Ticky Holgado Movies

Audrey Tautou, who rose to international stardom with the title role in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's worldwide smash Amélie, reunites with the director for this drama, set during the darkest days of World War I and its immediate aftermath. Mathilde (Tautou) is a pretty but frail young women who was left with a bad leg after a childhood bout with polio. Mathilde lives in a small French village with her Aunt Bénédicte (Chantal Neuwirth) and Uncle Sylvain (Dominique Pinon), and is engaged to marry Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), the son of a lighthouse keeper who is fighting with the army near the German front. Manech is one of five soldiers who have been accused of injuring themselves in order to be sent home; in order to discourage similar behavior among their comrades, Manech and the other soldiers are sentenced to death, and the condemned men are marched into the no man's land between the French and German lines, where they are certain to be killed. Mathilde receives word of Manech's death, but in her heart she believes that if the man she loved had been killed, she would know it and feel it. Convinced he's still alive somewhere, Mathilde hires a private detective (Ticky Holgado) shortly after the end of the war, and together they set out to find the missing Manech. Jodie Foster appears in a supporting role as a Polish expatriate living in France. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Her mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta) died in a freak accident when Amelie was eight, and her father Raphael (Rufus) had limited contact with her, since his presence seemed to throw her heart into high gear. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. When Princess Diana dies in a car wreck in the summer of 1997, Amelie is reminded that life can be fleeting and she decides it's time for her to intervene in the lives of those around her, hoping to bring a bit of happiness to her neighbors and the regulars at the cafe. Amelie starts by bringing together two lonely people -- Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), a tobacconist with a severe case of hypochondria, and Joseph (Dominique Pinon), an especially ill-tempered customer. When Amelie finds a box of old toys in her apartment, she returns them to their former owner, Mr. Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou), sending him on a reverie of childhood. Amelie befriends Dufayel (Serge Merlin), an elderly artist living nearby whose bones are so brittle, thanks to a rare disease, that everything in his flat must be padded for his protection. And Amelie decides someone has to step into the life of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a lonely adult video store clerk and part-time carnival spook-show ghost who collects pictures left behind at photo booths around Paris. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain received unusually enthusiastic advance reviews prior to its French premiere in the spring of 2001, and was well received at a special free screening at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A post-apocalyptic future becomes the setting for pitch black humor in this visually intricate French comedy. The action takes place within a single apartment complex, which is owned by the same man that operates the downstairs butcher shop. It's a particularly popular place to live, thanks to the butcher's uncanny ability to find excellent cuts of meat despite the horrible living conditions outside. The newest building superintendent, a former circus clown, thinks he has found an ideal living situation. All that changes, however, when he discovers the true source of the butcher's meat, and that he may be the next main course. This dark tale is played out in a brilliantly designed, glorious surreal alternate world reminiscent of the works of director Terry Gilliam, who co-presented the film's American release. Like Gilliam, co-directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro hail from an animation background, and have a fondness for extravagant visuals, absurdist plot twists, and a sense of humor that combines sharp satire with broad slapstick and gross-out imagery. This mixture may displease the weak of stomach, but those attuned to the film's sensibility will be delighted by the obvious technical virtuosity and wicked sense of humor. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

