Catherine Breillat Movies
Author and filmmaker Catherine Breillat has gained a reputation as one of the most controversial women in contemporary arts and letters for her work, which often focuses on the erotic and emotional lives of young women, as told from the woman's perspective. Born in Bressuire, France, in 1948, Breillat developed a reputation for challenging public mores early on; at the age of 17, she published her first novel, L'homme Facile, which became a cause célèbre for its blunt language and open depiction of sexual subject matter. The controversy generated by L'homme Facile gave Breillat enough recognition that she was able to pursue a career as a writer, and between 1968 and 1975, she published three novels and a stage drama, as well as making her acting debut with a small role in Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris. In 1975, Breillat moved behind the camera by writing, designing, and directing Une Vraie Jeune Fille, which was adapted from one of Breillat's novels. An unexploitive but unusually explicit depiction of the sexual obsessions of an adolescent girl, Une Vraie Jeune Fille generated a certain amount of controversy, which would doubtless have been greater had it found wide release at the time -- financial problems on the part of the film's producers prevented it from receiving a proper launch at the time. After writing two more films (one of them, significantly, was Bilitis, a drama about the sexual awakening of teenage girls directed by erotic photographer David Hamilton) and taking on another acting role in the horror spoof Dracula Père et Fils, Breillat directed her second feature, 1979's Tapage Nocturne, which was also based on one of her novels. The story concerned the obsessive sexual desires of one young woman, and her unblinking depiction of the theme resulted in the film receiving a rating that prevented anyone under 18 from seeing the film, generally the kiss of death at the French box office. After directing two films that had garnered plenty of (often hostile) press but very little money, Breillat's career as a director was put on hold. Breillat continued to write screenplays (including Police and Federico Fellini's E La Nave Va), but it wasn't until 1988 that she was in charge of another feature, 36 Fillette. Depicting the burgeoning sexuality of a 14-year-old girl, and a middle-aged man intent on seducing her, 36 Fillette generated the expected storms of controversy, but it also fared well enough at the box office that Breillat was able to make another film only two years later, Sale Comme un Ange. Breillat's real international breakthrough, though, came in 1999; Romance, concerning a schoolteacher whose relationship with her boyfriend has gone sour, leading her into a variety of sexual liaisons with other men, was one of the first films to play mainstream cinemas in Europe and the United States that clearly depicted explicit intercourse and fellatio, and as a result generated no small amount of press attention. Romance also spawned a number of positive reviews and think pieces in major newspapers and magazines, and finally confirmed Breillat's status as a major filmmaker outside her native France. (The success of Romance also resulted in Une Vraie Jeune Fille finally receiving a belated theatrical and home video release in Europe and the United States.) Breillat once again revisited her favorite themes with her usual degree of intelligence but bold honesty with 2001's A Ma Soeur, which concerns two sisters -- one overweight, one attractive -- who are each coming to unhappy terms with their budding sexuality. ~ All Movie Guide- 2008
Controversial filmmaker Catherine Breillat puts a new spin on an ancient story in this multi-leveled drama. In France in the mid-1950s, Catherine (Lola Creton) enjoys toying with her younger sister Marie-Anne (Daphne Baiwir) by reading her the story of the murderous and oft-married Bluebeard, embellishing the story with plenty of gore and scaring the child out of her wits. As Catherine rereads the story, we're taken back to the year 1697, as Lord Bluebeard (Dominique Thomas) prepares to make Marie-Catherine (also played by Creton) his seventh wife. Marie-Catherine's youth and innocence make her an especially attractive quarry to Bluebeard, and rather than murder her right away, he decides to wait a while in order to savor the terrible joy of claiming her life. However, as Bluebeard becomes caught in a cycle of events that keep him from following through on his wife's murder, the two slowly become something like a normal couple and Marie-Catherine begins to turn the tables on her spouse. Barbe Bleue (aka Bluebeard) received its world premiere at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Thomas, Lola Creton, (more)
