Patrick Quinet Movies

A woman finds herself trapped in the midst of a brutal civil war with no way out in this drama inspired by actual events. Tensions between Tutsis and Hutus, the two principal ethnic groups in Rwanda, had been simmering for years when they finally exploded in the spring of 1994; the nation's president, Juvenal Habyarimana, was a Hutu who died after his plane was attacked with rockets during a landing, and when word spread that a group of radical Tutsis were responsible, Hutus went on a rampage, as 800,000 Rwandans (mostly Tutsis) were massacred within four months. Jacqueline (Ruth Nirere) was a young Tutsi woman who worked for a family of Belgian émigrés in Kigali. She was in their home when the fighting first broke out, and as roving bands of Hutus made their way into the neighborhood, the family fled and Jacqueline was forced to take shelter in the attic. As waves of bloody violence swept through Kigali and the rest of Rwanda, Jacqueline was trapped in the attic as she watched civilization break down into madness when she dared to look out the window for the next 100 days. Le Jour Ou Dieu Est Parti En Voyage (aka The Day God Walked Away) was the first feature film from director Philippe van Leeuw. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A bored girl from a bourgeois background decides to spice up her life by giving her love to the man she believes needs it most in this expressive relationship drama from director Jacques Dillon. Camille has decided to intensify her life by committing herself to Costa - a nondescript drifter who sleeps in a bunker and seems incapable of giving love. One day, as Camille and Costa wander the streets of the city, a policeman becomes smitten with the girl and begins to follow them from afar. As the relationship between Camille and Costa gradually opens up to include the curious policeman, the interactions between the three gradually begin to drift into uncharted territory. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

OSS 117: Cairo -- Nest of Spies constitutes the eighth installment in a long-running series of movies about OSS 117 (the government code name for Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath) -- a French super-spy and European equivalent of James Bond. The creation of author Jean Bruce, OSS eventually starred in over 265 novels and seven cinematizations through 1970. The first seven film outings were sober and straight-faced; the eighth go-round (the first after a 38-year lapse) does a 180 to shamelessly poke fun of the rules established by the genre. A glib yet intelligent spoof, it joins the ranks of Our Man Flint (1965), Aghaye Hallou (1970), Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street (1984), and other international pictures that glibly satirize the subgenre made infamous to Americans by Bond; like Mad Mission 3, it even packs in an OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin) with a startling resemblance to Sean Connery. The film's comic conceit involves making OSS 117 arrogant, conceited, culturally insensitive, chauvinistic, and thoroughly moronic (he pretends that various cultural institutions and religious practices, for instance, are nonexistent if he is unfamiliar with them); yet the character somehow manages to slide through outrageously dangerous situations unscathed, time and again. The teaser prologue finds OSS 117 in Berlin, where he outwits the Nazis by stealing vital documents from them, hijacks an Axis plane in mid-nosedive, and saves himself and the craft at the last yawning moment. Ten years later, he journeys from Rome to Cairo, where he investigates the death of a fellow agent, posing as the proprietor of a chicken farm. His "side" activities during this jaunt involve hammering out a peace arrangement for the Middle East, keeping tabs on the Suez Canal, and monitoring the Russians. Jean-François Halin scripted the film, maintaining an utterly deadpan tone throughout; Michel Hazanavicius directed. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A man is torn between his disgust for the decadence of the idle rich and his desire to get what he can from them in this drama, a Franco-Belgian co-production. Mimmo (Francois Vincentelli) is a cab driver who one night picks up a young woman who has staggered out of a party at a posh estate. The girl is far gone on drugs and drink, and looks as if she's been worked over; after a few minutes, she's dead. Mimmo returns to the house to inform the owner about what happened, but John Deveau (Jean-Paul Rouve) can't be bothered with bad news, while his pal David Dermont de Villard (Bouli Lanners) believes there's nothing to be done. Trying to find someone who can help, Mimmo crosses paths with Laetitia Cornet d'Anthes (Audrey Marnay), John's wife, who is quite impressed with the cabbie's rugged good looks. Laetitia is convinced Mimmo has the face and the charisma to become a movie star, and despite his qualms about her seemingly heartless husband, he's intrigued by the possibility of becoming an actor. After John and his compatriots are found to be blameless in the girl's death -- in part due to influence exerted by John's father (Jean-Pierre Cassel) -- Mimmo is invited into their social circle, where he becomes their pet proletarian and he hopes to get a break in show business. Meanwhile, as Mimmo's story plays out, a young man from Belgium who is obsessed with Japanese culture makes a pilgrimage to Tokyo, with a phony samurai sword at his side. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Part romantic comedy and part black comedy, director Yann Samuell's 2003 feature film debut Jeux d'Enfants (Love Me if You Dare) follows the exploits of two young would-be lovers as they go from childhood to adulthood with themselves as the greatest hurdle to their own happiness. Julien and Sophie first meet at the age of eight when both are undergoing great trauma: Julien is watching his mother die and Sophie has become the focus of intense hazing at the hands of some fellow schoolmates. On one fateful day, Julien decides to stick up for Sophie and pulls a practical joke on her tormentors. Henceforth, the two embark on a close friendship that revolves around daring each other to pull increasingly audacious practical jokes, rather than on the seemingly obvious intimate relationship they seem dangerously close to discovering at any moment. Jeux d'Enfants was selected for inclusion into the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival as well as that same year's Telluride International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

A woman and her new lover find themselves playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an obsessive lunatic in this impressionistic thriller. Juliette (Elina Lowensohn) is struck by a car after running onto a busy road one night; she's picked up and taken to the hospital by Gaspard (Jean-Henri Compere), an ambulance driver who discovers that Juliette was trying to escape Guido (Pascal Greggory), a relentlessly determined would-be suitor who has been stalking her. At the hospital, Juliette goes into a panic, convinced Guido will come after her; her suspicions prove correct, and when Juliette is told she's well enough to return home, Gaspard offers to give her a ride back, partly out of concern for her safety and partly because he's become infatuated with her. While driving Juliette home, Gaspard discovers Guido is following them; after losing the stalker, Gaspard takes her to a hideaway in the country, though Guido's obsession is too strong to prevent him from picking up their trail. Pourquoi Se Marier Le Jour De La Fin Du Monde received its North American premiere at the 2001 Cinequest San Jose Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two people discover that it's not as simple as they thought to have a purely sexual relationship. A man and woman in their early 40s (Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez), are introduced to each other through a personal ad and agree to meet once a week for a sexual liaison. The meetings are meant to be exciting but impersonal; they agree that they won't exchange names or ask questions about their lives outside this relationship. They also don't engage in convention, though we're never told (or shown) just what the couple is sharing instead. However, as the weeks go by, a bond grows between them, and after several weeks he proposes that they have dinner together before retiring to their hotel room; a few months down the road, she suggests that they should try making love in the traditional manner for the first time. These events bring them closer together, but they also change the tenor of their relationship; this change is symbolized most clearly when a man collapses in the hallway outside their motel room and together they take him to a hospital. Une Liaison Pornographique was screened at the 1999 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A businessman's day starts out badly and turns into a surrealistic nightmare. Forman is trapped in a traffic jam in the pouring rain when he realizes that he has forgotten to buy a gift for his 10th anniversary. Something goes wrong with his car and he ends up taking shelter in the entrance of a ritzy, art-deco style mall. Just then, a man who closely resembles him bursts out of the door and is killed by a passing car. A little girl appears and lures Forman into the mall. He soon finds himself a prisoner in an increasingly strange place populated by sinister and frightening people. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide