Isabelle Adjani
The Actress as Auteur
Will be published approx. on 30. September 2026
Book
Hardback
232 pages
978-1-3995-3371-3 (ISBN)
Description
As the only performer to win five Cesar Awards, Isabelle Adjani holds a special place in the history of French cinema. Her fame extends beyond French borders as she has also received two Academy Award nominations for L'Histoire D'Adele H. and Camille Claudel, was the recipient of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Possession and Quartet, as well as at the Berlin Film Festival for Camille Claudel.
This edited collection explores some of Adjani's most iconic roles and their reception, in France and abroad. It delves into Adjani's unique and personal involvement in the roles she has played throughout her career, the way she approached ageing in the later part of her career and the impact it had on her performance and artistic choices.
It provides readers with insights into Adjani's multifaceted acting skills in order to better understand her unique status in French cinema.
This edited collection explores some of Adjani's most iconic roles and their reception, in France and abroad. It delves into Adjani's unique and personal involvement in the roles she has played throughout her career, the way she approached ageing in the later part of her career and the impact it had on her performance and artistic choices.
It provides readers with insights into Adjani's multifaceted acting skills in order to better understand her unique status in French cinema.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
26 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-3371-3 (9781399533713)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Romain Chareyron is an Associate Professor of French in the Department of Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He is a contemporary French and Francophone cinema specialist, with interests that branch into Francophone culture and contemporary French society. His research primarily focuses on gender and sexuality, the representation of disability, and film genres in contemporary French cinema. He edited Trans Identities in the French Media: Representation, Visibility, Recognition (2023) and co-edited Screening Youth: Contemporary French and Francophone Cinema (2019). His current project is investigating the representation of disability in French cinema.
Content
1. Introduction: Isabelle Adjani: The Actress as Auteur
Romain Chareyron
2. In Constant Struggle: Early Formulations of Isabelle Adjani in Faustine et le bel ete (1971)
Tim Palmer
3. '"I'm your wife. Forever. We'll stay together until we die": Adjani's Portrayal of a Fractured Psyche in L'Histoire d'Adele H. (Francois Truffaut, 1975)
Jamie Nicholas Steele
4. "I Recognise the Self Who Has Just Done Something Horrible" - Isabelle Adjani and Performance as Uncanny Self-Disclosure in Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981)
Alison Taylor
5. Cries and Whispers: Adjani's Voice, Stardom and the Self in L'Ete meurtrier (Jean Becker, 1983)
Sarah Leahy
6. The Star and the Spokesman: Isabelle Adjani, Harlem Desir, and "Coming Out" As Beur
Jerry White
7. Isabelle Adjani Creating Lives in Camille Claudel (Bruno Nuytten, 1988) and La Reine Margot (Patrice Chereau, 1994)
Homer B. Pettey
8. Adjani's Virtuosity in Four Moments
Benjamin McCann
9. Romanticism and Realism in Isabelle Adjani's Film Adaptation of Benjamin Constant's 19th-century novel Adolphe (Benoit Jacquot, 2002)
Annabelle Doherty
10. Managing Adjani's Ageing: From Denial to mise en abyme - Gwenaelle Le Gras
11. Isabelle Adjani on Stage After 2016: Navigating Between Meta-Performance and Artistic Exploration Arnaud Duprat
Isabelle Adjani - Filmography
Romain Chareyron
2. In Constant Struggle: Early Formulations of Isabelle Adjani in Faustine et le bel ete (1971)
Tim Palmer
3. '"I'm your wife. Forever. We'll stay together until we die": Adjani's Portrayal of a Fractured Psyche in L'Histoire d'Adele H. (Francois Truffaut, 1975)
Jamie Nicholas Steele
4. "I Recognise the Self Who Has Just Done Something Horrible" - Isabelle Adjani and Performance as Uncanny Self-Disclosure in Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981)
Alison Taylor
5. Cries and Whispers: Adjani's Voice, Stardom and the Self in L'Ete meurtrier (Jean Becker, 1983)
Sarah Leahy
6. The Star and the Spokesman: Isabelle Adjani, Harlem Desir, and "Coming Out" As Beur
Jerry White
7. Isabelle Adjani Creating Lives in Camille Claudel (Bruno Nuytten, 1988) and La Reine Margot (Patrice Chereau, 1994)
Homer B. Pettey
8. Adjani's Virtuosity in Four Moments
Benjamin McCann
9. Romanticism and Realism in Isabelle Adjani's Film Adaptation of Benjamin Constant's 19th-century novel Adolphe (Benoit Jacquot, 2002)
Annabelle Doherty
10. Managing Adjani's Ageing: From Denial to mise en abyme - Gwenaelle Le Gras
11. Isabelle Adjani on Stage After 2016: Navigating Between Meta-Performance and Artistic Exploration Arnaud Duprat
Isabelle Adjani - Filmography