Philippe Volter Movies

Five characters serve as metaphors for the five senses in this drama about human relationships from Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa. Ruth (Gabrielle Rose) works as a massage therapist; one day while giving a rubdown to Anna (Molly Parker), Ruth's teenage daughter Rachel (Nadia Litz) takes Anna's toddler daughter for a stroll in the park. However, Rachel loses track of the child and she's soon lost. While searching for her, Rachel meets Rupert (Brendan Fletcher), a voyeur who teaches her about the pleasures of observing others. Meanwhile, Robert (Daniel MacIvor) is a professional house cleaner with an unusually keen sense of smell. Convinced he can smell love, he starts to set up meetings with all of his former lovers to see if he can sniff out any feelings for him -- and, if not, find out why they stopped caring for him. Robert's friend Rona (Mary-Louise Parker) works as a baker but has no sense of taste, a severe occupational hazard. She also has romantic problems, thanks to the arrival of Roberto (Marco Leonardi), a man she met on a recent vacation in Italy. Finally, Richard (Philippe Volter) is an eye doctor who is losing his hearing. While this situation has left him horribly depressed, he meets a woman who helps him feel better about life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The negative physical and psychological effects of anabolic steroids, growth hormones, and masking agents are examined in this European drama which focuses upon the conflict felt by a young runner whose fear of failure exceeds her fear of the drugs. Catherine Delaunay, a 25-year old runner, has just be named French champion after the real winner is disqualified for using drugs. When she suffers a small injury herself she begins using the drugs at the insistence of her German trainer and an unethical sports doctor. Catherine becomes hooked upon her regimen of medication and begins to suffer physical and mental side-effects. To conceal her drug use, Catherine keeps a large supply of "clean" urine. When she really does become drug free, her times suffer. A federation official strongly suggests she get pregnant as they hormones produced by early pregnancy will help her speed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

To say that the renowned Impressionist artist, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-90) had a dysfunctional family is likely to do a disservice to ordinary dysfunctional families everywhere. In this unusual drama, the family (and one friend) of the troubled artist gather together to participate in the customary ceremonies that are performed when a close relative, in this case, Vincent, dies. While Vincent's brother Theo (Jean-Pierre Lorit) and his three sisters are genuinely grief-stricken, his mother (Maria Meriko) seems to be a truly stony character, and her cold contempt and disregard for her sensitive son appears to be just as great in death as it was in life. Fans of Vincent's art will be particularly appalled by the woman's attitude to her son's vocation, and more so by at her actions. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

As an amateur magician, Phil is probably okay, but as a small-time criminal, he is definitely not destined for the big-time. When he is granted a twenty-four-hour furlough from prison in order to attend his mother's funeral, he is aware of this and intends to keep out of trouble. Furthermore, he has the same intention for when he finishes his prison term. Thus, his brothers' attempts to get him involved in a really neat theft they have dreamed up do not at first meet with much favor in his eyes. Eventually, their enthusiasm and the almost overwhelming assortment of pleasures they have arranged for him to enjoy soften him up enough for him to cooperate with them. Predictably, things don't go well, but an unsought chance to renew lost love also comes to him at this time, and good fortune finally intervenes on his behalf. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Double Life of Véronique is the story of two young women who are -- in some mysterious and irresolvable way -- the same woman leading two different yet interconnected lives. Those familiar with Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's later "Three Colors" trilogy of Blue, White, and Red will recognize his fascination with accidental happenings and chance encounters, as well as Irène Jacob (from Red) whose performance as both Veronika and Veronique won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival award for best actress. Veronika and Véronique are born on the same day in 1966, one in Poland, the other in France. They grow up separately, unaware of each other's existence, but with the vague and rarely expressed feeling that they are "not alone." The story begins in Poland, where Veronika (like Véronique) is a talented vocalist and music student who wins a prestigious singing competition and is given the chance to perform with a local symphony. On the night of the concert, while singing a duet onstage, Veronika loses consciousness and dies. Véronique is emotionally wounded by the loss of her double and decides to end her singing career. The film charts the effect of Veronika's death on Véronique and on her dispassionate and unsatisfying relationships with men, especially her father. She is led to puppeteer and children's book author Alexandre Fabbri (Philippe Volter), whose puppet shows and stories are dramatic variants on her own mysterious problem. While looking through photographs of Véronique's trip to Poland, Fabbri discovers a picture of Veronika walking through a student demonstration in Kracow. He shows the picture to Véronique, who intuits the significance of Veronika's perfect likeness to herself. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

Alain (Philippe Volter) travels to Morocco to search for answers to his lover Leila's suicide. He travels by bus and by foot across the desert to find Leila's sister and grandfather in hopes of understanding what drove her to her death. He attends parties, sleeps with a young woman -- and later a young man -- as he searches for the truth. His experiences cause Alain to try and reconcile with is ex-wife and daughter. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This film is based on a short novel by Russian author Anton Chekhov, with the settings changed to 1870 France. It concerns the romantic frustration of two extremely pleasant and civilized people. Alexandre (Jacques Villaret) is a middle-aged bachelor, pleasant and well-to-do, who fears the prospect of a lonely old age. With that in mind, he proposes to Julia (Sabine Azema), the beautiful and young only daughter of the town doctor. Given the lack of any real acquaintance between them, when she accepts his proposal, he is surprised. Once they are married, he is bitterly disappointed to discover that Julia married him because she also fears a lonely old age. Unskilled in matters of the heart, he had hoped and imagined that she was at least a little in love with him. When a financial reverse looms on the horizon, he throws himself into work and ignores his relationship with his new wife, who gradually has come to love him, though he remains unaware of this fact. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This production of Giuseppi Verdi's opera based on Macbeth, the famed play by William Shakespeare, is a musical succès d'estime but falls short in the cinematic arena. Shirley Verrett stars as the murderous and ambitious Lady Macbeth, Leo Nucci co-stars as her similarly ambitious but slightly more scrupulous husband, who has the good grace to feel some horror at his deeds before he does them. The entire opera was filmed inside a Belgian castle, and some of the smaller parts are obviously lip-synched to pre-recorded music. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide