Storm, o feature film, o enemy old age! Will actresses ever be allowed to age? Nothing is less certain if we judge by this observation, which is all the more annoying because it has been drawn for a long time: in 2021, in France, women over the age of 50 only won 7% of the roles. , compared to 16% for men. In 2015, it was 8%. Initiated by the journalist presenter Laurie Cholewa, who is also the narrator, the documentary Re-belles, proposed this evening by Canal, tries to understand, archive images and unpublished testimonies of actresses, directors and journalists in support, the reasons for these injunctions tinged with sexism, of our screens.
To listen to them, for actresses, aging remains forbidden today, or almost. On the sets as in society reigns the law of, or rather of the youngest. And if a handful of stars, including Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert or Sophie Marceau, continued to shoot when the quarantine came, the vast majority of actresses found themselves very deprived… until they were ousted or had to accept stereotyped roles of doting, even doting, granny. Some, like Brigitte Bardot or Anne Brochet, preferred to withdraw before, who knows, being forced to do so. To hope to continue filming, others have drunk themselves to excess from the fountain of aesthetic youth, even if it means ending up with a not-so-nice hangover! And it is not Nicole Kidman who will contradict us.
What does this invisibilization of fifty-somethings in fictions tell about our societies? When asked, Marina Tomé, actress and founder of the 50-year-old actress’ Tunnel Commission, gives a damning answer: “What’s the problem at 50? The problem is the menopause… Films build a collective imagination. We are reproducing archaic clichés by telling the public that a woman is for procreation. This is where we are still in 2022 in our fictions. »
Admittedly, the subject of this documentary is not very new, but, to see the end of the tunnel, it surely bears repeating. However, after pointing out prejudices, and giving us food for thought on age-related injunctions, Re-belles also shows us that the winds of change are beginning to blow through the grace of filmmakers and actresses determined to fight against dictates. Among them, Clotilde Courau, Marie Gillain or Léa Drucker, one of the most sought-after actresses in French cinema, who claim “to have made time their ally”. And who are pleased to be able today to value their experiences and their experiences in increasingly interesting roles. In small touches, behind and in front of the camera, the 50-something women tell their stories; gray hair appears on red carpets, wrinkles appear on magazine covers… What if 50 finally becomes a beautiful age?
