Thibault de Montalembert Movies

A man who traded in his artistic ambitions for commercial success now finds himself at a personal and professional impasse in this drama. Jacques (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is a filmmaker who in the 1970s directed a number of top-grossing porno movies; more than two decades later, Jacques's struggles to get out of adult movies into something more satisfying have not borne fruit, and his efforts to make porn films that are more sensual and less obvious don't go over well with his producers. Jacques would just as soon get out of the business and complete a more personal project he was forced to abandon in the mid-'80s, but directing porn is the only work he can find that pays enough to put a dent in the debts he's racked up, as well as those of his wife Jeanne (Dominique Blanc). As Jacques tries to decide what to do with his career, he gets a surprise telephone call from his son Joseph (Jeremie Renier); Joseph turned his back on his father years ago when he found out what he did for a living, but the boy, now a college student and a political activist, has decided it's time to reconnect with his dad. Le Pornographe features Jean-Pierre Leaud's character directing two real-life French porn stars, Ovidie and Titof, in an explicit sex scene for one of Jacques' films. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Lovers is a love story which focuses on the difficulties of opening up to another person. Dragan (Sergej Trifunovic), a young painter from the former Yugoslavia, walks into a bookshop, and Jeanne, the woman behind the counter (Elodie Bouchez), decides to fall in love with him. The rest of the film is about the identity of Dragan and the Jeanne's worries about the relationship. Director Jean-Marc Barr, known as an actor from such films as The Big Blue, got initiated into the Dogma 95 film movement while acting in Lars von Trier's Europa. Lovers is the fifth film to carry the seal of Von Trier's Dogma manifesto, which mandates that films be made in a naturalistic manner, with hand-held camera, natural light, and no background music, among other restrictions; and it was the first one which was not made in Denmark. Despite its strict adherence to the Dogma rules, it is a Paris story reminiscent of the French New Wave. Lovers was screened at the 1999 Munich Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

This romantic comedy from France explores the misadventures of several friends looking for love and trying to define beauty. Daphne (Arielle Dombasle) is a lovely women who is nonetheless unsure about her looks, compounded by the fact that she's fallen in love with Vincent (Thibault de Montalembert), who has a policy of only dating models. Daphne's best friend Celine (Maria de Medeiros) comes up with an idea -- she'll get her pal Jacques (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey) to paint a nude portrait of Daphne. When Vincent sees the painting, he'll be more attracted to the woman who posed for it, leading him to her doorstep. But of course, it isn't quite that simple. Les Infortunes de la Beaute is dominated by Gilles Porte's largely hand-held camerawork, ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Though unemployed, Pierre is buoyant, outgoing, affable, and experienced with women. This last is a point he never fails to drive home to Benoit, his gentle, hapless best friend. In an effort to compensate for his romantic failures, Benoit turns to the newspaper personals ads, and meets Marie. Even though his courtship of her is uninspiring, Marie agrees to marry Benoit. Naturally, Pierre meets Marie often. As he gets to know her, he discovers that he is recklessly in love with her, and he arranges his life around seeing her and being near her. He is so overtaken with feeling that he even corners total strangers in order to speak of his love. Benoit -completely unaware of this- suggests that he keep Marie company while he is at work. When everything comes out into the open, the friendship of the two men governs the outcome. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Best known for their historical epics that examine class and social issues in British life through a thick lens of tasteful production design and good manners, director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant set their sights on an American protagonist for a change with Jefferson in Paris. As the title suggests, Jefferson in Paris deals with the five years that Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) spent as U.S. ambassador to France prior to the French Revolution; while Jefferson is sympathetic to the revolutionary forces in France, he's become well enough acquainted with the ruling aristocracy that he finds himself torn between the two sides of the issue. Jefferson, a recent widower, also becomes friends with Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), who is married to a foppish British artist; while it's obvious the two are in love, neither is in a position to do anything about their infatuation. And while Jefferson's daughter Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow) loves her father, she's very upset with him when he sends her to a convent school. In this midst of this personal turmoil, Jefferson's younger daughter Polly (Estelle Eonnet) arrives in Paris, with her slave Sally Hemmings (Thandie Newton) in tow. Attractive and bright (if uneducated), Sally catches Jefferson's eye, and a friendship develops that grows into something deeper; in time, Sally becomes pregnant, and her family claims that Jefferson is the father. At the time Jefferson In Paris was released, the question of Sally Hemmings' relationship with Thomas Jefferson was a matter of lively historical debate; since then, genetic evidence has shown that, while Jefferson's paternity can't be proved beyond a doubt, it is likely that he did father children with Hemmings. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Kissing seems to be a popular activity in this Swiss epic costume drama based on an 1880 novel. The story begins in Munich with lots of people vigorously kissing in the midst of a bacchanalia carnival. Two men, Lys and Henry are even going at it. Henry, a sensitive artist, is wearing a green suit which symbolizes his jealousy and immaturity. He, angry at Lys for cheating on his fiancee, challenges Lys to a duel upon the morrow. What Henry is really angry at is his own failure to marry his true love. The movie jumps back to Switzerland during Henry's childhood soon after he lost his father. He wants his mother's love, but she remains strict and aloof. At school Henry is picked on and it is only when he finds the theater that he meets the beautiful actress Judith. He becomes enamored and forgets all about his love affair with cousin Anna. Time passes quickly and an older Henry returns home to find dear Anna. His attentions are again diverted when the ageless Judith again appears. He does not realize that beloved but unappreciated Anna is soon to die of tuberculosis. Tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Regis Wargnier's epic about French Indochina -- from the years of French colonial imperialism to the days when American presence made itself felt and the country became known as Vietnam -- is a story of romance and separation told through the backdrop of a country in turmoil. The film centers on the relationship of the beautiful and imperious Eliane (Catherine Deneuve), a French rubber-plantation owner, and Camille (Linh Dan Pham), her adopted Indochinese daughter. The mother and daughter are very close until a diffident naval officer, Jean-Baptiste (Vincent Perez) enters their lives. Eliane is in love with him, but Jean-Baptiste and Camille become attracted to each other and fall in love. Thinking that she is doing Camille a favor, Eliane arranges to have Jean-Baptiste transferred to the far-away Tonkin Islands. But Camille flees the plantation to go to the man she loves. As she travels the country, she gains a greater knowledge and respect for the people of her homeland. When the government tears her from Jean-Baptiste and their infant child and arrests her for crimes against the state, she becomes politicized and becomes a supporter of the communists in the country's civil war. As the country rocks in turmoil, Eliane becomes a personification of France, coolly walking amid her peasant workers, neither bowed nor afraid, grimly looking westward. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Noted stage director Patrice Chereau adds his stylistic flair to this drama loosely taken from a story by Anton Chekhov. A French family is shown as they go through the daily routines of life. Arguing, feasting, crying, and yearning for love are just some of the human emotions encountered. The mood wavers between excessive noise to silence while those not participating in the conversations listen in. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi