At the exit, at the end of a ceremony which will have lasted two and a half hours, hostesses distribute a souvenir bookmark on which appears, hair and white beard, soft eyes and checked shirt, the portrait of Michael Lonsdale captioned with his date. of his birth, May 24, 1931, and that of his death, September 21, in his apartment in Place Vauban, which he had never left, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
Under the image, a sentence written in sky blue ink of Sainte-Thérèse-de l'Enfant Jesus, “favorite saint” of the deceased and that the Catholic Church celebrated that same Thursday: “I am delighted to be little. , since children alone and those who resemble them will be admitted to the heavenly banquet.
"On the back, a text signed by the actor" with love ", addressed to God the father, invited to return the witness apartment of a man who has never hidden his faith.
"Visit, occupy, clean up every corner!"
Blow up the hinges.
"
Message from Pope Francis
For the funeral of the vice-consul of Lahore at Marguerite Duras's in "India Song", or of brother Luc in "Des hommes et des dieux", by Xavier Beauvois, a role which earned him the César for best supporting role in 2011, he archbishopric did not blow up the hinges of the portal of the Saint-Roch church, the artists' parish.
But for this son imbued with faith, an occasion like this does not come every four mornings of a great departure to the afterlife.
We therefore had the great organs of the Eucharistic liturgy given, in a small-scale organization - the guests provided with a “farewell mass” ticket -.
Michael Lonsdale's coffin arrives at Saint-Roch Church this Thursday in Paris./AFP/Christophe Archambault
Sparkling miters and clouds of incense.
Entrance and exit on the “Stabat Mater” of Pergolèse.
Songs more enveloping than each other.
Kneeling silhouettes.
Choirs and strings in red and black… And reading of a message that Pope Francis sent to the deceased when the latter addressed one of his books to him.
“Receive my apostolic blessing, may the Blessed Virgin protect you.
Fraternally, François ”.
Mass has not yet been said but for the assistance, this special dedication is having an effect.
The testimonies follow one another in rosary.
The filmmaker and documentary maker Philippe Calderon, nephew and godson of the actor, tells about the Christmas holidays - “You arrived late or you left too early bringing us sumptuous gifts.
»Evenings with Sacha Pitoëff, Laurent Terzieff or Jeanne Moreau.
Or these images of Michael lying on a sofa to paint.
"Say he was also a universalist"
The poet and high official Jean Maheu, who was the companion of always - "83 years of fraternal friendship" - evokes "a very handsome, very pure little boy, with a flawless moral.
He never lied, no matter what it cost him ”.
He also says "the storyteller born with humor all in finesse and singular diction, separating each word without affectation or loss of meaning.
Her last words mingled with tears.
Each of the praises pronounced constitutes the tributaries of a tender certainty.
Lonsdale had kept the simplicity and infatuation of a child's soul.
His agent, Olivier Loiseau, raises laughter stifled by the masks, telling how Michael could not bear any other pronunciation of his first name than in Anglo-Saxon: “Maïllkeul”.
He tells how an exchange with the Archbishop of Strasbourg led to a surreal slip: "And I am happy to welcome," exclaimed the troubled prelate,
Maïllkeul
Jackson!
"When we met the artistic agent again on the steps of the church, he offered us this slightly more pagan prayer:" Say he was also a universalist, open to modernity.
"
Canticle to the Virgin Mary
"He had such a sense of humor," says Macha Méril, who made her film debut in 1960 with Lonsdale in "the Hot Hand" by Gérard Oury.
She adds that they liked to meet at the Gruss Circus.
With that, Jean-Pierre Léaud emerges without a mask, assailed by the objectives and the cameras.
Visibly moved, long hair and parchment skin, Lonsdale's partner in "Stolen Kisses" smiles backwards, also remembering a simple and cheerful character.
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However, we are looking for a world of theater and cinema that we expected more provided.
This is not the case, by far.
Catherine Salviat, Nicolas Vaude, François Marthouret, Macha Méril, so… And?
And?
That's all.
Before the remains are installed in the hearse, on their way to the Montmartre cemetery, a hymn to the Virgin Mary is sung.
The sky that was crying two and a half hours earlier has dressed in blue and white.
A lady to whom we report this more smiling and appropriately colored weather forecast is surprised at our remark.
"Would you have imagined it to be otherwise?"
"
