Madeleine Robinson Movies

Made for Canadian television, For Better and for Worse was released to America as Terror Stalks the Class Reunion. The general theme and tone of the film is implicit in its title. Kate Nelligan heads the cast as a retired teacher who attends a reunion in Germany. Here she is kidnapped by former student Anton (Geraint Wyn Davies), who nurses a grudge of long, long standing. The film is based on a suspense novel by Mary Higgins Clark. For Better and for Worse was first seen in the U.S. on June 12, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The troubled life of French sculptor Camille Claudel and her long relationship with legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin are portrayed in this passionate biographical drama, featuring an acclaimed performance by Isabelle Adjani. Beginning in the 1880s with a young Claudel's first meeting with Rodin, the film traces the development of their intense romantic bond. The growth of this relationship coincides with the rise of Claudel's career, helping her overcome prejudices against female artists. However, their romance soon sours, due to the increasing pressures of Rodin's fame and his love for another woman. These difficulties combine with her increasing doubts about the value of her work to drive Claudel into an emotional tumult that threatens to become insanity. First-time director Bruno Nuytten had previously served as a cinematographer, and he brings this experience to bear in his loving presentation of Claudel's sculpture and the lavish period setting. The dramatic approach is in tune with the impressive visuals, which present Claudel's life as a grandiose melodrama, a transformation that irritated some critics. However, few questioned the film's value as a dramatic showcase for Adjani, whose fervent portrayal was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The American release version was cut to 159 minutes. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

A young woman is abandoned by her lover after she tells him she is pregnant. Deeply depressed and longing for home, she boards a train out of town. Unfortunately a terrible train wreck ensues. She survives and ends up taking on the identity of one of the dead passengers. Now comfortable and secure that her child will have some claim to legitimacy, the woman is happy. Unfortunately, her dead-beat lover shows up and promises to make trouble if she doesn't pay up. The melodramatic plot is based on a story by Cornell Woolrich and was made twice before as No Man of Her Own (1932 and 1949 respectively). In 1996 it was remade again as the romantic comedy Mrs. Winterbourne starring Riki Lake and Shirley MacLaine. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Peppo (Roger Coggio) is married, an alcoholic, and has a teenaged son. The lovely Pauline (Elizabeth Huppert) is suicidal and has arranged everything very carefully for her coming demise. Just before she commits the fatal deed, she drives off on a goodbye drinking visit to her favorite bars. When she returns to her car, she finds Peppo lying in the back, taking a breather in the middle of a prolonged drinking bout. He drives her home, and they become acquaintances and, finally, lovers. In this comedy, they must now deal with all the suicide notes and funeral arrangements Pauline made when she was still determined to kill herself. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

At 25, Helena (Mimsy Farmer) is "middle-aged" for a prostitute. When 15-year-old Julien's callow friends try to pick her up (not knowing that she is a prostitute), she allows Julien (Pascal Sellier) to win her favors. Something about him appeals to her, and she sees him from time to time. Bespelled by his first sexual and romantic experiences with her, he is at first blind to the nature of her profession but gradually understands it. Meanwhile, she has come to care for the boy more than she planned to, and to keep from causing him further harm, she breaks off with him. Even though Julien is devastated, his father, an understanding man, is able to help. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this French romance by documentary director Frederic Rossif, a young woman whose life has lost its savor after she has had an abortion, finds new reason for living as she embarks on a seaside romance with a married, bird-watching professor. The romance flowers in seaside walks and long discussions in which they read quotations from favorite authors. When they are not alone together, they encounter colorful locals. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A struggling, middle aged entertainment journalist falls for a 20 year old psychotic pyromaniac. He meets the young woman when he goes to interview his ex-wife, a prominent actress in a mental institution. After the interview, the young woman sets fire to the institution after she overhears the conversation. Escaping to the woods, the reporter finds her and falls in love. The two decide to live in the forest in a lean-to, and they start their affair of burning passion while she continues her passionate burning. Soon the police arrive to take the disturbed woman away. The incident leaves the man on the verge of suicide out of loss and longing for his new love. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A beautiful free-lance photographer meets and falls in love with a French medical student at a fancy ball and becomes pregnant after their passionate tryst. Now the formerly free-wheeling student finds himself facing a difficult situation. He decides that the woman should abort the child, and so to raise enough cash he sleeps with a wealthy older woman. Unfortunately, the photographer balks and as the story ends, the viewer is left to ponder the couple's ultimate choice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Much of Orson Welles' latter-day reputation as an "unfathomable" genius rests upon his seeming unwillingness to tell a story in clear, precise fashion. Sometimes, as in such films as Touch of Evil, Welles' spotty storytelling skills can be forgiven in the light of the excellent visuals. In other cases, as in his 1962 adaptation of Kafka's The Trial, Welles'style comes across as empty virtuosity, precious and petulant when it should be profound. Anthony Perkins plays Joseph K, a man condemned for an unnamed crime in an unnamed country. Seeking justice, Joseph K is sucked into a labyrinth of bureaucracy (Welles once described the character as being a "little bureaucrat" himself, who deserves to be punished. This is never clearly expressed in the finished film). Along the way, he becomes involved with three women -- Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Elsa Martinelli -- who in their own individual ways are functions of the System that persecutes him.

While Welles considered The Trial one of his finest films, this enthusiasm is not universally shared; even his most fervent admirers have been known to emerge from a screening of the film with quizzical, disappointed expressions on their faces. On the plus side, Welles and his cinematographer Edmond Richard perform miracles in transforming an abandoned French railway station into the headquarters of a totalitarian, red tape-ridden society. It's also fun to hear Welles' voice emanating from several of the supporting characters (his post-dubbing budget was nil). All in all, however, The Trial never truly works; it is unfair, however, to lay the blame for this entirely on Welles, inasmuch as the 1948 and 1994 attempts to cinematize the original Kafka novel likewise came a cropper. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sean Flynn, son of Errol, heads the cast of Mission to Venice. Young Flynn plays a private eye, working the European beat. He is hired to locate the missing husband of Madeline Robinson. Following the trail of clues to Venice, Flynn gets tied up with a nest of secret agents. Mission to Venice was produced some seven years before Sean Flynn, actor-turned-photojournalist, disappeared without a trace while covering the war in Vietnam. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi