Born on April 29, 1930 in Paris, he spent his youth in Brittany where during his holidays he improvised short films on the beach with his friends. He already dreams of becoming an actor and did not see himself "living anywhere other than in fiction."
Jean befriended Pierre Besson in 1948. He was the son of the seller of the souvenir shop “Au Petit Bonheur”, a dreamy boy who studied Fine Arts.
He is the friend with whom he imagines their future, one in the cinema, the other as an artist.
Pierre persuaded him to take acting lessons in Nantes, and the following year, to come to Paris to take lessons at the school in rue Blanche.
The Conservatory Band
It was at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris that he met the "Conservatory gang": Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot, Claude Rich, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Françoise Fabian, Pierre Vernier, Michel Beaune and Bruno Cream.
Jean Rochefort learns, on June 30, 1953, that he is not allowed to compete. This time, it was Jean-Pierre Marielle who encouraged him to audition at the Compagnie Grenier-Hussenot. Received, seven years left. Rochefort made the acquaintance of Yves Robert and Hubert Deschamps there, with whom he frequently performed at the cabaret. There he meets Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, and the singer Barbara.
It was she who introduced him to Philippe Noiret. Both perform at the cabaret L'Écluse.
In 1964, Delphine Seyrig, then a popular actress, insisted that he be a partner in an adaptation of This strange animal by Chekhov. He will play a seductive and serious character, far from the comic roles he is used to playing. The show becomes a critical and public success.
The cinema doors
In the cinema, he was initially confined to supporting roles. He notably plays alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo in Swords of Blood or The Inheritor.
Bertrand Tavernier calls on him in the role of commissioner Guilboud. He plays opposite Philippe Noiret in The Clockmaker.
He will say of Bertrand Tavernier that he taught him to relax in front of the camera.
His great friend, his brother from Saint-Lunaire, Pierre Besson, is battling terminal cancer during the filming of the Drummer-Crab. It was in homage to his friend and because he found the script remarkable that he contacted the director, Pierre Schoendoerffer, to be able to play the title role.
Jean Rochefort interprets, in tears at the time of passing command, this sick captain of a lost post-war ship in Indochina. Shortly after the release of the film, Pierre Besson dies. In a final tribute, he names his youngest son Pierre.
"The Drummer-Crab is one of the films of my life." he confided later.
Alternating roles in films for the general public and auteur films, he became the favorite actor of Yves Robert and Patrice Leconte.
However, it was in the cult role of Etienne Dorsay, in Pardon mon affaire in 1976, that Jean Rochefort met with the popular success that we still know today.
No one can also forget this game of anthology tennis in its sequel, We will all meet in Paradise. Jean and his acolytes Guy Bedos, Victor Lanoux and Claude Brasseur, play this doubles match which very quickly goes into a spin.
He also made several oat films with mediocre scripts, mainly for financial reasons and to feed his horses.
At the realization
We find him in the production of several documentary films:
Rosine in 1973: on the riding events of Rosine Boutin-Cailleux, young rider in Coëtquidan, who became riding champion and breeder
You're crazy Marcel in 1974: a tribute portrait of actor Marcel Dalio
Riders alone in 2010: with Delphine Gleize a feature film on the equestrian trainer Marc Bertran de Balanda
We are left with all these tragicomic roles, an endearing character with an unforgettable voice and whose elegant quivering mustache suited less to the Charentaise than to the sneakers...
“I like comfortable clothes, but I'm scared of slippers. »
Bibliography
GUERAND Jean-Philippe, Jean Rochefort, prince without laughter, Paris, Éditions Robert Laffont, 2017.
ROCHEFORT Jean, Ultime: Jean Rochefort, interview and conversations, Paris, Éditions Nova, 2018.
Jean Rochefort – Schnock review n°39 - 06/16/2021
Podcast and documentary (in french)
with possible subtitles