Martine Kelly Movies
In order to solve a family mystery, John, a stonemason from Zimbabwe, travels to Berlin to search for 1928 footage of a tightrope walker at Niagara Falls. While there, he becomes romantically obsessed with Miriam, a French rock musician in an all-girl band. Unfortunately, Miriam is totally in love with her boyfriend Pierre, a talented scientist. Running parallel to the main plot is that of Jacob, a Jewish tailor who in the film's early scenes is caught shoplifting, an act that will have troubling ramifications for John, who gets caught in the middle of Jacob's attempt to flee the crime scene. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Heike Makatsch, Charles Berling, (more)
Independent filmmaker Sally Potter's gender-bending epic, which views four centuries of sexual politics through the eyes of a sex-switching main character, is based on the 1928 novel by Virginia Woolf. The androgynous title character is played with delicate quietude by Tilda Swinton. The story begins during the reign of the aging Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp, in a droll turn recalling his The Naked Civil Servant). Queen Elizabeth takes a shine to the attractive young Orlando and seeks out his sexual favors. In return, Elizabeth grants him a large estate, commanding him, "Do not fade, do not wither, do not grow old." Orlando takes the queen at her word and doesn't. When Elizabeth dies, Orlando becomes attracted to Sasha (Charlotte Valandrey), the daughter of a Russian diplomat, but she rebuffs his advances. Crushed, Orlando accepts an ambassadorship to Constantinople. After witnessing the killing of a man in battle, Orlando undergoes a change of sex, becoming a woman and returning to England, where she hobnobs with 18th-century geniuses like Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and John Addison. Walking through a garden labyrinth, the time frame shifts to the 19th century, and Orlando falls in love with a handsome American (Billy Zane). Now in the 20th century, Orlando gives birth to his child and continues on. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, (more)
- 1988
Elise (Arielle Dombasle) is content being the lover of Alex (Omar Sharif), a wealthy magnate who lavishes her with attention and money. When she gets religious and decides to hide from him in a French convent, Alex hires agents to bring her back. He offers money to the corrupt cult leader Noah (Pierre Vaneck), who then orders his young follower Marc (Hippolyte Girardot) and Elise to head a delegation traveling to Mexico. Marc turns out to be a journalist doing secret research on cults, but he quickly falls in love with Elise. She must chose between Alex and Marc in this uneven distaff melodrama. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Arielle Dombasle, (more)
With Life is a Bed of Roses, filmmaker Alain Resnais wanted to create a lighthearted tribute to three important French directors, each of whom defined a particular era in his country's cinema Melies (the first French filmmaker to use narrative--his most famous film is A Trip to the Moon), the impressionist L'Herbier (most famous for his inspirational avant garde work during the '20s) and Rohmer (most famed for his sextet of "Moral Tales" during the '60s). To present his chronicle of the human quest for a utopia of personal happiness and fulfillment, Resnais created two distinct narratives representing the past and present, and then interspliced them with a third more fantastical tale to provide contrast. Representing the past, the first tale centers on a monied eccentric who creates a "temple of happiness' in his chateau. There, guests are given a special potion, laid inside enormous cribs and surrounded by pleasant sensations to help them return to the blissful state of infancy. The second story takes place in the same chateau where a symposium on the techniques and philosophies of the eccentric are hotly debated and elaborated upon. Weaving its way between the two tales is the third, which represents the medieval fantasies of children in a forest who imagine the struggle between a wicked king and a brave good-hearted warrior. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Ruggero Raimondi, (more)
- 1975
- NC17
Based on the best-selling novel by Dominique Aury (who wrote it under the pen name "Pauline Reage"), this erotic tale of sexual dominance and submission was directed by Just Jaeckin, who was following his success as the creator of another softcore erotic film, Emmanuelle (1974). French fashion photographer O (Corinne Clery) is spirited away by her boyfriend Rene (Udo Kier) to a retreat where she is imprisoned by a jailer, Pierre (Jean Gaven), whose job is to beat her when she is disobedient. O is outfitted in garb that makes her sexually available to a variety of anonymous partners, the entire episode designed to prove Rene's love for and possession of O. Pierre's task is to break her spirit and make her submissive, but he does not entirely succeed. Returned to Paris, O resumes her life with Rene, their relationship strengthened by the experience. Rene jeopardizes their future, however, by attempting to "give" O to his stepbrother, Sir Stephen (Anthony Steel), who begins to fall in love with his new prize. After the early 1980s explosion in the video rental market, the film was followed by a sequel, Histoire d'O: Chapitre 2 (1984). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Corinne Clery, Udo Kier, (more)
- 1974
In this Belgian film (in French), when Ann comes to visit the man she made love to in Scotland, she discovers to her surprise that he is a homosexual. For some reason, she does not run back to her home but spends some time getting to know her "new" friend. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1974
- PG
Set in the City of Light, this crime melodrama chronicles the attempts of a US drug agent to stop a major drug-lord. Though the agent realizes his three predecessors have been assassinated, and that the French government doesn't necessarily approve of the Yank's harassment of a French citizen, he is determined to succeed. Then a Parisian cop quietly suggests that Anthony Quinn himself hire an assassin to kill the drug lord. He thinks about it long and hard, before agreeing to it. Later he is shocked to learn that the assassin is an old war buddy. The hit man then works overtime to cozy up to the criminal and earn his trust. While he is doing that, the agent learns that events have changed and he must capture the drug lord alive. Unfortunately, he must first find a way to call off the professional killer before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Michael Caine, (more)
- 1972
This madcap film follows the exploits of the popular French jazz and rock group "Les Charlots," as they move with style and charm from one amusing situation after another, somewhat after the manner of the Beatles in Hard Day's Night. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Les Charlots, Paul Preboist, (more)
- 1970
- R
Dany (Samantha Eggar) is the ad agency secretary to Caldwell (Oliver Reed) in this psychological crime drama. She is asked to drive him to the airport and park the car in the lot after working at his home the night before. Getting in the wrong lane, she decides to use the car for a weekend getaway and return in time to collect Caldwell upon his return. Soon she is recognized in places she has never been before. She picks up a hippie (John McEnery) and makes love to him only to find he has stolen the car in the morning. Dany finds the car and the hippie, but there is now a dead body in the back seat. She finds where the dead man lived and takes the body to the house. Dany finds erotic nude photos of herself in the strange man's apartment even though the two had never met. She begins to suspect that her boss and his sluttish wife Anita (Stephane Audran) are setting her up to take the fall for the man's murder. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Samantha Eggar, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1969
This comedy finds a family turned upside down by a new addition to the house. Hubert (Louis De Funes) and his wife (Claude-Gensac) are shocked to discover her grandfather has been found frozen in a block of ice at the South Pole. Scientists revive the man, who still appears to be 25 years old. Hubert is reluctant to take in the man until he learns he is extremely wealthy. Doctors keep the news of the man's fortune from him and swear Hubert to secrecy so the man won't suddenly die from the shock. Hubert is full of familial affection for his wife's grandfather, who is mistaken for Hubert's son. The grandfather ends up marrying the fiancee of Hubert's son. Although the premise for this story is amusing, it was used in the American television program "The Second Hundred Years" in 1967 and should hardly be considered original. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Claude Gensac, (more)
