''Being Maria'' () is a 2024

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Jessica Palud from a screenplay by Palud and Laurette Polmanss, freely adapted from

Vanessa Schneider Vanessa Schneider (born 1969) is a French political journalist and writer. Life Born in Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine, Vanessa Schneider is the daughter of psychoanalyst Michel Schneider and the cousin of actress Maria Schneider. She was a politic ...

's 2018 memoir ''My Cousin Maria Schneider''. It is about the actress

Maria Schneider Maria Schneider may refer to: * Maria Schneider (politician) (born 1923), East German politician * Maria Schneider (actress) (1952–2011), French actress * Maria Schneider (musician) Maria Lynn Schneider (born November 27, 1960) is an Americ ...

(1952–2011) and dramatizes her experiences working on

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

's feature film ''

Last Tango in Paris ''Last Tango in Paris'' ( it, Ultimo tango a Parigi; french: Le Dernier Tango à Paris) is a 1972 Erotic film, erotic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The film stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider (actor), ...

'' (1972). It stars Anamaria Vartolomei in the title role, with

Céleste Brunnquell Céleste Brunnquell (born 24 July 2002) is a French actress. Career In 2019, she made her on-screen debut in ''The Dazzled'', the first movie directed by french actress, Sarah Suco. For her role, she was nominated to the César Award for Most ...

, Giuseppe Maggio,

Yvan Attal Yvan is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jacques-Yvan Morin, GOQ (born 1931), politician in Quebec, Canada *Marc-Yvan Côté (born 1947), former Quebec politician and Cabinet Minister for the Quebec Liberal Party *Maurice-Yvan S ...

Marie Gillain Marie Gillain O.M.W. (born 18 June 1975) is a Belgian actress. In 1996 Gillain received the Prix Romy Schneider. She is single and has two daughters, Dune (born in 2004, with musician Martin Gamet) and Vega (born in 2009, with French-Italian ...

, Jonathan Couzinié and

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a t ...

in supporting roles. It had its world premiere in the non-competitive Cannes Premiere section at the

77th Cannes Film Festival The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival due to take place from 14 to 25 May 2024. American filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and d ...

on 21 May 2024. It was theatrically released on 19 June 2024 by Haut et Court.

Plot

19-year-old

, daughter of French actor

Daniel Gélin Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French film and television actor. Early life Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin. When he was ten, ...

, features in the 1972 erotic drama ''

'' by Italian director

. In the work she stars alongside the celebrated American actor Marlon Brando. The story follows an older American man who meets a young French woman in an apartment in Paris where they begin an anonymous sexual relationship. Maria becomes a star overnight through the role of Jeanne, but is unprepared for the fame and scandal that the film triggers.

Cast

* Anamaria Vartolomei as

as Noor * Giuseppe Maggio as

as Marie-Christine Schneider * Jonathan Couzinié as

Michel Schneider Michel Schneider (28 May 1944 – 21 July 2022) was a French writer, musicologist, énarque, senior official, and psychoanalyst. He was the father of journalist and writer Vanessa Schneider and of François Schneider, history teacher. He was a ...

as Marlon Brando *

Stanislas Merhar Stanislas Merhar (born 24 January 1971) is a French actor. He was born in Paris in a family of immigrants from Slovenia. He works in cinema, television and theatre. In 1998 Merhar won the César Award for Most Promising Actor for his role in the ...

as Berhmann * Alexis Corso as Nathan

Production

Jessica Palud and Laurette Polmanss freely adapted the film's screenplay from

's memoir ''My Cousin Maria Schneider'', which was published in 2018 by (

Éditions Grasset The Grasset Editions () is a French publishing house founded in 1907 by (1881–1955). History Founder In 1913, Bernard Grasset publishes the first volume of '' À la recherche du temps perdu'', by Marcel Proust, ''Du côté de chez Swann'', ...

). Marielle Duigou produced the film for Les Films de Mina, with co-production by

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

, Moteur S'il Vous Plaît and Cinema Inutile.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on 29 May 2023 in Paris. Filming continued in the

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

region. With a total of 25 days of shooting, 10 days took place in the

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

department including in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...

and Saint-Germain-du-Pinel, and at the Château d'Apigné in

Le Rheu Le Rheu (; br, Reuz) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Le Rheu are called ''rheusois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Ille-et-Vilaine department The following ...

, the Résidence Oberthür in Rennes, and a beach in

Dinard Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and th ...

. Filming wrapped in Brittany on 30 June 2023. Post-production took place in Rennes. Anamaria Vartolomei described it as the most difficult role she has filmed for and said she experienced an "emotional release" when production concluded.

Release

The film was selected to be screened in the non-competitive Cannes Premiere section at the

, where it had its world premiere on 21 May 2024. The film was theatrically released on 19 June 2024 by Haut et Court. International sales are handled by

(formerly

Orange Studio Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...

Critical response

''Being Maria'' received an average rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 26 reviews.

References

External links

* * * 2024 films 2024 biographical drama films 2020s French films 2020s French-language films Biographical films about actors French biographical drama films Films based on memoirs Films shot in Paris Films shot in Ille-et-Vilaine Films shot in Rennes Cultural depictions of French people Films set in the 1970s Cultural depictions of Marlon Brando {{2020s-France-film-stub