La Deneuve in Cannes

A little article (Une Palme d'honneur pour Deneuve, May 12) from Agence France-Press describes the awarding of a Palme d'Honneur d'Interprétation at the Cannes Festival to Catherine Deneuve. Festival President Gilles Jacob called her, quite rightly, "une Katharine Hepburn à la française" (my translation):

With this honorary award, outside the official competition, Gilles Jacob was open about his intention to redress a certain injustice: in spite of having had several films in competition since Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Catherine Deneuve has never received an acting prize in Cannes. "You are not only beautiful, with that always miraculously photogenic quality that has inspired so many directors. You are an excellent actress able to perform anything while remaining impenetrably secret," he added. "Not all legendary actresses are Americans."

She is still making good movies, not exclusively, but an actor has to work. I have certainly admired her work in Est-Ouest (1999), Dancer in the Dark (2000), and 8 Femmes (2002). And she will always be the most elegant movie star of all.