Romy Schneider

Cinemoi had a Romy Schneider season in the Spring which still left one wondering at her iconic status as one of the great female actresses of European films. While I have seen her described as beautiful, this is surely journalistic exagerration as she is easy on the eye but no head-turner.
'L'important c'est d'aimer' is a poor film but it must be hard for a good eactress to play a poor one trying to be good without resorting to over-acting. "Les Choses de la Vie' and 'Max and the Junkmen' were definitely worth watching to see Michel Piccoli in top form but Schneider's roles in both films were underwritten so much that she was a copher. 'Le Train' is something of a 'why was it made?' sort of film but at least she was better than Trintignant though he is another mystery! "A Woman at the Window' is another poor film saved bu a fine piece of acting, this time by Philipe Noiret; Schneider seemed ill at ease in her role which could have been better played.
Her career blossomed with her early playing of Sissi, the Austrian princess of the late 19th Ct, in three films which I have not seen. Her forays into US productions are on a par with those of many actresses who refused to be moulded into the expected Hollywood conception and her role in 'Plein Soleil' is again a little underwritten. Possibly there are films that do reveal an actress of great qualitiy but what I have seen to date does not bear this out.