Serge Spira Movies
Based on the novel by Ivan Turgenev, this drama tells of a young Russian noble during the mid 19th century who, although engaged to a young pastry chef, falls for a seductive married noblewoman who has arranged to buy his estate. Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski and Valeria Golino star in this period piece. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Timothy Hutton, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
- 1988
This political drama is taken from the classic story from Feodor Dostoyevsky, but liberties have been taken and many secondary characters eliminated. The author's condemnation of a godless society and his disdain of those who follow blindly to popular political causes remains intact. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Isabelle Huppert, (more)
- 1985
Inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot and intended as "a homage to the great writer," this film is set in modern France rather than 19th century Russia. This is a story of Léon (Francis Huster), who has been recently released from a mental asylum and claims to be a descendant of a Hungarian prince. On his way from Hungary to France, he meets Mickey (Tchéky Karyo), a hood who has committed a successful bank robbery and plans to take brutal revenge on the brothers Venin for what they did to his girlfriend Mary (Sophie Marceau). Léon can hardly understand what Mickey is up to but he follows him everywhere and soon falls in love with Mary. This odd love triangle resolves in a tragic ending. The frantic pace of the film's action can be compared to that of a runaway, hell-bound train. The colors and sounds go out of control, and violence abounds -- all of which is intended to convey to a viewer the craziness of the time. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sophie Marceau, Francis Huster, (more)
- 1982
In this film that sends up the foibles of filmmaking, a standard crew of actors, stage-hands, director, writers, producers, and others are gathered for the filming of a 45-second automobile commercial. Each role embodies an archetype (the harried director who has a deadline to meet, the Scrooge production manager who has a budget to meet, and the writers who are above these mundane concerns), and these personalities drive the working actors over the edge until they decide to lock them up and do their own thing -- happiness can be just around the corner if you are in the driver's seat. Hopefully, the actors will be able to bow out before the police catch on to the situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Annick Alane, Michel Berto, (more)
Director Roman Polanski casts himself in the lead of the psychological thriller The Tenant. Trelkovsky (Polanski) rents an apartment in a spooky old residential building, where his neighbors -- mostly old recluses -- eye him with suspicious contempt. Upon discovering that the apartment's previous tenant, a beautiful young woman, jumped from the window in a suicide attempt, Trelkovsky begins obsessing over the dead woman. Growing increasingly paranoid, Trelkovsky convinces himself that his neighbors plan to kill him. He even comes to the conclusion that Stella (Isabel Adjani), the woman he has fallen in love with, is in on the "plot." Ultimately, Polanski assumes the identity of the suicide victim -- and inherits her self-destructive urges. Some critics found the movie tedious and overdone; others compared it to Polanski's early breakthrough, Repulsion. The film was based on Le Locataire Chimerique, a novel by Roland Topor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, (more)
- 1967
Technically, there are two wanderers in The Wanderer. Played by Jean Blaise and Alain Noury, both young men are in search of the women they love. The ladies-Brigitte Fossey and Juliette Villard-disappeared in the confusion following an abruptly called-off wedding. Fossey is rediscovered, but it will take some doing to retrieve Villard. A master blend of equal parts humor, romance and tragedy, The Wanderer was based on the novel by Alain Fournier. The film was originally released in France as Le Grand Meaulnes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brigitte Fossey, Jean Blaise, (more)