In this French comedy, a man discovers that he has something unexpected in common with his wife -- they're both involved with another woman. Loli (Victoria Abril) is a woman of Spanish blood married to a French businessman, Laurent (Alain Chabat). Loli is not especially happy as a housewife, though she'd likely be even less happy if she knew that her husband is chronically unfaithful and has had a string of mistresses. Laurent, on the other hand, is convinced that his wife isn't the type who would never have an affair, and what she doesn't know won't hurt her. One day, a truck breaks down in front of Loli's home, and Marijo (Josiane Balasko) asks to use their phone. Marijo is a gruff-looking lesbian who works as a plumber; as it happens, Loli has a stopped-up sink, so in exchange for using the phone, Marijo gets Loli's drain back in working order. Soon Loli and Marijo are getting to know each other a bit better, and Loli discovers that she's powerfully attracted to her new visitor. Marijo becomes Loli's bedmate and a permanent guest at the house, which is more than a bit perplexing to Laurent, but after he accidentally reveals his infidelities to Loli, he's not in much of a position to pass judgement. Josiane Balasko, who plays Marijo, is also the film's director and co-screenwriter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A feather-light and funny musing on the nature of love, fate and starting over, Claude Lelouch's comedy begins with the meeting of Fabio Lini, an actor turned undercover Paris cop and the notorious lawyer-cum-businessman Benoit Blanc . Both have come to the same clinic to have their ulcers checked, and as they chit-chat, they realize that they have much in common. Relations with women have played big parts in their ulcers. Both freely acknowledge that male/female relations are always problematic, and yet, despite the hindrances the unions present, neither Claude nor Benoit is able to live without them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Though this is billed as a combination drama and comedy, but the storyline gives no clue as to the humorous elements of this Algerian picture. In the story, a brother and his sister are orphaned when their father accepts a challenge to fight a trained bear and is killed by it. Two decades later, the Algerian war of independence is underway. The siblings have had an incestuous relationship, but the sister falls in love with a French officer in charge of their village, and the brother leaves for parts unknown. After the war is over, the brother returns to his village, only to discover that his sister did in childbirth. He has brought back a Russian wife, and for some reason the villagers elect him to be their mayor. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A genteel teacher finds himself out of his element when his request to be assigned to a Parisian school lands him in an impoverished, multi-cultural ghetto suburb outside of Paris. There Laurent Monier (Gerard Depardieu) finds himself forced to live in a project apartment and teach classes full of underprivileged, tough and troubled youth. His former spouse is also a teacher, but she got a plumb job in an upscale part of Paris while Laurent -- who moved to Paris to be near her -- struggles to keep his car intact and to stay alive on the dangerous streets. Still, he does his best in the schoolroom and eventually earns the respect of his students. Trouble brews however, when school gossip gets out of hand and threatens to destroy his career. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The son of actor Bernard Blier, director Bertrand Blier is known throughout France for his documentaries and dark depictions of sex and its impact on society. Though his influences and personal opinions clearly shine through, Les Acteurs is a satirical take on the ups, downs, and numerous implications of life in showbiz as told by a variety of real-life French actors. Among the featured cast are André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jacques Villeret, Claude Rich, and Pierre Arditi, all of whom play themselves. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

This French WW II action-adventure is based on a fascinating footnote in history. Set just after the Franco-German armistice was signed in June 1940, it chronicles the courage of a compassionate French officer who defied his superiors and, acting alone, redirected a train full of German refugees to a neutral country thereby saving them from execution. Some of these refugees represented Germany and Austria's intellectual and artistic elite and included a Nobel-prize winner, the scientist who invented cortisone, and artist Max Ernst. The French officer was Charles Perrochon, a WWI veteran and military reservist who despite the fact that he had only one lung was suddenly called back to helm Les Milles, one of the camps where the refugees are to be interred. Among those distinguished prisoners is a famous soccer player and this thrills Perrochon, a pragmatic fellow not easily impressed by mere intellectuals. Visiting the camp is a female reporter for the Boston Globe, Mary Jane Cooper. At this point the armistice has not been signed. According to the treaty, these prisoners are to be returned to the Nazis. Knowing the fate that awaits them at home, the refugees send Perrochon a petition imploring him to allow them to save themselves. Perrochon tries to assure them that the French will not allow them to be killed, but deep down he knows the truth. Sure enough, as soon as the treaty is signed, Perrochon learns that his superiors care nothing for the refugees and are only too happy to send them back home to certain death. The refugees are placed upon a train. They do not want to go because they don't realize that Perrochon has taken over a train and paid the crew to take the prisoners safely to Casablanca. It is a dangerous 72-hour trip and the suspense lies in whether or not they reach their destination. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Manon of the Spring (Manon des Sources) has also been released as Jean de Florette II in the US, as it is a sequel to Claude Berri's Jean de Florette. Both films are drawn from the same source: Filmmaker/novelist Marcel Pagnol's 1952 rural romance, also titled Jean de Florette. Manon (Emmanuelle Beart), now fully grown, is a shepherdess who prefers to keep her distance from the local villagers. She is determined to uncover the truth behind the death of her father (played by Gerard Depardieu in Jean de Florette) and to wreak vengeance on the men she holds responsible. The more sympathetic of the two men, Ugolin (Daniel Auteil), is in love with Manon, but this does not weaken her resolve. She causes the village's water supply to diminish, blaming this action upon Ugolin and his duplicitous co-conspirator Cesar (Yves Montand). The upshot of this vengeful behavior ends in tragedy for all concerned. The joint winners of eight French Cesar awards, Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring were released to the U.S. in tandem in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi