In Friday’s discussion with festival guest Dominique Sanda, she shared her journey in becoming a film actor and about how the world created by Robert Bresson’s films has remained at the core of her artistic work.
The first film Sanda remembers seeing is West Side Story. The dance, acting, and music sparked a flame in her that has not faded since.
However, her path to becoming a film actor was not straightforward. Sanda remembers watching Disney films like 101 Dalmatians and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with her mother, but there was no television in her childhood home. She did not feel like she was missing out, and says that she hates the noise and hubbub of television broadcasts.
“My work is to dream, and I hate anything that disturbs my dreaming”, she says.
From a young age, Sanda was very independent and spent a lot of time alone.
“I was often immersed in my own world, talking with my various imaginary friends.”
These conversations with herself enriched her inner world and through them, the actor within her began to emerge. At 14, a major transformation began: the once well-behaved girl became a rebellious teenager who wanted to break free from predefined roles.
“My parents didn’t understand me, but they also didn’t try to stop me. That gave me the freedom to create my own path.”
Sanda’s modelling career also began at age 14. After a walk with her mother, they stumbled upon a local beauty pageant. Unexpectedly, Sanda ended up on the stage – and won the contest. Winning the pageant opened doors to modelling agencies. Although her success as a model was fast and intense, it came with an inner conflict.
“It was wonderful to see myself in pictures, but at the same time, it made me feel ashamed”, she says.
It was through a modelling agency that film director Robert Bresson discovered Sanda. She played the lead role in Bresson’s film A Gentle Woman (1969).
“God sent me a wonderful opportunity—Robert Bresson”, Sanda says, adding that she still feels grateful.
Bresson’s method was unique. He didn’t call his cast actors, but rather “models” that he himself wanted to shape.
“He wanted a person to be completely open and pliable, like clay he could mould as he wished”, Sanda explains.
Working with Bresson required total surrender, which not everyone could handle. Guy Frangin, Sanda’s co-star in A Gentle Woman, found the work difficult and visibly struggled during filming.
Sanda, however, felt at ease right away. While she had been rebellious in school, surrendering to Bresson’s direction felt natural. What made a difference was that Bresson gave her something she hadn’t received in her family: trust.
“I had received love, but not the feeling of someone completely trusting me. Bresson did, and that gave me wings.”
Working with Bresson launched a new career for Sanda, one that included collaborations with many notable directors. Still, Bresson’s world remained permanently in her mind and at the core of her artistic work.
“Bresson helped set me on the path that became my life”, Sanda says.
Finally, Sanda answered the classic question of MSFF’s morning discussions: Which film would you take on a desert island? Unable to choose just one, she named two: The Eternal Flame and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, both of which explore themes of life and death.
Kuvat: Antti Yrjönen