In cinemas from today, Marion Cotillard stars in the brand new French drama Ismael’s Ghosts, directed by the legendary Arnaud Desplechin. The film follows a filmmaker whose life is sent into turmoil following the return of his wife who disappeared twenty-one years ago.
The film opened the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2017, and also stars Mathieu Amalric and Charlotte Gainsbourg. To celebrate the film’s release, we look back at some of our all-time favourite films, and most iconic performances of Marion Cotillard’s career. Having played a wide variety of characters, with a string of impressive global awards under her belt, we can’t wait to see what she brings to Ismael’s Ghosts.
5) LA VIE EN ROSE
Written and directed by Olivier Dahan, La Vie En Rose see’s Marion Cotillard in a blazing performance as the legendary French icon Edith Piaf. The film tells the infamous story of Piaf’s life; a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love – one of France’s immortal icons. Cotillard received international recognition for her iconic portrayal of Piaf and went onto win the Academy Award for Best Actress (marking the first time an Oscar had been given for a French-language role) along with a Cesar, a Lumiere Award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.
4) MACBETH
The latest adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth comes from Australian director Justin Kurzel. Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and take the throne for himself. Cast in the devious role of Lady Macbeth, Cotillard takes on the violent character, opposite co-star Michael Fassbender.
3) INCEPTION
Marion Cotillard stars alongside screen icons such as Leonardo Di Caprio, Michael Caine and Joseph Gordon Levitt in Inception; a neo-noir science fiction by Christopher Nolan based on a thief who steals corporate secrets using dream-sharing technology, given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO. Cotillard plays opposite Leonardo Di Caprio as his deceased wife Mal, where his mental projection of her is the main antagonist of Inception. The film won four Academy Awards including Best Cinematography and was nominated for four more including Best Film. Fun fact; Inception pays homage to Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”, and was almost cut when Cotillard was cast. However, the song did indeed stay and a small section of it is sampled in the film.
2) ALLIED
Written by British screenwriter Steven Knight, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, Allied explores the lives of two World War II operatives who never reveal their true identities. After falling in love during a risky mission, Max (Brad Pitt) and Marianne (Marion Cotillard) hope to leave their double lives in the past and start afresh. However, suspicion and danger take over their happily married life and they become pitted against one another. The story explores love and betrayal at its finest, with exceptional performances from both Cotillard and Pitt.
1) ISMAEL’S GHOSTS
Ismael’s Ghosts opened the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2017, where it received its World Premiere. It then went on to screen in Official Competition at the 2017 New York Film Festival. The director Arnaud Desplechin’s goes on further examine his signature themes of emotional turmoil and autobiography in the film and features outstanding performances from Mathieu Amalric, Marion Cotillard, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Twenty-one years ago, Carlotta (Cotillard) ran away. She ran away from her life and her husband believed to be dead. Now, twenty-one years later, she is back from the void. Her husband Ismael has been busy rebuilding a life for himself with Sylvia and working on his next feature film – Ismael discovers his life is slowly spiraling out of control upon the return of his thought-to-be dead wife…
ISMAEL’S GHOSTS will be released in UK cinemas on 1 st June 2018.
