Meryl Streep, a cinema legend returns to Cannes

She had not come to the Cannes festival since 1989 and her performance prize for “Un cri dans la nuit”. During a public conversation, Meryl Streep looked back on her career and the place of women in cinema.

35 years since she last walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. So obviously, when Meryl Streep arrives on the Croisette, fans flock in numbers to listen to her. A thousand of them attended a meeting with the legend of Hollywood cinema.

An hour of conversation where she spoke about herself, her films, her life as a mother and grandmother and the place of women in cinema.

She may well embody one of the greatest achievements in American cinema with no less than 21 Oscar nominations, but Meryl Streep stands out for her elegance and simplicity. On the stage of the Debussy room, the American immediately admits to having gone to bed the day before at 3 a.m. after a lively evening with the film crew The second act by Quentin Dupieux. Black pants and blouse, long hair, on his face, no trace of fatigue.

The 74-year-old actress looks back with pleasure on her filming memories: her role in Kramer vs. Kramer by Robert Benton (1979) whose last line she rewrote, profoundly modifying his character. Journey to the End of Hell (1978) by Michael Cimino was also a seminal film in which she had the freedom to partly write her own role. A challenge, at a time when women are confined to supporting roles.

You have to hear him laugh at Robert Redford who on the set of a cult scene fromOut of Africa (1985), between two lions and menacing hippos, clumsily tries to shampoo him. Through application, he will eventually master the gesture. “By the fifth take, I was in love, it was so intense, it was a sex scene, it was wonderful,” confides the 74-year-old actress with a smile.

She, who worked with the greatest filmmakers of her time, Steven Spileberg, Michael Cimino, Clint Eastwood and Greta Gerwig, confesses to not having much time to see French films, too busy with her 4 children and 5 grandchildren. .

Her role as a mother, however, did not prevent her from denouncing, throughout her 50-year career, the precariousness of women in cinema. This is what makes her admirable in the eyes of the director Danièle Thompson who came to listen to her. “We are touched when we come out of this kind of meeting. We met a woman like us, someone completely simple and natural, she explains. She’s like every working woman who manages to mix it all up.” “For me, she is the greatest actress of her time” continues another fan. “She’s incredible, so smart”concludes a third.

This is the second time that Méryl Streep has come to Cannes. In 1989, when she received the acting prize for her role in A cry in the night, she thinks her career is over. She already has 3 children and is approaching forty. Her honorary Palme d’Or presented at the opening of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival confirms that on this question, she was wrong.