Lui April 2015 : Virginie Ledoyen

[Dieselmax]

journaux.fr

 

[nanker_phledge]

She's beautiful...and I'm not a prude, but for some reason, I always feel a little uncomfortable when I see actresses posing nude (especially on cover and when it's almost full-frontal...Semi-nudity doesn't bother me, and for example, when it's a singer that goes nude all the time like Madonna or Rihanna, it doesn't bother me because that's who they are, it's part of their 'character'...but when it comes to actresses like Marie Gillain or Virginie Ledoyen who've always been very discrete about their intimacy and who never posed in the nude as themselves, it feels weird...It's like watching Natalie Portman's films for years and then suddenly seeing her in the nude on cover of a magazine talking about herself for an 'erotic' magazine...Maybe it's because I consider that their intimacy is none of my business, and that when they are nude on film , they're playing a role (just like, for me, a model posing nude for a magazine is playing a role...I don't consider that she's posing..as herself)...I don't know if that makes sense...

 

[Oxymore]

^it totally makes sense. I have the same feeling. Nothing to add to what you said.

 

[t-rex]

I agree, it makes me think the actresses' management pushed them to do it. It seems "normal" for actresses like Chloe Sevigny to do nude eds, she always seems comfortable and totally in control; but it's suspicious when someone goes nude (in photo shoots, not movies) after a decade or so of staying clothed.

 

[Benn98]

She's beautiful...and I'm not a prude, but for some reason, I always feel a little uncomfortable when I see actresses posing nude (especially on cover and when it's almost full-frontal...Semi-nudity doesn't bother me, and for example, when it's a singer that goes nude all the time like Madonna or Rihanna, it doesn't bother me because that's who they are, it's part of their 'character'...but when it comes to actresses like Marie Gillain or Virginie Ledoyen who've always been very discrete about their intimacy and who never posed in the nude as themselves, it feels weird...It's like watching Natalie Portman's films for years and then suddenly seeing her in the nude on cover of a magazine talking about herself for an 'erotic' magazine...Maybe it's because I consider that their intimacy is none of my business, and that when they are nude on film , they're playing a role (just like, for me, a model posing nude for a magazine is playing a role...I don't consider that she's posing..as herself)...I don't know if that makes sense...

Totally get what you mean. I feel very similar in a way. Marie is my favourite, as is Virginie. I feel that they lose a certain sense of mystique when they pose nude for these magazines. You're right, we are not bombarded by them flashing boobs and knickers all the time. I'd die if Audrey Tatou or Élodie Navarre ends up on this cover.

The actual cover again doesn't look very good. That poor cat! You can see he doesn't want any part of this mess.

 

[Dieselmax]

Shot by Terry Richardson.

Better Quality cover

twitter.com/lui

 

[tigerrouge]

It's like Lui's suddenly taken a slight detour down a shabbier street than usual. I mean, are all those visual/verbal puns really needed, la chatte, un toit?

 

[Stavros]

As cheap as Terry can be. Sad for her.

 

[kokobombon]

I am so sad that she did this... it´s one thing to do nudity in movies, when it serves a purpose but to see her on this cover seems wrong.
And the image itself is quite stupid, holding that cat

 

[Miss Dalloway]

Everything about this rubs me the wrong way!!!

 

[Lola701]

I like that!
Don't forget that the EIC of Lui is Frederic Beigbeder. So, of course he'll put very "serious" french actresses on the cover.

 

[Herr Oberst]

I do not particularly like the cover shot (or Terry's work in general for that matter).

Yet I fail to see what is the big deal with -oh, gasp!- the nudity. Over the course of her acting career Virginie Ledoyen has been nude in at least a dozen of movies, starting -mind you- at a very tender age. Quite obviously she is very comfortable with her body.

 

[kokobombon]

^I can only speak for myself of course, I don´t have a problem with nudity per se. I just don´t like that she´s nude on a men´s magazine cover (no matter how "HF" this mag is). Nudity on film serves a purpose, it helps tells a story and so on. Here it feels like she´s exploting her body for the sake of promotion.

 

[Herr Oberst]

... I just don´t like that she´s nude on a men´s magazine cover (no matter how "HF" this mag is).

Vogue Paris would have been fine though? Or inside the "men's magazine" would have been OK, but on the cover is too much? I guess one has to draw a line somewhere

 

[kokobombon]

^It´d bother me inside/cover of a fashion magazine as well. Because I don´t like her being nude outside films, because I have a different idea of her (which is subjective but still).

 

[nanker_phledge]

As I stated it's not the nudity itself that bothers me , and if you actually had read my post, you would have understood the fact that I had no problem with their nudity on film either...What makes me uncomfortable and rather uneasy about it is the subtext and motivation behind the choice to uncover your sexual identity after spending years being discrete about it... I have mixed feelings when it comes to the message that these actresses are trying to vehiculate, there's something that seems really forced and calculated about it, one one hand, there's a part of me that goes 'So what ? Anyone can reveal an intimate side of themselves.I shoudn't be bothered by them being nude now'...But reversibly, there's also this little voice in my head that says 'They're only doing this now at 40, because they feel the need to prove that they can still be desirable', it gives me the impression that the most important feature for a woman no matter what their age or personality, or identity is, has to be their sex-appeal...When Madonna or Rihanna or even Farrah Fawcett (posing nude at the age of 60 for 'Playboy') pose nude, they vehiculate the idea that they're the ones in control of their sexual identity, that they're the ones choosing when or when not to go nude...When Virginie Ledoyen or Marie Gillain go nude in a sexual context after spending years being very discrete about their intimate self, I feel they're complying to a masculinist ideal that requires women to be desirable at any age...Reversibly, when Emmanuelle Béart posed nude for 'Elle' years ago for the first time, quite on the contrary, I felt that the clever and strong idea about those pictures,was that a woman could be naked, yet it didn't mean it was sexual in any way, it was challenging the idea of female body representation as a sexual end/main purpose...It's not the nudity itself that makes me feel uncomfortable or suspicious, it's the context...It's right to say 'A woman can pose nude whenever she feels like it and shouldn't be judged about it', but reversibly, on their side, it feels that they only go nude for ...an erotic magazine read mostly by men. They're only revealing this side of their sexuality when it's exposed to the male gaze, that's what I find a little sad... It seems like they're more complying to a demand than actually challenging it (had they posed nude for a queer magazine, or in a non-sexual context, I wouldn't have reacted the same way)

 

[kokobombon]

Virginie Ledoyen by Terry Richardson

http://imcmagazine.com/gallery.php?item_id=127097

 

[tigerrouge]

Regardless of anything else I could say about the man, I think US Bazaar has ruined any enjoyment I can get out of Terry Richardson's work, because when I see elements of his style in an image, I now automatically go to sleep.

Speaking generally, if only Helmut Newton were alive to shoot for the reincarnated Lui, the editorials he'd churn out while half-asleep on set would still be better than the repetition we get from other photographers. Recycling your 'greatest hits' only tends to work... when you're great.

 

[Deleted member 116957]

This cover sort of makes me feel uncomfortable.

That poor cat.

 

[Emmanuelle]

Richardson, once again ...
Sorry but her face looks awful, the make up is so bad ... and that pose with the cat, it's so awkward, don't understand ... or rather I'm scared to understand ^^ seriously it's bad.