Six Definitive Films: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Julie Delpy
Although Julie Delpy is best known for her role as Celine in Richard Linklater’s beloved Before trilogy, the French actor has starred in many English and foreign-language productions over the past four decades. Born to theatre director and actor Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, also an actor, Delpy credits her parents for her love of cinema and art. She once explained: “I couldn’t hope for better parents. They really raised me with a love of art, bringing me to museums and seeing things that a child wouldn’t see at that age. I would see Ingmar Bergman movies when I was nine and totally go for it.”
When she was 14, Delpy was discovered by French auteur Jean-Luc Godard, who gave her a small role in his 1985 film Detective. Soon, the actor was landing significant parts, such as the title role in Bertrand Tavernier’s 1987 historical drama Beatrice, which earned her a Cesar nomination for Most Promising Actress.
Using her paycheque from the film to travel to New York, Delpy began starring in Hollywood movies, such as The Three Musketeers. However, she found most of her work in Europe, appearing in each instalment of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colours trilogy, landing the leading female role in Three Colours: White.
After finding greater mainstream success with the Before trilogy, Delpy has since written and directed several movies of her own, including 2 Days in Paris and My Zoe. Most recently, she has appeared in the miniseries On the Verge, which she also created, wrote and directed.
Julie Delpy’s six definitive films:
Mauvais Sang (Leos Carax, 1986)
Recognised as one of Leos Carax’s greatest works, Mauvais Sang, also known as Bad Blood, was nominated for three Cesar awards and won the Louis Delluc Prize. In the film, a sexually-transmitted disease spreads across the country, contracted through casual, emotionless sex. Although Delpy doesn’t have a leading role – the film is led by Michel Piccoli and Juliette Binoche – it is one of the most significant movies from her early career.
Delpy was traumatised by filming the movie: “It was a very difficult shoot.” She explained: “I had a motorcycle accident. In order to make the insurance work, I wasn’t taken to the doctor right away. As a result, my leg became gangrenous—one more day, and it was amputation. Moreover, Leos Carax was not easy. The actress was not easy either.”
Europa Europa (Agnieszka Holland, 1990)
Agnieszka Holland’s remarkable war drama Europa Europa follows a young Jewish boy, Solomon, as he joins the Hitler Youth to save himself from the Holocaust. Based on a true story, the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Delpy plays Leni, a member of the girls’ wing of the Nazi Party – and Solomon’s love interest.
Full of suspense, black comedy, and poignant explorations of identity, Europa Europa utilises irony to convey the horrors of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime. Although Delpy’s parts were performed in English and dubbed in German, she still gave a stunning performance, and the film helped to launch her to international recognition.
Voyager (Volker Schlöndorff, 1991)
Delpy landed a starring role in Volker Schlöndorff’s English-language drama Voyager in 1991. The actor features alongside Sam Shepard and Barbara Sukowa in this tale adapted from Max Frisch’s 1957 novel Homo Faber. Shepard plays Walter, an engineer who lives his life according to logic and reason. However, after falling victim to an incredible series of coincidences and fate, he must question how he has lived his life. Delpy stars as Sabeth, a young woman Walter meets on a ship and eventually travels with.
Voyager won the Bavarian Film Award for Best Production and the German Film Award for Shaping of a Feature Film. Delpy’s performance was widely praised after the film’s release, and she was even nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards.
Three Colours: White (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours trilogy began with 1993’s Three Colours: Blue, in which Delpy had a minor role. However, in 1994, the Polish director recruited the actor to play the female lead in the next instalment, Three Colours: White, the following year. Loosely based on the political ideals in the French Republic’s motto, “liberty, equality, fraternity,” each film hones in, often ironically, on one of these themes. White focuses on equality and uses specific imagery and recurring symbols to portray the film’s overarching theme.
Delpy plays the wife of Zbigniew Zamachowski’s Karol Karol, who breaks up with him under humiliating circumstances, leaving him penniless and homeless. Now a beggar, he seeks revenge to regain his status. Although Three Colours: White is brilliantly acted by all, Delpy’s performance as Dominique is outstanding, cementing her as one of the most significant European actors of the decade.
Before Trilogy (Richard Linklater, 1995; 2004; 2013)
Beginning in 1995 with Before Sunrise, Richard Linklater’s romantic trilogy sees Delpy play Celine, a Parisian woman who meets Ethan Hawke’s Jesse on a train and decides to spend the night walking around Vienna with him. In the subsequent films, the pair reunite and continue their relationship. Delpy shines as the intellectual and witty Celine, a character she helped to develop. Although Delpy and Hawke are only credited as co-writers on Before Sunset and Before Midnight, Delpy claims that she and her co-star “brought those romantic ideas” to Before Sunrise, too.
As the pair walk and talk through Vienna, Paris and Greece, the chemistry between them is palpable, and you’d have a hard time believing Delpy and Hawke are just friends in real life. Delpy brings effortless naturalism and charm to each film – one of the many reasons the Before trilogy is loved by so many.
2 Days in Paris (Julie Delpy, 2007)
Delpy’s first significant directorial release was 2007’s 2 Days in Paris, which starred the actor in the leading role alongside Adam Goldberg. Delpy plays Marion, a French photographer who lives with her neurotic American boyfriend, Jack, in New York. After a decidedly bad trip to Venice, the pair attempt to rekindle their romantic flames by visiting Paris. Here, Jack is shocked to learn that Marion is still in contact with ex-lovers and struggles to cope with the language barrier between them.
2 Days in Paris is a strong effort from Delpy, who demonstrates her strong skills for writing complex and unique characters, avoiding the stereotypical clichés of Parisian romance. Delpy’s film analyses the cultural and gendered differences between people with nuance and wit; she followed it up with 2 Days in New York five years later.
