Gérard Philipe: The Last Winter

Blessed with boyish good looks, always seeking challenges and adventure, full of – seemingly inexhaustible – energy: Gérard Philipe (1922-1959) still symbolizes youth today. This magnificent stage and film actor, the unforgettable Fanfan la Tulipe, whose screen adventures were seen by seven million viewers in France alone, is also the patron of the Gerard Screening Room at Kino Muranów.

Gérard Philipe: The Last Winter, a documentary about the prematurely departed artist (he passed away at the height of his popularity, aged just 37), tells the extraordinary story of Philipe, who combined youthful charm with profound maturity. Drawing on archive material, the film sheds light on all his capacities: accomplished actor, film star, French Resistance fighter and tireless activist who on numerous occasions travelled behind the Iron Curtain (Patrick Jeudy’s documentary even features a glimpse of the Palace of Culture).Philipe was said to shift seamlessly from sunny to dark roles, from appearances in films by the greatest directors (René Clair, René Clément, Marcel Carné) to action cinema. “He is such a good actor that even his horse believed he knew how to ride,” in the words of one film crew member. He spent the last weeks of his life in bed, working, believing that his illness is temporary. The film was shot on the centenary of the star’s birth and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival – Phillipe was born there, so it’s no surprise that he tied his life to cinema.