Jean Amos Movies
- 1985
Parking is director Jacques Demy's homage to Jean Cocteau's 1948 masterwork Orpheus. As in the Cocteau film, Demy relates the Orpheus and Euridyce legend in a contemporary setting. Now a rock 'n' roll sensation (instead of the poet of the Cocteau film) Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice, who in this version is a sculptress rather than a princess. The rest of the film adheres to the familiar story. Euridyce, who is death personified, beckons Orpheus into Hell, ostensibly to revive his dead lover. A shade brighter and more buoyant than its source material, Parking is the usual Jacques Demy brew of beautiful imagery and hokey dialogue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Francis Huster, Laurent Malet, (more)
- 1983
Yves Montand stars in this French seriocomedy as a middle-aged waiter. He has long harbored dreams of becoming a singer, and is also anxious to prove he's as virile as he was when he started pushing plates. Montand gets a chance to rev up his sexual energy and his musical skills when an old flame (Nicole Garcia) reenters his life after 17 years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Nicole Garcia, (more)
The second of director Bernard Tavernier's first three critically acclaimed films, this historical costume drama was the winner of four Cesars. Philippe Noiret stars as Philippe d'Orleans, regent to nine-year-old King Louis XV in 1719, four years after the death of the regent's grandfather, Louis XIV. A hedonist and free thinker who is somewhat limited by his love of sexual excess, his noble stature, and his complete lack of empathy for those on the lower social strata, Philippe serves during a time of rebellious talk and famine, swimming against the tide of social upheaval to maintain the status quo by allying himself with the Abbé Dubois, a foreign minister (the son of a peasant), who claws his way to the post of archbishop because its God-given power and authority isn't contingent on men. Meanwhile, the Marquis de Pontcallec (Jean Pierre Marielle) begins to set forth plans to secede from France and incorporate the Republic of Brittany. The musical score of Que la Fete Commence. . . was composed by the real-life Philippe d'Orleans.
~ Karl Williams, Rovi
~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, (more)
- 1975
Le Juge et L'Assassin probes a curious relationship between condemner and condemnee. Philippe Noiret plays Rousseau, a French judge who holds the fate of convicted child killer Bouvier (Michel Galabru) in his hands. Should Rousseau decide that Bouvier is insane, the killer will not go prison. As they come to know each other better, both are given the rare opportunity of exploring the vagaries of the human mind. The previously unbendable judge alters several long-held opinions concerning criminals, while Bouvier is for the first time in his life able to articulate the thought processes which motivate his actions. It is clear at times that much of the dialogue in Judge and the Assassin stems from Bertrand Tavernier's own lifelong feelings of loneliness and isolation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, (more)
- 1974
Not quite in the same league as the runaway hit The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, this 1974 sequel is still amiable and enjoyable on its own terms. Once more, innocent violinist Pierre Richard (the tall blonde man of the title) is up to his neck in espionage. Enemy spy boss Jean Rochefort, sore at how Richard inadvertently bollixed up his last caper, demands that the hapless musician be killed. In true "Good Soldier Schweik" fashion, Richard manages to avoid annihilation, never dreaming that anyone means him harm. Mireille Darc is back as Richard's "play horsie with me!" girl friend. The Return of the Big Blond has some of the ambience of the 1965 spy spoof That Man from Rio, especially in its colorful Brazilian backdrops. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Mireille Darc, (more)