Catherine Breillat's adaptation of An Old Mistress stars Fu'ad Ait Aatou as Ryno de Marigny, and Asia Argento as Vellini, two lovers in 19th century Paris. The two have been passionately involved for nearly a decade, but de Marigny attempts to end their relationship now that he is engaged to Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida), a respectable young woman. As the bride-to-be's grandmother forces de Marigny to confront his past as a notorious womanizer, the film flashes back to reveal the intense decade the lovers shared. Although de Marigny appears to want to shut Vellini out forever, her passions may be far too much for him to deny. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Fu'ad Ait Aatou, (more)
A lonely and dejected woman (Amira Casar) learns that only when all inhibitions are cast aside will she be able to truly understand the truth about how men see women in this erotically charged exploration of sexuality from controversial director Catherine Breillat. Teetering on the edge of overwhelming ennui, the woman pays a man (Rocco Siffredi) to join her for a daring, four-day exploration of sexuality in which both reject all convention and smash all boundaries while locked away from society in an isolated estate. Only when the man and woman confront the most unspeakable aspects of their sexuality will they have a pure understanding of how the sexes view one another. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amira Casar, Rocco Siffredi, (more)
Catherine Breillat's Sex is Comedy concerns a female film director, Jeanne (Anne Parillaud), who is attempting to film a sex scene in her new movie. Complicating the already emotionally difficult shoot is the fact that Jeanne and her lead actor (Grégoire Colin) are sexually involved. The scene being shot echoes with a scene in Breillat's previous film, Fat Girl, adding to the supposed "reality" of the situations presented in the film. Roxane Mesquida rounds out the cast as the actress playing the 15-year-old in the scene being filmed. Sex Is Comedy was screened during the Director's Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Parillaud, Grégoire Colin, (more)
One of France's most respected filmmakers, Claude Berri here brings viewers the story of Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri) a middle-aged sound engineer whose wife has just left him. Living on his own for the first time in years, Jacques decides it's high time to clean up his life, literally and figuratively. In short order he hires Laura (Emilie Dequenne, a bright, vivacious young housekeeper, to bring order to his apartment. Laura's presence makes Jacques realize what has been missing from his life, and as their relationship evolves over the subsequent months, both Jacques and Laura gain uncomfortable knowledge of one another, and of themselves. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Bacri, Émilie Dequenne, (more)
Director Catherine Breillat, who courted international controversy with her film Romance, once again pushed the envelope with this disturbing (if somewhat less explicit) look at adolescent sexuality. Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) is a 12-year-old girl with a weight problem and a downbeat disposition growing up in a family which offers her little in the way of understanding and affection. Anaïs has a typically adolescent love/hate relationship with her slimmer and prettier 15-year-old sister, Elena (Roxane Mesquida); she's at once fascinated by her sister (and the boys who follow her around), and hates her for the love and attention she receives from others. While the family spends the summer at the beach, Elena attracts the attentions of Fernando (Libero de Rienzo), a college student from Italy who makes no secret of his attraction to Elena's budding sexuality. Anaïs, on the other hand, is forced to make do with a sad game in which she pretends that a ladder and a diving board at a neighborhood swimming pool are two suitors vying for her affections. Anaïs shares a room with Elena, and finds herself a fascinated, if troubled, witness as Fernando uses both charm and deceit to rob her sister of her virginity, while Elena is too naïve to see through the lies Fernando is spinning -- and enjoys having Anaïs as an audience for her steadily advancing sex play with Fernando. Anaïs is more aware than her older sister of Fernando's insincerity, but she finds Elena isn't eager to believe her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, (more)
- 2001
