Tonie Marshall (29 November 1951 – 12 March 2020) was a French-American film director, screenwriter and actress. In 2000, she became the first female director to win the César Award for her film Venus Beauty Institute.
Life and career Marshall was the daughter of American actor, director, and bandleader William Marshall and French actress Micheline Presle. She was also the aunt of model and actress Sarah Marshall, and the half-sister of actor Mike Marshall, son of the actress Michèle Morgan.
Before becoming a director, Tonie Marshall was an actress, first in drama and then in television and film, where she played several small parts in the 1970s and 1980s. As she recalles about her beginnings on-screen: "I was an actress because it was what seemed the more natural for me, but I was interested a lot in writing and production. I was quite afraid not to make it [directing films]. Because I was a little actress, that I did not attend a specialized school, that I did not have any technique". During her childhood, she also developed her experience of films thanks to the arthouse cinema of the Ursulines in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, near which she grew up.
After appearing in minor parts in several of Jacques Demy's films, including A Slightly Pregnant Man (1973) and La Naissance du Jour (1980), Marshall directed her first film, Pentimento (1990), offering the radio and television host Antoine de Caunes his first role in cinema.
In 1994, her film Pas très Catholique was selected as part of the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.
Tonie Marshall's 1999 film Venus Beauty Institute (Vénus beauté (Institut)) won four César Awards during the 2000 competition including Best Director, making her the first female filmmaker to receive this distinction. The César Academy also awarded Venus Beauty Institute with Best Film, Best Original Screenplay or Adaptation, as well as Most Promising Actress for Audrey Tautou, whose career was launched by the film.
This romantic comedy centers on the search for love and happiness of three employees of a Parisian beauty salon "Vénus Beauté Institut": Angèle (Nathalie Baye), Marie (Audrey Tautou), Samantha (Mathilde Seigner), and their manager Nadine (Bulle Ogier). Tonie Marshall's mother Micheline Presle also appears in the film where she plays the part of Aunt Maryse. In a 2001 interview for the film magazine Cinéaste, Tonie Marshall recalls the genesis of the film and how she was inspired by an existing beauty salon:
"My first idea was to write a part for Nathalie Baye because I wanted to do something with her that she had not done before: a woman with a very nice appearance, very banal, but who is, in fact, very mixed up and complicated. But I hadn't decided what she would do for a living in the film. Then one day I was passing by a small beauty salon on my street - the light was pink and there was a girl, a beautician I suppose, dressed in pink; and she was closing the shop very, very slowly. Her movement, absolutely like she was dancing, but very slowly, struck me as being an entirely cinematic image. I went back to this beauty parlor as a customer, and when I was there I heard so many incredible things."
Tonie Marshall has been mostly influenced by Jacques Demy's films throughout her career, the most famous ones being The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). Venus Beauty emerged from this influence, as well as an additional source of inspiration: the French film Belle de Jour (1964) directed by Luis Buñuel and starring Catherine Deneuve.
In 2002 her film Au plus près du Paradis was nominated for the Golden Lion Award as best film at the Venice Film Festival.
Marshall was a signatory of the "Free Roman Polanski" petition following film director Roman Polanski's arrest in Switzerland in 2009, which read: "We demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski. Film-makers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision… It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary film-makers, is used by police to apprehend him.”
In 2017, Marshall released Number One (also released as Woman Up! in the UK and the US), her last feature film, which is based on her conversation with various female corporate executives. The film relates the story of Emmanuelle Blachey (Emmanuelle Devos), an engineer who tries to reach the manager position in a company with the help of her female counterparts and despite the misogynistic atmosphere that rules over the firm.
On March 12, 2020, she died from lung cancer at the age of 68.
Activism Although Tonie Marshall would not label herself as a feminist, many of her films involve an underlying fight against sexism, especially the later ones including Number One in which she overtly advocates gender equality in the professional sphere.
Off-set, she was one of the members of the French 50/50 Collective, founded in 2018 and which promotes gender diversity and equality in the film industry. The same year, she also joined the Fondation des femmes, founded in March 2016, which aims to raise funds for feminist organizations. During the 2018 César Awards Ceremony and in association with the foundation, Tonie Marshall participated in the #MaintenantOnAgit movement as part of which she called diverse personalities to wear a white ribbon as a symbol of the struggle against violence against women.
In an interview given to the French newspaper La Tribune in 2017 for the release of Number One, Marshall addressed her young female spectators, saying: "For the world to evolve, and to reach true modernity, 45-50% of women should get to decision-making professional positions in order to finally experience a different organization in work and business. If I could help with it, I would be very glad. And if people who watched my film get out of the theater telling themselves "this made me want the same", it is an absolute joy."
In 2001, Marshall was asked a question about the role played by women filmmakers in France, to which she answered: "Toscan du Plantier, the president of Unifrance, says that French cinema will be saved by women. This may be just a formule, pretty words, I don't know. But I do think that maybe the way we shoot a scene of two people making love is pretty different."
Work
Filmography (films and TV) Year Title Role Notes1970Les Saintes chériesActressTV series (1 episode) Created by Nicole de Buron and directed by Jean Becker1971 Les Dossiers du professeur Morgan Actress TV series (1 episode) Un enfant dans la ville Actress TV filmDirected by Pierre Sisser Côté cour, côté champs Actress ShortDirected by Guy Gilles1972 What a Flash! Actress Directed by Jean-Michel Barjol1973 L'Oiseau rare Actress Directed by Jean-Claude Brialy A Slightly Pregnant Man Actress Directed by Jacques Demy1975 Une Suédoise à Paris Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Patrick Saglio Vous ne l'emporterez pas au Paradis Actress Directed by François Dupont-Midy La fleur des pois Actress TV filmDirected by Raymond Rouleau1976 Les Cinq Dernières Minutes Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Claude Loursais Mords pas, on t'aime Actress Directed by Yves Allégret Le Cheval évanoui Actress TV filmDirected by Alain Dhénaut Les Infidèles Actress TV filmDirected by Alain Dhénaut1977 Au théâtre ce soir Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Pierre Sabbagh1978 Le Mutant Actress TV mini-seriesDirected by Bernard Toublanc-Michel Les Deux élèves préférés du professeur Francine Brouda Actress ShortDirected by Danièle Dubroux1979 Les Amours de la belle époque Actress TV series (1 episode) Directed by René Lucot Rien ne va plus Actress Directed by Jean-Michel Ribes1980 Cinéma 16 Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Eric Le Hung Tout dépend des filles Actress Directed by Pierre Fabre Les Sous-doués Actress Directed by Claude Zidi La Naissance du jour Actress TV filmDirected by Jacques Demy1981 Les Amours des années folles Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Marion Sarraut Le Petit théâtre d'Antenne 2 Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Michel Treguer Les Dossiers éclatés Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Alain Boudet La Gueule du loup Actress Directed by Michel Léviant Les Roses de Dublin Actress TV mini-seriesDirected by Lazare Iglesis1982 Merci Bernard Actress TV series (10 episodes)Directed by Jean-Michel Ribes1983 Archipel des amours Actress Directed by Jacques Davila Elle voulait faire du cinéma Actress TV filmDirected by Caroline Huppert1984 Paris vu par... vingt ans après Actress Sketches Film (1 sketch) Directed by Frédéric Mitterrand Batailles Actress TV movieDirected by Jean-Michel Ribes1985 Classique Actress ShortDirected by Christian Vincent1986 Qui trop embrasse... Actress Directed by Jacques Davila Beau temps mais orageux en fin de journée Actress Directed by Gérard Frot-Coutaz Le Tiroir secret Actress TV mini-seriesDirected by Nadine Trintignant, Roger Gillioz, Michel Boisrond & Édouard Molinaro1987 Coeurs croisés Actress Directed by Stéphanie de Mareuil1989 Pentimento Director / Writer Palace Actress TV series (1 episode)Directed by Jean-Michel Ribes1990 Le Champignon des Carpathes Actress Directed by Jean-Claude Biette La Campagne de Cicéron Actress Directed by Jacques Davila1992 Chasse gardée Actress Directed by Jean-Claude Biette1993 Point d'orgue Actress TV movieDirected by Paul Vecchiali1994 Not Very Catholic /Something Fishy Director / Writer Bergamo Film Meeting – Golden Rosa CamunaNominated – Berlin International Film Festival – Golden Bear 3000 scénarios contre un virus Director TV series (1 episode)1996 Pour rire! Actress Directed by Lucas Belvaux Citron amer Actress ShortDirected by Christiane Lack Enfants de salaud Director / Writer 1999 Venus Beauty Institute Director / Writer César Award for Best DirectorCésar Award for Best FilmCésar Award for Best Original Screenplay or AdaptationCabourg Film Festival – Golden Swann2000 Tontaine et Tonton Director TV film2002 Au plus près du Paradis Director / Writer Nominated – Venice Film Festival – Golden Lion2003 France Boutique Director / Writer 2004 Les Falbalas de Jean-Paul Gaultier Director / Writer / Cinematographer Documentary2005 Vénus & Apollon Director / Writer / Producer TV series2008 Musée haut, musée bas Actress Directed by Jean-Michel Ribes Passe-passe Director / Writer / Producer 2009 X Femmes Director / Writer TV series (1 episode) Accomplices Producer Directed by Frédéric Mermoud2010 HH, Hitler à Hollywood Actress Directed by Frédéric Sojcher2012 Nuts Producer Directed by Yann Coridian2014 The Missionaries Director / Writer / Producer 2016 Moka Producer 2017 Number One / Woman Up! Director
Drama +YearTitleRoleNotes1973Duos sur canapéActressWritten by Marc Camoletti Tournée Karsenty-Herbert1975Un jeu d'enfantsActressWritten by Martin Walser Directed by Maurice Attias Théâtre Moderne1976Pour 100 briques t'as plus rien...ActressWritten by Didier Kaminka Directed by Henri Garcin Théâtre La Bruyère1979Le Père Noel est une ordureActressWritten by members Le Splendid troupe Directed by Philippe Galland Le Splendid1979Essayez donc nos pédalosActressWritten by Alain Marcel1983BataillesActressWritten by Roland Topor, Jean-Michel Ribes Directed by Jean-Michel Ribes Théâtre de l'Athénée1987Crimes du coeur (Crimes of the Heart)ActressWritten by Beth Henley Directed by François Bourgeat La Pépinière-Théâtre2008BataillesActressWritten by Roland Topor, Jean-Michel Ribes Directed by Jean-Michel Ribes Théâtre du Rond-Point2011L'Amour, la mort, les fringuesActressWritten by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron Directed by Danièle Thompson Théâtre Marigny
Recognition