Emmanuelle Riva

Actor

• Born: February 24, 1927
• Birthplace: Cheniménil, France
• Died: January 27, 2017
• Place of death: Paris, France
• Also known as: Paulette Germaine Riva

Contribution: Emmanuelle Riva was a French actor best known for her work in the 1959 film Hiroshima, mon amour, which ushered in the era now known as French New Wave cinema. In 2013, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her lead role in the 2012 film Amour.

Background

Emmanuelle Riva was born Paulette Germaine Riva on February 24, 1927, in the rural village of Cheniménil, France. Her father, Alfredo Riva, was a sign painter. For as long as she could remember, the only child always wanted to act. She frequently performed in grade-school plays and put on skits with playmates at home. Although her father expressed concern that her career of choice would likely take her to the big city, he encouraged her to continue her education and even helped her get into the local theater troupe, where she debuted on stage.

Seeing little opportunity to attain her dream, Riva pursued work as a seamstress after secondary school; in interviews, she has denied claims that it was her parents’ decision to prevent her from acting. An advertisement eventually drew her to Paris, where she auditioned at an acting school, École de la rue Blanche, and gained admittance despite having exceeded the school’s age limit.

Career

Riva’s first major role was the lead in a 1954 stage performance of George Bernard Shaw’sArms and the Man. She made waves with this performance, which pushed her into her first minor onscreen pieces, an uncredited role in the French film The Possessors (1958) and an appearance in the television series Énigmes de l’histoire. Switching between the stage and the screen and using her success in one to fuel the other became something of a theme throughout Riva’s long and storied career.

Her breakthrough and most-remembered role was that of a young, unnamed protagonist in the 1959 film Hiroshima, mon amour. The director of the film, Alain Resnais, found a playbill for L’Épouvantail (1958), which featured Riva in a starring role. He then sought her out and requested that she audition for the part. Thanks to her classically trained speaking voice and relative anonymity, Riva landed the role in the film, which came to both launch and define the French New Wave movement.

Hiroshima, mon amour catapulted both Resnais and Riva to stardom. Over the course of the next couple years, Riva starred in four films: Le huitième jour, Recours en grace, Kapò, and Adua e le compagne. In 1961, she starred in the film Léon Morin, prêtre, which she followed in 1962 with the film Thérèse Desqueyroux. Riva continued to find success in subsequent years, starring in the film Le ore dell’amore (1963), the television features Caterina (1963) and L’or et le plomb (1964), and the film Le gros coup (1964). In 1965, she starred in Thomas l’imposteur and played minor roles in Io uccido, tu uccidi and Le coup de grâce.

In 1966, Riva starred in the television film La fin de la nuit. The following year, she landed starring roles in the major films Fruits amers and Les risques du métier. Through the next few years, she played a variety of roles in films such as La Modification (1970), L’homme de desir (1970), Les portes de feu (1972), J’irai comme un cheval fou (1973), Ariane (1974), and La mort de l’utopie (1975).

Near the end of the 1970s, Riva’s career began to stall. She continued to be cast in a few television and theater roles but did not land another major role on the big screen until Liberté, la nuit in 1983. For the next few years, Riva acted in minor roles in film and television, but starring roles diminished dramatically for her. She did not appear in another leading role until 1988 in the ten-minute short film Chinoise à deux voix ou Hommage à Carpeaux.

Other starring roles during this time included the biographical work La passion de Bernadette (1989) and the television movie Éclats de famille (1994). She appeared as the mother in the award-winning Trois couleurs: Bleu (1993) starring Julie Delpy, Benoît Régent, and Juliette Binoche. During the late 1990s, Riva starred as Calypso in Capitaine au long cours (1997) and played bit parts in XXL (1997) and Vénus beauté institut (1999). In 2001, she landed a leading role in the drama C’est la vie.

After C’est la vie, Riva faded from the spotlight, once again consigned to minor roles. After nearly a decade, she emerged to play Madame Prévost, “Mémé” in the comedy Le Skylab (2011). The role helped the octogenarian launch a major comeback. At the age of eighty-four, she took the lead part of Anne, an elderly music teacher who suffers several strokes in the drama Amour (2012). Riva—at eighty-five years old—received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the film, in addition to winning a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for leading actress and a César for best actress.

To queries regarding retirement, Riva replied emphatically that she intended to continue working, and in fact, the family comedy Tu honoreras ta mère et ta mère, in which she plays the grandmother, opened in French theaters just before the 2013 Academy Awards ceremony. Additionally, she plays the supporting role of an elderly aunt in the comedy Lost in Paris, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in the United States in 2016 and was set for international release in 2017. Riva filmed scenes for the last picture that she will ever appear in, Alma, in 2015 and as of 2017 the project was still being completed.

After struggling with cancer, Riva died at a clinic in Paris at the age of eighty-nine on January 27, 2017.

Impact

Riva’s early works, specifically the 1959 film Hiroshima, mon amour, ushered in the French New Wave school of cinema, which has been called one of the most significant movements in the history of film.

After Riva faded from the spotlight for many years, she was able not only to revive her career but achieve new levels of success. Her dedication to her career inspired fans and fellow actors.

Personal Life

Riva never wed nor had children. In addition to acting, she published several books showcasing her poetry and photography.

Principal Work

Hiroshima, mon amour, 1959

Le huitième jour (The Eighth Day), 1960

Recours en grâce (Recourse in Grace), 1960

Kapò, 1960

Adua e le compagne (Hungry for Love), 1960

Léon Morin, prêtre (Léon Morin, Priest), 1961

Thérèse Desqueyroux (Therese), 1962

Thomas l’imposteur (Thomas the Impostor), 1965

La fin de la nuit, 1966

Fruits amers (Bitter Fruit), 1967

Les risques du métier (Risky Business), 1967

Liberté, la nuit, 1983

Trois couleurs: Bleu (Three Colors: Blue), 1993

Éclats de famille, 1994

C’est la vie, 2001

Le Skylab, 2011

Amour, 2012

Lost in Paris, 2016

Bibliography

“Emmanuelle Riva.” IMDb, 2013, www.imdb.com/name/nm0728938/?ref‗=tt‗cl‗t3. Accessed 2 Mar. 2017.

Heilpern, John. “Duet in Winter.” Vanity Fair, Mar. 2013, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/03/emmanuelle-riva-amour-profile. Acessed 12 July 2013.

McNicoll, Tracy. “Oscar’s 85-Year-Old Darling: A Talk with Emmanuelle Riva of ‘Amour.’” The Daily Beast, 15 Feb. 2013, www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/15/oscar-s-85-year-old-darling-a-talk-with-emmanuelle-riva-of-amour.html. Accessed 12 July 2013.

Neupert, Richard. A History of French New Wave Cinema. Rev. ed., U of Wisconsin P, 2007.

Sandomir, Richard. "Emmanuelle Riva, Star of Hiroshima Mon Amour and Amour, Dies at 89." The New York Times, 31 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/movies/emmanuelle-riva-star-of-hiroshima-mon-amour-dies-at-89.html. Accessed 2 Mar. 2017.

Willsher, Kim. “Emmanuelle Riva, 85, Star of Amour, Tells of Her Extraordinary Life.” Observer, 9 Feb. 2013, p. 35.