Helene Patarot Movies
- 2008
Proving that romance can blossom even in the direst and most seemingly disadvantageous of circumstance, a pure-hearted Kazakh settler and a Kyrgyz woman find each other's hearts, their love rising like a phoenix out of the ruins of the Afghani wars, during the aftermath of the Iron Curtain's fall and in a region of the world that has been racked by tumult. Each of their personal histories, taken apart, seem dead-end and hopeless; Temür is a thirty-year-old fisherman whose lack-of-success on the Aral Sea has prompted him to give up on his chosen career , especially given the fact that the Aral has all but dried up and is now unpopulated by fish. Amira, who hails from Kyrgyzstan, foresees a future that is equally bleak, given the fact that her husband recently left home and went off to fight the mujhadeen. In each other, the lovers perceive an opportunity for escape and redemption. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albina Imasheva, Ilimbek Kalmouratov, (more)
- 2007
A man tries to figure out a way to keep his freedom and the woman he loves at the same time in this romantic comedy from France. Alex (Jean-Paul Rouve) feels as if he's sitting on top of the world -- he's enjoying a successful career as a writer, and he's in love with a beautiful woman, Laeticia (Melanie Doutey) who seems to be just as infatuated with him. But as Alex's romance with Melanie progresses, she gently but firmly insists on a more permanent relationship, and asks him to move in with her. Commitment-phobic Alex is convinced this is the first step towards marriage, and insists on keeping his own flat. Running out of excuses, Alex persuades his agent Jacques (Kad Merad) to feign depression and move in with him, but Laeticia isn't buying Alex's angel-of-mercy act and finally lays down the law -- either they move in together or she's going to leave him. Ce soir, je dors chez toi (aka Tonight I'll Sleep At Yours) also co-stars Helene Patarot, Rhiles Djarouane and Sarah Stern. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Rouve, Mélanie Doutey, (more)
- 2006
Named for a Metro station in Paris' 13th Arrondissement, filmmaker Christopher Doyle's surrealistic Porte de Choisy stars fellow director Barbet Schroeder as an elderly salesman hawking salon products in Paris's Asian district. The film is part of Paris, Je T'Aime, a compilation of short subjects from such auteurs as the Coen Brothers, Tom Tykwer, and Alexander Payne. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barbet Schroeder, Li Xin, (more)
The Lover is director Jean-Jacques Annaud's adaptation of Marguerite Duras' minimalist 1984 novel. Set in French Indochina in 1929, the film explores the erotic charge of forbidden love. Jane March plays a French teenager sent to a Saigon boarding school, while Tony Leung is a 32-year Chinese aristocrat. They look at each and they both see a blinding white flash; it's kismet. He offers her a ride in his limousine and soon they meet in his "bachelor room" where they revel in a wide variety of creative sexual encounters. However, they both realize their love is doomed. She comes from a troubled family that includes a mentally-disturbed mother (Frederique Meininger) and drug-addicted brother (Arnaud Giovaninetti). It also appears that her family would not approve of an interracial tryst. But then neither would his family, since in order to inherit his father's wealth, he must not break from a traditional Chinese arranged marriage. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane March, Tony Leung Kar-Fai, (more)
Director Peter Brook collaborates with writer Jean-Claude Carriére for this screen adaptation of the epic, 100,000-stanza Sanskrit poem tracing mankind's quest for universal truth as explored through the ongoing conflict between two warring families - the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Originally a nine-hour stage production, the lengthy play was pared down to just over five hours for the screen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Langton-Lloyd, Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan, (more)
