A Book Review by Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo.
Author Florence Jacobowitz argues that Huppert’s artistic career represents a form of cultural resistance, using her art to challenge social norms and redefine what it means to be an actress in contemporary modernist cinema.”
Isabelle Huppert, Modernist Performance by Florence Jacobowitz (Wayne State University Press, with a foreword by Serge Toubiana, former editor of Cahiers du cinéma) offers an in-depth exploration of the well-known French actress and producer Isabelle Huppert as one of the most influential and complex figures in contemporary cinema. Jacobowitz argues that Huppert’s artistic career represents a form of cultural resistance, using her art to challenge social norms and redefine what it means to be an actress in contemporary modernist cinema. Ultimately, this book is a celebration of the actress and a reflection on the transformative power of cinema as her involvement addresses cultural discussions and issues of gender, power, representation, politics and the complexities of modernism. It is thus, a fundamental study for academics, cinephiles and students of auteur cinema, acting and feminism, as well as the intersection between art and politics.
Jacobowitz introduces Huppert as an actress who combines presence and mystery, with a style that rejects traditional psychology and emotions externalization. Instead of creating characters that viewers can easily “know,” Huppert challenges audiences with performances that emphasize ambiguity and interiority. This approach thus places Huppert within the tradition of modernist cinema, influenced by Bertolt Brecht’s theater, Robert Bresson’s films, and the nouveau roman movement.
Throughout each of the well thought chapters of this book, Jacobowitz presents cinematic analysis and à critical commentary framework that allows for the reader to go deep into the relationship between Huppert’s career and the ever changing history of cinema.
The author establishes the foundations of modernism in cinema and connects Huppert’s acting to this tradition. Jacobowitz explains how Huppert employs minimalist techniques to create characters that resist objectification and sentimentality. Her tendency to “not completely disappear” into her characters is highlighted, as she maintains a personal presence that destabilizes the traditional relationship between actor and spectator. As well, she offers an analysis on Huppert’s collaboration with the French director Jean-Luc Godard, particularly in ‘Sauve qui peut (la vie)’ (1979). The author argues that this period marked a turning point in her career, as she adopted an acting approach that strips characters of narrative artifice. Godard emphasized the importance of a “neutral” style of acting that leaves spaces for the viewer to interpret and complete the hidden meaning of the film. To portray her brilliance in portraying complex female characters, Jacobowitz devotes two chapters to Huppert’s collaborations with the French director Claude Chabrol, describing them as the central axis of her career. In Violette Nozière (1978) and Madame Bovary (1991; see top image), Huppert portrays women trapped by patriarchal structures, whose decisions ultimately lead to disaster. The author praises Huppert’s ability to reveal a complex interiority that resists easy explanations, emphasizing her capacity to humanize morally ambiguous characters.
A fundamental study for academics, cinephiles and students of auteur cinema, acting and feminism, as well as the intersection between art and politics.”
In ‘La Pianiste’ (2001), Huppert embodies Erika, an emotionally repressed woman whose existence is completely and utterly marked by suffering and alienation, the German writer and director Michael Haneke created and established this role particularly for Huppert; in her analysis, Jacobowitz highlights how their collaboration allows for the most distinctive features of her acting to come out: the economy of gestures, emotional opacity, and her ability to expose internal conflicts without verbalizing them. In the last two chapters, Jacobowitz analyses how Huppert subverts audience expectations transforming a normally traumatizing situation into not victimization, but agency; that’s the case of Elle (2016) her work with the Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, a film that blends psychological suspense with a sharp social critique and Villa Amalia (2009) from the French director Benoît Jacquot and L’avenir (2016) from the French film director, screenwriter, and former actress Mia Hansen-Løve, in which Huppert plays women who abandon relationships and familiar environments to rediscover themselves. Jacobowitz argues that these roles reflect a constant theme in Huppert’s career: her resistance to patriarchal norms and her insistence on female autonomy.

Modernism in acting, gender politics and resistance to patriarchy, and artistic collaboration are intertwined in Isabelle Huppert’s career. Jacobowitz identifies her acting style as an example of modernism applied to cinema, characterized by a minimalist and abstract approach that rejects excessive emotions and psychological explanations. Instead of offering fully defined characters, Huppert creates figures that invite the audience to actively engage in their interpretation. A constant theme in her filmography is the portrayal of women who challenge social norms and face the consequences of their autonomy. According to Jacobowitz, many of her characters are not victims in the conventional sense but figures of resistance whose choices, though controversial, reflect a conscious rejection of oppressive structures. Additionally, her career has been enriched by repeated collaborations with directors like Chabrol, Haneke, and Godard, whose artistic vision complements her style. These partnerships have enabled Huppert to build a trajectory that transcends the boundaries of commercial cinema, establishing her as a central European auteur.
Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo is an English philologist and has a master’s degree in cultural studies from the National University of Colombia. She is a literature, writing and reading teacher from Minuto de Dios University in Bogotá, Colombia. Her main research interests are in literature, visual research, television studies and cultural studies.