This is Catherine Deneuve one of the biggest stars of French Cinema ever.   I am not sure exactly where she ranks because I am not French and as such I couldn’t tell you if she is more famous than Isabelle Huppert or Jean-Luc Goddard, I just know she’s up there.  Also, of note, she was also the face of Marianne, the embodiment of the French Republic, in the 80’s, so given the Laetitia Casta post the other day, maybe that is a thing I am into this week. Who knew?  She is famous is my point, yet I would forgive many of you for not knowing her, I kind of just recognize her cause I have seen a few movies but have to look up how to spell her name.  She is most famous for being beautiful to look at, mysterious on screen, and basically not aging for like 40 years. Seriously, look at picture of her at 50 and pictures of her at 20 and sure her hair changed but otherwise it’s strikingly similar.  So she is unchanging but I am not.  She is here because I rewatched The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which I will forgive you for not knowing.  A friend suggested it as a good companion to La La Land and it made sense the second I heard that and I did want to rewatch. It is a strikingly beautiful but sad movie about love and how it doesn’t always conquer all but maybe that’s ok.  What I find striking is just how much of art comes from what we bring to the table.  My views on the movie now are very different than they were when I was younger.  I always liked it but it is richer now, stronger, and I find my sympathies lie in multiple directions now.  There are no villains here, though in younger days I did want to cast Catherine Deneuve’s Genevieve as such.  Perception and age can change the way you view things, love included.  It is a gorgeous movie to look at and listen to and is moving.  I highly recommend it if you think you might enjoy a French musical.  Or not.  Of course, Catherine Deneuve was quite beautiful in it and you can see why someone would be so smitten with her.  Today I want to fuck Catherine Deneuve.