To say that Sarah Bernhardt ruled the theatre, particularly in France but also world-wide from the late 1860s through to her death in 1923, is not an over-statement. In fact, as shown in this dramatised account of her love life, virtually nothing that could be said of her could be an over-statement.
She was socially outrageous, extraordinarily self-centred and capricious, over-generous, sexually adventurous, insanely possessive of her lovers and totally dominating of those around her. She was brilliant on stage and a ground-breaking theatrical entrepreneur, but wasted all her money.
Yet she was loved. When she died 600,000 people lined the streets of Paris to honour her passing.
Bernhardt pioneered the modern phenomenon of celebrity; she was even the first person to sign autographs. While she was celebrated as an actor, she was famous for her life and loves. Her Paris Belle Epoque salon drew just about every notable artist, composer, intellectual and musician. So, we see Sigmund Freud and innumerable other famous people fluttering about her flame. The glorious music of Debussy, Chopin, Ravel, Grieg, Franck, and Schubert is the soundtrack to the sumptuous cinematic visuals.
Via a series of flashbacks we are conducted through some of her career and personal highlights and crises. We learn about what in Bernhardt’s childhood holds the key to her emotional neediness. No amount of adulation could fill the hole of her fractured heart.
Jean Cocteau nick-named her the “Sacred Monster” because no matter how awful her behaviour she was universally forgiven. The artist, Théobald Chartran, painted a portrait of her entitled Monstre Sacré.
Among her many personal excesses was the menagerie of exotic animals and birds roaming around her home. French imperialism was at its apex and interesting paraphernalia from the colonies were seen as glamorous (Picasso’s reaction to African masks is an example). As in everything, Bernhardt took that to a bizarre extreme. Among her pets were a puma, a cheetah, a wolf and a boa constrictor. She even travelled with her animals. Her alligator died after being fed too much milk and champagne.
How could any film meaningfully encompass all that? The Divine Sarah Bernhardt narrows its focus to just one of her affairs, with the actor Lucien Guitry, whose fame matched hers. His star has now faded but he and Bernhardt were the power couple of their era.
The Divine Sarah Bernhardt is a feast for the senses, a seduction that is well worth an evening at the cinema.
Directed by Guillaume Nicloux. Starring Sandrine Kiberlain, Laurent Stocker, Laurent Lafitte, Amira Casar, Pauline Etienne.
And showing at a Luna cinema near you now!
* By Barry Healy
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