Movies - Cinematheque : Sigourney Weaver Begins a Landmark Retrospective with Master Gardener

By Mulder, Paris, Cinémathèque, 06 november 2025

The Cinémathèque française opened its highly anticipated retrospective dedicated to Sigourney Weaver with the screening of Master Gardener, followed by an in-depth conversation featuring Sigourney Weaver and costume designer Catherine Leterrier. The event, running from 6 to 10 November 2025, stands out not just as a curated journey through a monumental career, but as a meeting point between myth and memory. There was a quiet electricity in the Henri Langlois auditorium as cinephiles, students, and longtime admirers took their seats, sensing that this introduction was not merely ceremonial but something closer to a return—an artist looking back at her path with the clarity, humor, and sharpness that have defined her presence for nearly half a century. What immediately became clear is that honoring Sigourney Weaver is not simply about recounting film history; it is about revisiting how an actress reshaped the very notion of cinematic heroism, and how she continues, with a surprising softness, to reflect on a journey that almost didn’t happen. 

From the moment she stepped into the role of Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s Alien, Sigourney Weaver shifted the axis of Hollywood. At the time, she was still the young woman who had delivered only a brief appearance in Annie Hall, yet her steely transformation in Alien tore through the genre’s masculine conventions. During the opening discussion, she reflected with a wry smile on the oddness of suddenly becoming the face of action cinema, especially for someone who once felt too tall, too self-conscious, too unlikely to be a movie star. She also recounted how her height, which made her feel “like a giant spider” as a child, unexpectedly gave Ripley an imposing silhouette—one that framed vulnerability and strength not as opposites but as two ends of the same charge. Catherine Leterrier, who has collaborated with generations of French and international filmmakers, offered her own angle, describing how wardrobe and physical presence interplay to build characters who linger in cultural memory. She highlighted the timelessness of Sigourney Weaver’s body language—both grounded and slightly unpredictable—and how such presence has carried her across genres as varied as comedy (Ghostbusters, Working Girl), drama (The Ice Storm), science fiction (Avatar), and thriller (Copycat).

The choice to inaugurate the retrospective with Master Gardener felt particularly meaningful, as the film—written and directed by Paul Schrader—captures Sigourney Weaver at her most enigmatic. She plays the imperious Mrs. Haverhill, a figure whose elegance masks a web of moral rot, emotional contradictions, and a chilling appetite for domination. During the conversation, she shared an anecdote about first reading Paul Schrader’s script, noting how she was immediately struck by the “controlled ferocity” embedded in the character. She recalled how Joel Edgerton, who plays the haunted horticulturist Narvel, brought a quiet magnetism to the role, creating a dynamic that was “both exquisite and unsettling.” Catherine Leterrier added that designing clothing for Sigourney Weaver in this film became a way to express a character’s decaying aristocracy—tailored, impeccable, and increasingly suffocating. Their remarks illuminated an aspect often overlooked by audiences: how costume becomes architecture, discipline, and psychological tension all at once.

The press notes provided another layer of context, reminding attendees of the film’s creation in Louisiana during early 2022, and how Quintessa Swindell—who replaced Zendaya, originally considered for the role—arrived with a fresh energy that transformed the film’s emotional stakes. Sigourney Weaver recalled with fondness how Quintessa Swindell’s openness and intuition elevated the tension between Maya and Mrs. Haverhill, giving the story a generational clash that was not in the script but emerged naturally during rehearsals. She also spoke about her long-standing admiration for Paul Schrader, whose writing she described as “dangerously precise,” the sort that forces actors to navigate moral fog without ever slipping into the comfort of certainty. It was clear from her words that Master Gardener fits into a lineage of collaborations—whether with Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Ang Lee, or Neill Blomkamp—that challenge her, sometimes unsettle her, and always encourage her to take risks even after decades at the summit of her craft.

What resonated most in the evening, however, was Sigourney Weaver’s relationship to legacy. She spoke lightly, almost with amusement, about how Ripley, Dana Barrett, Grace Augustine, and Kiri have followed her across continents and decades, carried by viewers who grew up with them or discovered them later in restored editions, streaming platforms, or midnight screenings. She mentioned how touching it is to meet fans of Avatar who only know her voice, or to hear that some younger viewers encountered her first in Vantage Point or Chappie, completely unaware of the long road that preceded those roles. Catherine Leterrier emphasized that retrospectives like this one do not simply rewind a career: they allow the audience to notice the throughlines—curiosity, rigor, a taste for characters who challenge norms—that remain consistent from her earliest Shakespeare productions to her 2025 West End debut as Prospero in The Tempest.

The opening of the retrospective felt neither like a museum exhibit nor a formal tribute. It felt alive, attentive, built not as a monument but as a conversation. A conversation between films, between generations, between an actress and those who have followed her for years. Beginning the program with Master Gardener made perfect sense: it is a story of roots, of pasts that refuse to stay buried, and of the strange, delicate work required to cultivate something new out of damaged soil. And in a way, that metaphor reverberated through the entire evening. Sigourney Weaver, without insisting on it, reminded the room that even icons have to replant themselves from time to time. That might be the quiet lesson this retrospective offers—not just a celebration of what she has done, but a window into how she keeps growing.

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Synopsis : 
Narvel is a horticulturist devoted to the gardens of the very refined Mrs. Haverhill. But when his employer forces him to take her grandniece Maya on as an apprentice, chaos ensues, revealing the dark secrets of Narvel's past... 

Master Gardener 
Written and directed by Paul Schrader 
Produced by Amanda Crittenden, David Gonzales, Scott LaStaiti 
Starring Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Quintessa Swindell, Esai Morales 
Cinematography : Alexander Dynan 
Edited by Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. 
Music by Devonté Hynes 
Production companies : HanWay Films, Flickstar, Ottocento Films, Northern Lights, KOJO Studios 
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures (United States), The Joker Films (France) 
Release dates : September 3, 2022 (Venice), May 19, 2023 (United States), July 5, 2023 (France) 
Running time : 111 minutes

Photos and video : Boris Colletier / Mulderville