Claude Miller Movies

Informed that his elderly father has mysteriously disappeared, anxious Parisian François (Mathieu Amalric) recalls his tragic family history in director Claude Miller's adaptation of the fact-based novel by author Philippe Grimbert. As a sickly young child, François (Valentin Vigourt) instinctively knew that he was a disappointment to his champion swimmer mother, Tania (Cécile De France), and gymnast father, Maxime (Patrick Bruel). While François does find some amount of solace in his friendship with kindly masseuse Louise (Julie Depardieu), his discovery of a strange toy in the attic causes his parents to act more strangely toward him than ever before. Feeling sympathetic toward the young boy, Louise eventually reveals to François that he once had a half brother, and that his parents weren't drawn together by fairy-tale romance but through violence and strife. Back before the war, Maxime became engaged to the beautiful Hannah (Ludivine Sagnier). While Hannah's parent's were keenly aware of the ominous implications of Hitler's rise to power, Maxime worried little since he always considered himself French first and foremost. At the wedding, however, Maxime finds his gaze frequently wandering from his fetching bride to athletic beauty Tania. Later, after the happily married bride gives birth to a handsome young boy named Simon (Orlando Nicoletti), the Nazis invade and the once-happy family is torn violently asunder. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Anton Chekhov's The Seagull receives an updated adaptation in this drama from veteran French filmmaker Claude Miller. Mado (Nicole Garcia) is a successful actress who is spending the summer at her country estate with her boyfriend, Brice (Bernard Giraudeau), a noted filmmaker who directed her latest picture. Also staying with Mado is her son, Julien (Robinson Stévenin), a budding experimental filmmaker with a combustible personality who is infatuated with Lili (Ludivine Sagnier), a beautiful young woman whose family lives nearby. Lili is attentive but cool around Julien, who doesn't pay much heed to the attentions of Jeanne-Marie (Julie Depardieu), the daughter of Mado's caretaker (Marc Betton) who has long held a torch for him. When Julien screens his latest film for Mado and her guests, it leads to a bitter argument between the two as her criticism of her son's work devolves into a series of personal attacks on one another. As Julien threatens to sever ties with his mother, Lili courts the attentions of Brice, while Jeanne-Marie defends Julien's work with little reaction from him. La Petite Lili received its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Claude Miller directs this surreal comedy about a woman's nightmarish trip to the hospital. Beset by troubles with her family, her married lover, and her studies, anthropology grad student Claire (Anne Brochet) suffers from fainting spells and migraines. After a couple of unnervingly bizarre consultations with Dr. Fish (Yves Jacques), she is sent to a neurological hospital to recuperate. There she shares a room with Odette (Mathilde Seigner), who was recently paralyzed, and with elderly Eleonore (Annie Noel), who is harmless, though simply stark raving mad. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This French documentary is comprised of almost 300 clips from the past 100 years of cinema Francaise. The images within the documentary are free flowing and not in chronological order; they are also not hindered with unnecessary narration or lengthy introductions. The film represents the collaborative efforts of a collective of the country's finest filmmakers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The unbearable vanity of the human male facing death is one of the subtler themes of this French drama which tells the story of a dying man who finally finds and desires to conquer the perfect sex object. Poor Le Clainche is about ready to keel over from a heart attack. He's already had one and knows the second will be fatal. He is in his sixties, and though tired really wants to have sex with a beautiful woman one more time (for old time's sake). Odile, a tennis pro, is the sex object possessing a natural beauty that drives men crazy. She is a daring young thing. She first appears at a carnival where she has just finished a breathless roller coaster ride. She becomes intrigued by a striptease tent and is tempted to join them after the barker tries to coerce her. When La Clainche sees Odile in a railroad compartment she instantly becomes the object of his desire and he stands firm in his commitment to have her. His come-on is not subtle and she, the perfect woman, actually considers it. A strange relationship begins. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

From time to time a deceased novelist or artist is sufficiently revered that, as a form of homage, his disciples will take one of his unfinished projects and attempt to bring it to completion. The screenplay for La Petite voleuse was written by Claude Miller, Luc Beraud and Anne Miller based on a scenario co-authored by the late French cinema great Francois Truffaut. It brings a respectful, unsentimental, and unflinching eye to bear on the life of Janine Castang (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a 16-year-old girl beset with antisocial drives due in part to an unpleasant home life. After the Second World War, her mother was made an outcast for consorting with the Germans, and she entrusted Janine to the doubtful care of her milquetoast brother and his highly unsympathetic wife. Janine has a vivid fantasy life, and a problem with kleptomania. After she's caught stealing she's forced to go to work as a maid rather than continue in school. Soon afterward, her romantic nature flowers in a number of new relationships which place new obstacles before her. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this suspense thriller inspired by the novel Eye of the Beholder by Marc Behm, Catherine (Isabelle Adjani), a serial killer, seduces men and then murders them just before moving on to the next victim. She spreads her mayhem through various countries in Europe, only slightly ahead of the mentally anguished detective (Michel Serrault) who tracks her -- he fantasizes she is his long-lost daughter and disposes of her trail of corpses to foil the police. Catherine pauses for a real love affair with a blind architect (Sami Frey) but the detective is overcome by jealousy and causes the man's death. This drives Catherine into despair -- and a return to her psychotic killing. As the police dragnet closes in, both Catherine and the detective are brought closer to a final confrontation with their internal demons. The version released in the U.S. runs only 96 min. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The pain of writer's block is examined in this drama that centers around the daily anxieties of a frustrated writer who can't. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

French filmmaker Claude Miller's This Sweet Sickness is based on a suspense novel by Patricia Highsmith, of Strangers on a Train fame. In the original, the murder-protagonist was a psychotic, pure and simple (if such words are appropriate here!) In Miller's version, the "hero," David, is a pathetic creature, motivated by humiliation and sexual inadequacy; thus the emphasis is not on his heinous crimes but on his warped personality. The director's noirish decision to stage much of the action in the dark, or the rain, or both, is a function of David's deep depression. As in his other films, Miller uses water as an omen of evil; you've seldom seen a more foreboding swimming pool than the one in This Sweet Sickness. The film was originally released as Dites-lui que je l'aime. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also known as The Best Way to Walk, this film was originally released in France as La Meilleure Façon de Marcher. It was the first feature-length effort of François Truffaut associate/disciple Claude Miller. Patrick Dewaere and Patrick Bouchitey head the cast as a pair of teenage summer-camp counselors. Despite their late-adolescent rivalries and sexual confusion, each of them achieves some sort of awakening. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi