Maria Schneider Movies

As originally screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, at the Cannes Film Festival, and on Turner Classic Movies, the mammoth, epic-length documentary Brando chronicles in encyclopedic detail (and with a consistently reverent overtone) the life and career of the man widely regarded as the most formidable American actor of the 20th century - famous for not only reshaping, but reinventing the craft of film acting and teaching audiences how to view a motion picture performance. Divided into chronological, thematically-unified segments, the film first treats Marlon Brando's dysfunctional upbringing - his alcoholic mother, his abusive father, his stint at a military academy - before charting his acting tutelage at the behest of Stella Adler and his early cinematic and theatrical roles, including work for Elia Kazan, who famously made many aggressive (and unsuccessful) attempts to discipline the headstrong actor onscreen. Throughout this segment, many Hollywood A-list actors appear - among them, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Robert Duvall - expostulating at length on Brando's influence over their approaches to performance, and attempting with great effort to define the elusive style known as "method acting" that Brando helped to create. The second half of the documentary moves into Brando's career during the '70s, '80s and '90s, covering the production of The Godfather, the actor's noteworthy political activism, and his tumultuous personal life. Francis Ford Coppola, who of course teamed with Brando for the first Godfather installment and for Apocalypse Now, is noticeably absent from the proceedings. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

When an indistinct woman named Charlotte (Isabelle Adjani) leaves a train station in hopes of changing her life forever, she's followed by a mysterious stranger with ill intentions. After recovering a bag hidden adeptly within the women's bathroom, Charlotte re-enters the station, this time looking every inch the femme fatale, from her tailored suit to her dark glasses. When she buys a ticket to another destination, however, the man follows her onboard, determined to prevent her from starting anew. Directed by Laetitia Masson, La Repentie also features Sami Frey, Samy Naceri, Dawn Clement, Maria Schneider, and Jacques Bonnafe. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Lew Grade is the executive producer of this British-German co-production, a romantic drama that gets underway in Las Vegas with several casino cameos (Robert Wagner, Roddy McDowall, Jill St. John, William Hootkins). Lymphoma leaves Vegas croupier Maggie (Maria Pitillo) only a few weeks to live, so she sets out to visit a weeping Madonna statue in Italy where she meets American pianist Mike (William McNamara) while hitchhiking to Trevino. Monsignore Calogero (Tom Conti) orders the church closed, and the statue is found to be a fake. As Mike and Maggie hope for a miracle, Mike departs to participate in a Naples piano competition. Watch for composer Lalo Schifrin conducting his own two piano concertos in the final scenes. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This award-winning drama follows the romantic and sexual misadventures of a bisexual, HIV-positive Frenchman as he searches for meaning in his life. Jean (Cyril Collard, who also directed), a successful photographer, dates women but has furtive sex with men on the side. When he meets Samy (Carlos Lopez), an aimless, half-Spanish young rugby player, Jean easily steals him right from under his girlfriend's watchful eyes. Just months after learning that he's HIV-positive, Jean only practices safe sex with his male partners. The same isn't true of his relationship with Laura (Romane Bohringer), an intense 17 year old whose combination of youthful exuberance and world-weary cynicism captivates him. The first night they make love, Jean struggles to warn Laura of his HIV status, but her emotional nakedness and his own confusion prevent him. When he finally does tell her, she's more concerned about living life without him than she is about the danger into which he has put her. Laura's mother (Corine Blue) struggles to steer her daughter toward a more suitable match, especially after Jean stops hiding his liaison with Samy. Vacillating from one extreme and one lover to the other, Jean unwittingly wreaks emotional havoc in Laura's life. Meanwhile, Samy finds himself slowly drawn into Jean's orbit and seems to have no problem with the ambiguity involved. He also dabbles in violent sex and even racist nationalism -- all reactions to his complex, troubled family life. As Laura spins out of control and Samy drifts away, Jean tries to make some sense of his own destructiveness; all the while, his illness progresses. Adapted from director Collard's own novel, Les Nuits Fauves won the filmmaker a French Cesar for Best Debut Director just days after he died of AIDS-related illness. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

