Shirley MacLaine, like a torrent on Arte: a Hollywood singularity

To tell MacLaine, the French director, Jean Lauritano, stages a montage reflecting the energy of the actress: dancing, singing, inexhaustible…

Between film extracts and interviews, the documentary succeeds in capturing the truth of an actress who doesn’t often let herself be seen…

If the last documentary dedicated to an Arte actress had broken with its initial form – we found Stéphane Audran, Chabrol’s accomplice which tells, without voice-over, the story of an actress, muse and wife of Chabrol – with Shirley MacLaine, like a torrentthe platform returns to its usual, somewhat classic format… Here, there is a voice-over which takes the viewer by the hand and guides them. But while the film is about MacLaine, it doesn’t make his voice disappear.

One moment she is dancing, the next she is singing, from pirouettes to pirouettes, the documentary reveals the extent of her talent but also of her personality.

Pink cheeks, sun in the head, eyes surrounded by blue and lips made up in red: leaping like a wild beast, from film to film, Shirley MacLaine, elusive actress, devoured Hollywood without ever conforming. In But who killed Harry? we find her with short, red hair, flapper style, legs spread on a porch, in Cancan, she swears with this same masculine posture, in Like a torrent, more painted than ever, MacLaine is anything but discreet… It is the story of a woman who knew how to impose herself in a masculine cinematic landscape, without ever integrating the codes of femininity.

“See those dancers over there? They are revue dancers. In showbiz, we call them gypsies.(…) I think you can say that I am a gypsy at heart” says the actress, with a smile on her lips, her hair disheveled, sweating with life. On screen, Shirley is never frozen. According to Hitchcock, she has “the nerve of a bank robber”. In the midst of the filmmaker’s cold, blond female figures, MacLaine stands out.

Expertly orchestrated, the film alternates between his role on screen and that of his life, without ever running out of steam. From time to time, in the middle of her performances, the documentary pauses and shows a sincere, raw Shirley: sometimes hurt, sometimes brimming with confidence. Facing the camera, she reveals: “I like to be myself. (…) I like it and I hope I don’t hurt anyone by being frank and too honest.” Too cash, too raw, a presence which sometimes costs him dearly. For director Don Siegel, with whom she filmed Sierra Torrid“(…) she is not feminine, she has too big ones”… Acerbic words reflecting an era that was just as hard on actresses… However, it is this originality that makes it successful.

Blonde or brunette, pastel pink hair, eccentric, angry or seductive, the rainbow MacLaine lit up Hollywood and shook it up. With her legendary footwork, the actress shook up cinema conventions. Neither a hypersexualized blonde like Marilyn, nor a brunette with very controlled elegance like Audrey Hepburn. She is none of those things, Shirley MacLaine is a separate product, who has only ever followed her own rules.

Through her story, Jean Lauritano’s documentary tells that of a generation of actresses under the spotlight and the patriarchy…

But the director chooses a very classic form for a very singular actress…

The thread of her career and her existence is told in the right direction, from start to finish, respecting a well-codified order while the actress has always sailed against the tide…

Aside from the testimony of Jennifer Aniston, with whom she filmed Rumor has itthe influence of the star of But who killed Harry? on new generations of actresses is not visible. This is also where the documentary fishes…

However, many actresses could claim credit for her legend. MacLaine, with his scowl and killer humor, paved the way to singularity. We might think of Diane Keaton with her masculine look, her casual posture, her refusal to conform in the cinema as in life. Or even to Michelle Pfeiffer who, despite the fatal nature of her beauty, never allowed herself to be trapped in the archetype of the blonde. Between compositional role and star power, the actress is part of the continuity of strong female figures in Hollywood…

These actresses with their screaming freedom have sent the model of the pin-upto bring another into existence: more alive, which only exists through its own codes…

Shirley MacLaine, like a torrent will be broadcast on Sunday April 12 on Arte and available for streaming until July 23.