Director Mike Figgis offered Novak the role of a terminally ill writer with a mysterious past in his thriller '' Liebestraum '' ( 1991 ) opposite Kevin Anderson and Bill Pullman . Novak loved the script and thought it was going to be an important picture . However , her collaboration with Figgis was tense and the two had conflicts from the beginning . Novak agreed to do the film under the impression she was going to play the whole character , but Figgis felt she was unable to play the flashback role the way he wanted , and hired actress Sarah Fearon for those scenes . The two clashed on the set , as their visions of the script differed and were in many ways diametrically opposed . Although she considered him to be a brilliant director , she felt the story was too personal for him , as it was about his own life , and Novak was playing his mother . She was also unhappy , as she felt he wanted her to act like a puppet . " He wanted what he thought Hitchcock had made over . But Hitchcock did n’t do that . Figgis did n’t know Hitchcock . So he treated me the way he thought Hitchcock must have , tried to manipulate me into doing exactly ... I went crazy . " Novak later said she was hurt and distraught , as " It was such a painful thing for me because it took me right back to Harry Cohn and all that time . And back into saying , Look , for god ’s sake , have n’t you heard it enough ? We do n’t want you to do anything . Just be ' Kim Novak . ' That movie pained me more than any movie in the world could do . " Novak later told '' Movieline '' in 2005 she felt she had been " unprofessional " not to obey her director . " I know he thinks I 'm a total bitch . That role was fabulous , full of depth . When I interpreted it the way I thought was evident in the incredible script , he said , ' We 're not making a Kim Novak movie , just say the lines . If you continue to play the role this way , I 'm going to cut you out of the movie , ' and he pretty much did that . " Novak was supposed to do a comedy with the French director Claude Berri , also starring Peter Falk , and a remake of '' Bell , Book and Candle '' with Sharon Stone . Neither film was made , and following the difficult experience with '' Liebestraum , '' she has usually cited that experience as the reason for her decision to retire from the film industry . In 2004 , she told the Associated Press : I got so burned out on that picture that I wanted to leave the business , but then if you wait long enough you think , " Oh , I miss certain things . " The making of a movie is wonderful . What 's difficult is afterward when you have to go around and try to sell it . The actual filming , when you have a good script — which is n't often — nothing beats it . After her retirement from acting , Novak has made only rare public appearances and turned down most offers she received . In 1996 , '' Vertigo '' was given a restoration by Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz and re-released to theaters . Novak loved their work so much , she agreed to make appearances at screenings of the film , something she originally refused when Universal asked her in 1984 . She also took part in '' Obsessed with Vertigo , '' a documentary retracing the making and restoration of the film . In 1997 , Novak received an Honorary Golden Bear Award for lifetime achievement at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival
47th Berlin International Film Festival
47th Berlin International Film Festival
Kim Novak