Berlin: French actress Marion Cotillard likened her public image to the distorted reflections captured by the cursed camera in her latest film, The Ice Tower, describing it as detached from reality.
While promoting the film at the Berlin Film Festival, Cotillard reflected on how public perception often differs from her true self.
Public Perception vs. Reality
“The general public, the audience has always invented the lives of actors they’ve never met,” Cotillard told journalists in Berlin. “That is far away from reality.”
She spoke candidly about self-perception, admitting that while one may feel content and self-accepting at times, certain life events can reignite self-judgment and harshness.
Cotillard, who won an Academy Award in 2008 for La Vie En Rose, said she does her best to shield herself from public scrutiny, but the impact is sometimes unavoidable.
“Whether it’s positive or negative feedback, it’s always … a mirror, a totally distorted mirror,” she said.
A Dark Retelling of The Snow Queen
The Ice Tower, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, is among the 19 films competing for the Golden Bear, the Berlinale’s top prize.
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen—which also influenced Disney’s Frozen—the film replaces the story’s cursed mirror with a camera lens.
In Andersen’s tale, a magical mirror distorts reality by showing only the worst in people. Hadzihalilovic’s adaptation, set in 1970s Paris, transforms this idea into a film camera that alters perceptions.
Cotillard plays Cristina, a stunning but distant actress starring in a film adaptation of The Snow Queen. A runaway girl, Jeanne (played by newcomer Clara Pacini), finds refuge in the film studio and becomes enchanted by Cristina—an infatuation that leads to unexpected consequences.
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Cotillard praised the choice to replace the mirror with a camera, calling it a profound reflection on modern society.
“It says a lot about the world that we live in nowadays,” she noted.
A Late Introduction to The Snow Queen
The actress also shared that she didn’t encounter Andersen’s The Snow Queen until much later in life.
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“It took me a while to realize that the Disney film was very, very far away from the original narrative,” she admitted.
