Clockwise from top: Adam Driver’s Henry cradles his unique daughter; Marion Cotillard as mum Ann welcomes her child; As Annette grows, another ally in Simon Helberg’s Accompanist; Director Leos Carax gazes at his wooden star.
Amazon Studios
THE TITLE CHARACTER of Leos Carax’s offbeat musical Annette proved problematic.
“Someone proposes something, which is a miracle,” says Carax. “But then, how do you do that?”
To make his “miracle”, Carax turned to an old form of magic. Annette, a little girl who ages from birth to five years old, is daughter to Marion Cotillard’s opera singer and Adam Driver’s shock comedian, and exhibits a miraculous ability to sing as beautifully as her mother while still an infant. But rather than Carax recruiting a series of child actors, she is played by a series of puppets — who give a brilliantly subtle performance compared to most kiddie stars, and are cute as a button.