In this romantic melodrama, the rejected but cosseted wife of an important sheik lives in splendid isolation and travels around accompanied by her chauffeur/prison guard. She has become somewhat crazed by her isolation, and perverse and angry schemes are constantly boiling in her mind. She sees the possibility of escape in one of these imaginings. She advertises for a woman librarian to come to her desert palace. When the young Lebanese woman arrives, she is sadly surprised to discover that the residence contains no books in its library. Anything other than the Koran would be dangerous to own. Now at least one other woman is as frustrated as she is, and the sheik's wife can begin to craft more elaborate plans for escape. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This informative and disturbing docudrama is about the legal persecution of a whistle-blower, a VIP in a drug consortium with corporate offices in Basle, Switzerland. This executive went to the European Common Market (now the EU) with evidence of his company's malpractice. As a result, he was put in prison for industrial espionage for three months, his wife committed suicide during that time, and he was not allowed to go to her funeral. When he got out of prison on bail only because he managed to get to an outside lawyer, he discovered his small farm holdings in Italy were confiscated (Italy is a member of the Basle drug consortium). At the time of the filming of this documentary, the executive's legal fate was as yet undecided, but the film's implications that a drug company can be powerful enough to silence its accusers is a chilling indictment. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When an amateur detective is caught up in a murder case, he cannot foresee that he is about to be chased by hit-men, glamorous women, and some inscrutable Chinese in this average private-eye spoof by director Jean-Louis Comolli. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A Yugoslavian man meets a woman in Paris, where he has come to do some research, and their mutual attraction leads to a liaison and shared adventures, not many good. They are both survivors from Nazi concentration camps which automatically gives them a kindred understanding. Their past comes back to haunt them though as they run into an ex-German soldier who shows them a skull from a person that had been tortured - an act that infuriates them so much that they knock down the German and steal the skull to finally put it in the French memorial for deportees. As they travel around the streets of Paris, they are constantly reminded of the previous Nazi presence, or run into Nazi-like behavior. There is a reprieve from Paris, however, as they separately go to Normandy where her family lives. Once together there, they go for a walk and come across some inane adults playing war games in German bunkers on the beach, reminders of the D-day landing on Normandy. By now it seems that their unwanted run-ins with a painful past have got to end, one way or another. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Klaus Kinski plays a motorcycle rider whose bike breaks down in a small French village. He is helped by Madeleine (Maria Schneider), a young woman who is a social outcast from having a child out of wedlock. When news spreads that a little girl was run down by a cyclist, locals focus their blame on Kinski. A lynch mob is formed by a truckdriver (Patrice Melennes) who seeks revenge on the stranger accused of the hit-and-run accident. Kinski does well in an uncharacteristic role evoking sympathy from the viewer. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Marie (Miou-Miou) is a young girl from a working-class family who falls for Gerard (Daniel Duval) before she discovers he is a vicious, sadistic pimp. She is degraded, abused, and beaten regularly by Gerard as she is forced into a life of prostitution. Marie later decides she must leave her pimp to regain control of her body, mind, and soul. Maria Schneider co-stars with Neil Arestrup in this voyeuristic and disturbing story. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Giacinto (Michele Placido) has taken his wife Vanina (Stefania Sandrelli) along on his scuba-diving trip, mostly for the purpose of keeping his vacation cottage clean. At first, Vanina doesn't mind much, but she encounters Suna (Maria Schneider), a wealthy feminist, who encourages her to go out and meet the local people. When, after sex with a local teenaged boy, she discovers the possibility of orgasms, she wakes up to feminine power, and begins to assert herself. This film, based on Dacia Maraini's novel Donna in Guerra is reputedly the first Italian film made entirely by women. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide