The legend of cinema, which does not say "no": Anouk Aime-the muse of outstanding directors

Anouk Aime devoted more than 60 years of her life to cinema. The actress won a Golden Globe for her role in the film "Man and Woman" and the Cannes Palme d'Or for the film "Jump into the Void", and was also nominated for the Academy Awards, "Bafta" and "Cesar". Anouk Aimee was the muse of many famous directors, including Federico Fellini, Claude Lelouch and Jacques Demy.

Francoise Soria Dreyfus-under this name, Anouk Aimee was born on April 27, 1932 in Paris. Her parents were actors, but fame never caught up with them. Genevieve Soria, the mother of the future actress, performed on stage, and her father, Henry Dreyfus, starred in several films under the pseudonym Murray.

Despite her background in a creative family, Francoise planned a different career for herself as a child. A small and plastic girl wanted to become a ballerina, and she devoted all her time to this occupation. But at the age of 13, she has grown dramatically and many of her teachers said that with such a figure, she is unlikely to have a bright career in ballet.

But for the cinema, her appearance was perfect. And in the same year, director Henri Calef, who was a friend of her father, invited Francoise to star in his film "House by the Sea". So for the first time, she tried on the name Anouk, which was indicated in the credits.

The name Anouk, which is very rare in France, comes from the Persian root "anika", which means "elegant, admirable". The fact is that as a child, among the friends of the actress were Arabs and one of the boys called her Anouk. Perhaps this guy in love came up with the second part of the pseudonym-Aime, which means "beloved" in French. And when Andre Caillat offered the 16-year-old actress the role of Juliet in the film "The Lovers of Verona", she introduced herself to him as Anouk Aime.

At an early age, Anouk Aime began to gain fame. Her secret was that the actress always tried to work only with talented and recognized directors. She had a strong gut feeling for roles and movies, and she knew that the offers she accepted would never hurt her career.

Unfortunately, Anouk showed such insight only in the professional sphere. In her personal life, she was too promiscuous. At the age of 17, the actress married the same childhood friend who awarded her a sonorous pseudonym. But, realizing the haste of her decision, a year later Anouk Aime filed for divorce.

And in the same 1950, she remarried with the Greek producer Nikos Papatakis, who was 15 years older than her. This marriage was also not long-term. According to rumors, their family life did not go well because of the bisexuality of the spouse. The marriage was not saved by the daughter Manuela, who was born in 1953. Almost immediately after this event, Anouk and Nikos divorced.

These strong personal shocks helped the young actress to survive the work in which she plunged headlong. In 1958, she played the role of Jeanne Ebuter in the film directed by Jacques Becker "Montparnasse 19", where she was noticed by Federico Fellini. After seeing her, the director offered the actress a role in his new film "Sweet Life", and later in the legendary film "8 1÷2".

Following their collaboration, Fellini awarded Anouk Aime the title of "Best Actress of all time". And although they appreciated each other's talent, it didn't stop them from constantly quarreling. Only Marcello Mastroianni, who was Anouk's shooting partner at the time, could somehow temper these two temperaments.

But there was more to Mastroianni than friendship. The actor proposed to Anouk Aime several times:

Anouk Aimee also starred twice with another famous director — Jacques Demy. She played the roles of a cabaret dancer and single mother in the film "Lola" and an abandoned model in the film "Model Shop".

But the director who made Anouk Aimee an all-time star was Claude Lelouch. In 1966, he invited her to star in the melodrama "Man and Woman". At that time, Lelouch's name was still unknown to anyone, and in his head he only had sketches of the plot and melodies for the film, but even so, he knew:

Anouk Aime liked the script very much, and she immediately agreed to act, but, however, the director had to spend money on a rather expensive hairdresser and make-up artist, which the actress insisted on.

But that wasn't the only reason. Like many, Claude Lelouch could not resist the charm of the actress and was secretly in love with her. The director had planned to confess his feelings to her, but he was only a day late. They were staying at the Normandy Hotel. And the director decided to shoot two consecutive bed scenes: first with a lover, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, and then with her husband, played by Pierre Baruch. In his book The Darling of Fate, Claude Lelouch wrote:

Although years later, Lelouch stopped regretting his slowness, because already in 1970, Anouk Aime left Pierre Baruch for the English actor Albert Finney. Perhaps it was this story that prompted Lelouch to one of his most beautiful statements:

Whatever novels were hidden behind the filming, the film "Man and Woman" became central to Anouk Aime's filmography and brought her international recognition. For her role in 1967, the actress received the "Palme d'Or", "Golden Globe", "BAFTA", as well as an Oscar nomination. After this success, Anouk Aime was invited to Hollywood, and in 1969 she starred there in three films at once:" The Date "by Sidney Lumet," Justine "by George Cukor and" The Model Shop " by Jacques Demy.

But at the height of fame, the actress decided to take a break and left the cinema for 7 years. She devoted herself to her home and her 16-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, even this decision did not help her to establish a personal life. Their marriage to Finney ended in 1977. Some believe that the reason for this was Anouk's affair with the French director Elie Shuraki, who, together with Lelouch, invited her to star in the film "If you Start Over". With Shuraki, they lived for several years in a civil marriage, but soon also separated.

In the 80s, Anouk Aime's acting career began to decline. Claude Lelouch tried to resurrect his masterpiece by shooting "A Man and a Woman 20 Years Later", with the same actors, but the film was a failure.

Despite this failure, Anouk Aime collaborated with Lelouch throughout her life. Their last collaboration was the film "Woman and Men", released in 2010. This film is currently the last in Anouk Aime's filmography. In total, the actress starred in 80 films. Anouk Aimee recalled:

Anouk Aimee at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival

Despite everything, Anouk Aime is always the 30-year-old beauty from Lelouch's film "Man and Woman" - gorgeous, captivating and mysterious. Looking back on his career today, Anouk Aime can only say one thing: