Jean-Pierre Léaud Movies

Jacques Rivette's epic-scale meditation on art, politics and relationships is an eight-part, 740 minute drama that begins as an examination of two Parisian theater companies. Lili (Michele Moretti) is a member of an experimental troupe preparing a radical new interpretation of Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes, while Thomas (Michel Lonsdale) is in charge of a state-funded group who are rehearsing another work by the same ancient Greek playwright, Prometheus Unbound. Drifting in and out of the orbit of these two groups are Sarah (Bernadette Lafont), an author and longtime friend of Thomas; Colin (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a deaf street musician; Frederique (Juliet Berto), a sexy confidence woman, and the bohemian owner of a knick-knack shop who often changes her name (Bulle Ogier), among many others. Colin tries to search out the meaning of a strange note handed to him by a mysterious stranger, while Frederique becomes party to a similar message. As it happens, both learn of the possible existence of a secret society of thirteen powerful individuals who are the true rulers of Paris, but neither is sure if the group exists in history or the present day, and they have very different notions of what to do with this information. Jacques Rivette originally screened Out 1 as a work in progress (titled Out 1: Noli Me Tangere) at a pair of screenings in Paris in the fall of 1971; it was originally conceived as a project for television, but became a theatrical film after it was rejected by French broadcasters. While a four-hour version, Out 1: Spectre, began making the rounds of film festivals in 1974, the film didn't appear in its full twelve-hours-plus version until 1989, when a new cut of Out 1 appeared at the Rotterdam Film Festival. The final cut of Out 1 appeared with English subtitles in London in 2006, and has subsequently been screened in Vancouver, New York City and Chicago. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Henri Langlois was, in many respects, the ultimate film fan. In 1936, at the age of 22, Langlois became (along with Jean Mitry and Georges Franju) one of the founders of the Cinémathèque Française, a theater and museum devoted to preserving the history of the motion picture. Initially a tiny operation financed by private funds, the Cinémathèque, with time, grew into Europe's most important film archive, collecting and preserving prints of rare films from all over the world and protecting many rare gems of the French cinema from destruction during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Langlois' enthusiasm for sharing the treasures of his collection with others helped spawn a film-crazy generation who created the French New Wave of the '50s, and in time, the French government acknowledged the importance of the Cinémathèque's work by financing their endeavors. In 1968, the French minister of culture, André Malraux, responded to Langlois' difficult personality and sloppy bookkeeping by pulling the government's financing of his projects, which led to an international outcry leading to the shutdown of the Cannes Film Festival by activists and film buffs. The Cinémathèque's funding and Langlois' leadership were later restored, and in 1973, his work in film preservation was honored with a special Academy Award. Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque is a documentary which chronicles the life, times, and passions of the legendary archivist and includes interviews with his friends, contemporaries, and colleagues -- including Claude Berri, Claude Chabrol, Jack Valenti, and Daniel Cohn-Bendit. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Former Cahiers du Cinema editor Serge Le Peron writes and directs this screwball crime comedy chock full of ironic film references. The film opens with student radical-turned-magistrate Francois Marcorelle (Jean-Pierre Leaud) stumbling into an art house movie theater mid-film. The rather comely woman next to him first begins to caress Marcorelle's leg, then she drops over dead. Later in the film, Marcorelle and his wife Claudie (Dominique Reymond) and their children are supposed to go on a family vacation. Unfortunately, Marcolle is snowed under by a case and is forced to stay behind. A lonely dining excursion in a Turkish restaurant leads to Marcolle driving a beautiful Polish waitress Agneska (Irene Jacob) back to her apartment. After an enjoyable round of adultery, he is attacked by Agneska's father, and the altercation leads to Marcolle inadvertently braining the old man. Agneska claims that she knows people who can dispose of bodies quietly and asks him to leave. Though no body ever turns up and Marcolle tells no one of his encounter -- save his best friend George (Phillippe Khorsand) -- an ambitious lawyer sets out to make a name for himself by accusing the magistrate. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Michel and Juliette have just broken up over Michel's affair with the much younger Romance. Alice and Nicolas are still together, but maybe this is because Nicolas does not know of Alice's affair with handsome sports photographer Gaspard. This sly sex comedy, the sophomore effort of Belgian filmmaker Lucas Belvaux, follows the covert sexual misadventures of the troubled foursome. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This homage to the cinema by venerated movie-maker Agnes Varda, often dubbed the "grandmother" of the French New Wave, features an all-star international cast. The story is based upon the memories and insights of the 100-year old Mr. Simon Cinema. He lives in a magnificent house filled with movie memorabilia. To help him remember the important details of his career he hires Camille, a film student to write down his remembrances and experiences which have involved all areas of movie-making. Camille comes once a day for 101 days. Film clips, photographs and actual visitors highlight his stories. As he continues to spin his yarns, the imagery in the film smoothly morph into other images. Camille, when not recording, is involved in other exploits including a romance with a production assistant, Mica who aspires to becoming a director. She also begins plotting a way to get to Mr. Cinema's fortune by having a friend pose as his long lost heir. Many other characters are peripherally involved including Death, an Italian seeking the rights to his film catalogue, and a memory specialist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This gentle French comedy, takes an intellectualized look at the nature of a crush as it tells the tale of 20-year-old Claire, a young woman seemingly suffering a terminal case of ennui. She glumly goes through the minimal motions of living until she falls in love with handsome Gregoire, a highly intelligent philosophy student. He gives her an unusual translation of Le Journal d'un seducteur by Kierkegaard. This is no ordinary philosophical tome and anyone who opens it becomes strangely aroused and susceptible to love. Not only is Claire entranced by the book's magic, her psychoanalyst also finds himself ensnared. Meanwhile, mysterious Gregoire seems to hold the key to the mysterious book in his refrigerator, and if he doesn't, then the corpse therein just may. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The makers of this laudatory documentary have caught filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki at work on his film La Vie de Boheme. Aki and his brother Mika have, between them, completely revitalized Finland's native film industry, and their wild, anarchic films have delighted audiences while smashing through old storytelling conventions. They are unusual in being considered as artistically advanced as they are popular with viewing audiences (one of their more successful comedies was Leningrad Cowboys Go America, about a crew of clueless Finnish country-western musicians). Various dignitaries in the modern film world offer their tribute to this exuberant and prolific filmmaker in French or English, and the filmmaker himself offers insights into his views and motivations. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Louise (Judith Godrèche) is living with Clément (Jean-Pierre Léaud), an older man who copes with her bouts of drug addiction and is attempting to give her a hand in getting a television career going. When the man's son Adrien (Thomas Langmann), who is on the run from the police, comes to stay with him, at first Louise and Adrien fight like cats and dogs. Before long, however, their passionate anger settles into plain old passion, and they become lovers. Eventually, Louise moves into a derelict apartment with her new boyfriend. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Originally Femme de Papier, Paperback Woman has also been released in English-speaking countries as Front Woman. Jean-Pierre Leaud stars as a publisher of steamy novels, while Helene Lapiower co-stars as Leaud's lover, a girl of limited talents who nonetheless is one of the publishing company's most prolific authors. Not that she actually ever writes anything: she's simply a "front" for a popular author who prefers to remain anonymous. Inevitably, Helene meets the man who she has pretended to be. Paperback Woman was co-written and directed by Suzanne Schiffman, longtime screenwriter for such New Wave filmmakers as Francois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette and Jean-Luc Godard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide