Arie Elmaleh Movies
- 2007
An elderly couple and their grown-up children must deal with the consequences of advancing age in this comedy-drama from France. Sarah (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) and her husband Francois (Arie Elmaleh) are a happy couple in their early forties who are facing with a dilemma not uncommon to folks their age -- what to do about Sarah's parents. While her mother Genevieve (Bulle Ogier) and father Solomon (Jean-Pierre Marielle) divorced when she was a teenager, they remain friends and see one another on a regular basis, while also staying close to their children. However, Genevieve has grown increasingly eccentric, and she's developed a bad habit of giving all her money to strangers, leaving her unable to pay her faithful servant Mr. Mootoosamy (Bakary Sangare). Holocaust survivor Solomon, meanwhile, is in sound body and mind beyond his fondness for tap dancing along with old movie musicals, but he can't understand why he can no longer get insurance just because he's eighty years old, though a new romance with college professor Violette (Sabine Azema) brightens his mood considerably. Faut Que Ca Danse! (aka Gotta Dance!) also stars Daniel Emilfork, Judith Chemla and Nicholas Maura; jazz great Artie Shepp provided the musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Marielle, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, (more)
In 1645, the French playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin -- better known as Molière -- mysteriously disappeared for several weeks, and this lavish comedy drama imagines a scenario that could explain what may have happened to him. At this time, Molière (Romain Duris) is touring the French countryside with his traveling theater company, and he's yet to be recognized as one of the continent's great authors (or achieve significant financial success). Molière is put in jail after skipping out on some unpaid debts, but is freed after his fine is paid by two strangers. Molière discovers his benefactors are acting on behalf of Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), a very wealthy man who has a beautiful wife, Elmire (Laura Morante) and two lovely daughters. However, Jourdain has fallen head over heels for Celimene (Ludivine Sagnier), a gorgeous widow, and he's written a short play in order to demonstrate his feelings for her. Jourdain needs someone to help him polish his script and serve as an acting coach, and he's recruited Molière for the job. Needing the money, Moliere accepts, but he poses as a man of the cloth, Monsieur Tartuffe, to keep his identity a secret. Molière soon realizes that Jourdain's talent exists only in the rich man's imagination, and that Jourdain already has a rival for Celimene's affections, the charming but duplicitous Dorante (Edouard Baer). Molière was written and directed by Laurent Tirard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, (more)
- 2005
Richard Dembo's third directorial effort, La Maison De Nina, concerns a group of Jewish children living in an orphanage in Paris at the end of WWII. Soon there is an influx of children at the orphanage whose parents did not survive the concentration camps. Eventually those newcomers and the orphans who already lived there are feuding over the importance of their Jewish heritage. The children must deal with their grief in a variety of ways including religion, music, and one poor child by deciding to not talk. Dembo, an Oscar winner in 1984, passed away while the film was in post-production. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnès Jaoui, Sarah Adler, (more)
- 2003
The comedy Chouchou has a cross-dressing gay immigrant as a main character. Chouchou (Gad Elmaleh) arrives illegally in Paris, where he finds a home thanks to a pair of kindly priests. He eventually finds work with a parishioner who allows him to clean her house while dressed in women's clothing. Soon Chouchou is working at night at a local club where he falls for Stainslas (Alain Chabat), who introduces Chouchou to his parents. Chouchou's illegal residency may be the hurdle that the couple cannot clear on their way to happiness. The film was adapted from a one-man play originally written and performed by Elmaleh. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gad Elmaleh, Alain Chabat, (more)
Two lost souls make a pact to lift each other up and provide the support needed to kick their bad habits and take one last shot at living their dreams in this introspective drama starring Fanny Ardant and Rochdy Zem. Nina (Ardent) is an unemployed actress who has just taken a lethal overdose of tranquilizers. Stumbling though the streets of Paris in a deathly haze, Nina collapses into unconsciousness. Fortunately for Nina, lonely Algerian Sami (Zem) happened to jog by at just the right time. But as soon as Sami previously appeared, he vanishes back into the blackness of night, leaving the recovered Nina with no one to thank for saving her life. Determined to let her guardian angel know just how thankful she truly is, Nina discovers that Sami was once a promising long-distance runner whose dreams of Olympic stardom had been dashed, and who now scrapes by as a transvestite prostitute. Realizing that they've both hit rock bottom, Nina and Sami make a pledge to support one another to the point where they can both get clean and pursue their dreams before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Ardant, Roschdy Zem, (more)