Thomas (Gilles Guillain), a good-looking, 16-year-old French boy, races to catch a ferry from La Havre to Portsmouth. The clerk allows him on, despite the fact that his papers are in disarray. In the ship's cafeteria he meets Alice (Sarah Pratt), a much older British woman. Speaking English, she invites him to sit with her in the crowded dining room, and asks his name. He tells her, then eats silently. She seems to study him intently. "Mine's Alice, if you're interested," she says after a few uncomfortable moments. He's embarrassed, but still says little. She stares at him, and eventually, he returns her stare. Then, he lights a cigarette. "I should quit," he says. As he struggles with his English, explaining why he smokes, she tells him she speaks French, and the conversation becomes a bit easier. A sexual attraction is clearly building between them as he asks her to the bar for a drink. Eventually, Thomas learns more about Alice. She's recently separated from her husband, she explains. She seems depressed. "Life is interminable and boring, but it goes by fast," she warns him. He suggests they take advantage of their night on the ship to engage in a little bit of romance. She scoffs at the young people on the dance floor and he distances himself from them. They watch a magician perform his cheesy act. She complains at length about the way men treat women, but maybe Thomas is different? Brief Crossing, written and directed by Catherine Breillat (Romance), was produced as part of a series of ten French films under the heading, "Masculin/Feminin." The film was shown at Lincoln Center in New York as part of their 2003 Film Comment Selects series. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Pratt, Gilles Guillain, (more)
- 2000
One man's attempt to avenge his father has unexpected consequences in this drama from France. Matthieu (Benoit Magimel) and Eric (Antione Chappey) are two brothers who work in a factory alongside their father (Fred Ulysse). When father is fired under dubious circumstances, Matthieu is outraged and tries to organize his co-workers to stand up to the bosses and have him reinstated. However, Eric, with a new wife to support, doesn't want to rock the boat, and the other men on the line express similar sentiments. After father is struck and killed by a motorist while crossing the street (en route to apply for unemployment), a despondent Matthieu is convinced it was an act of suicide. Determined to get revenge against the men who stripped his father of his job and his dignity, Matthieu falls into an affair with Claire (Nathalie Baye), the wife of one of the factory owners, who has a gambling problem. Claire eventually discovers Matthieu's hidden agenda and breaks off their relationship; his attempt to expose her to her husband brings disastrous results. The screenplay for Selon Matthieu was co-authored by Catherine Breillat, writer/director of the controversial international success Romance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benoît Magimel, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Like Nagisa Oshima's erotic masterpiece In the Realm of the Senses (1976), this film's shockingly graphic depiction of sex blurs the line between art and pornography. Marie (Caroline Ducey) is unfulfilled by her relationship with Paul (Sagamore Stévenin), her narcissistic male model boyfriend, who refuses to show her any kind of physical affection, much less make love to her. Frustrated, she decides to take matters into her own hands, and she finds one night of tenderness and passion in the arms of Paolo, a man she met in a bar, played by Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi. Later, she is seduced by an older man, Robert (François Berléand), who introduces her to bondage and sadomasochism. As she allows herself to be bound, gagged, and forced into bizarre contortions, her flirtation with the wild side pushes her into increasingly frightening and degrading situations. Yet, like Catherine Deneuve's Sévérine in Belle de jour (1967), after each tryst she returns to her emotionally remote boyfriend as if nothing happened. One night, taken by Marie's renewed vitality, Paul holds her and begins to make love to her. Although he selfishly withdraws halfway through and casts her aside, he manages to impregnate her; after he proposes, Marie begins to feel society's constraints on her newly liberated sexuality, and she eventually decides to take violent action to salvage it. Unlike most sexually explicit works, the film is expressed from the female perspective. Director Catherine Breillat places the viewer inside Marie's mind through the camera's point-of-view, which in one scene lingers lovingly on Siffredi's camera-friendly anatomy, and through Marie's voice-overs, which provide access to her private thoughts. Brought to life by Ducey's tour-de-force performance, Romance is a confrontational yet emotional work that is not easy to forget. The film premiered at the 1999 Rotterdam Film Festival and was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Caroline Ducey, Sagamore Stévenin, (more)
- 1996
This realistic and disturbingly grim French drama centers on a May/December romance that goes tragically awry resulting in a brutal murder. The dark tale begins in Dunkirk where police inspectors attempt to reconstruct the murder of Frederique who is found sodomized by a broomstick and stabbed to death on a kitchen table. The killer is Christophe who stands around in total, numb shock. It is Frederique's teenage daughter who tells of the terrible romance in a statement to police. Christophe was 28 when he met the ten-years-older Frederique at a wedding. Both successful professionals, sparks fly and soon begin courting. Eventually they become lovers, but are only briefly happy before large fissures appear in their relationship. Christophe loves her, but does not want an exclusive relationship. Frederique, who has already been twice divorced wants more and becomes bitter when it doesn't happen. They fight and it is during their break up that the tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Renauld, Francois Renaud, (more)
- 1995
This French anthology is a tribute to A Propos de Nice (1930), a classic documentary that took a poetic and sometimes satirical look at life in the French Riviera town. This version blends fact and fiction to chronicle life in modern-day Nice and is comprised of seven vignettes, each directed by an internationally renowned filmmaker. Only one of the episodes, "Reperages," from Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami and Parviz Kimiavi, stays close to the style of the original film by Jean Vigo as it chronicles the experiences of a filmmaker who came to Nice to do research on Vigo for his upcoming documentary. A different episode eavesdrops upon a man and two women discussing sociopolitical concerns as they lie indolently on the beach. In another, a photojournalist cruises the city's lively Promenade des Anglais. In a silent vignette, "Nice, Very Nice," a young killer is seen gliding through a crowd of carnival goers on the way to perform a hit. The other three cover subjects ranging from the history of Nice, to a political rally, to a portrait of the city as a popular spot for different kinds of rendezvous. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Seemingly, Paul (Jacques Bonaffee) and Isabelle (Marie Brunel) have a wonderful, harmonious marriage. Yet Isabelle is not averse to having a little side action with another man in the afternoon, and Paul is really getting into his romance with one of his ophthalmic patients, a young woman who pursues him more than he pursued her. Even those little affairs might not indicate that there is much wrong with the marriage, but when Paul find's out about Isabelle's little affair, he behaves like a thug rather than the sensitive, easygoing man he has appeared to be. By contrast, the constant bickering of a couple they both know seems to indicate real intimacy between them, despite the fact that they are on the verge of divorce. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Bunel, Jacques Bonnaffé, (more)
- 1992
Kamel is the son of French-born Algerians, and he has learned fairly quickly that working for others, at least for him, is no way to ensure that he won't remain poor. However, he is a bright, enterprising lad, full of confidence and energy, and he soon gets a profitable but unconventional business going. He also has a relationship with a non-Muslim girl, whose middle-class parents are simultaneously appalled by the relationship and charmed by the man himself, so much so that they permit him to sleep in her bed at their home. La Thune is a French slang term for "money." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophie Aubry, Sami Bouajila, (more)
- 1990
Georges Deblache (Claude Brasseur) is a police inspector who is past middle age and who is so despondent about his life that he refuses to have a medical check-up, even though he suspects he has cancer. His partner is Didier Theron (Nils Tavernier), who has recently married a woman whom he has worshipful feelings for -- feelings which don't stop him from routinely bedding the many women of color he encounters while doing his job. Georges takes a keen interest in his partner's unrealistically appreciated wife and pushes his way into her not entirely unwilling arms. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Brasseur, Lio, (more)
- 1988
Titled after the name of a little girl's dress size, the coming-of-age drama 36 Fillette follows a couple days in the life of 14-year-old Lili (Delphine Zentout), whose physically mature features contrast with her immature adolescent angst. Away from her home in Paris, she is painfully bored during a summer vacation in a windy little campground near the resort town of Biarritz. She's stuck with her emotionally unavailable parents (Adrienne Bonnet and Jean-Francois Stevenin) and older brother J.P. (Stephane Moquet). After some blatant begging on her part, J.P. eventually agrees to take her out to a disco. They don't have a car, so they hitch a ride from the middle-aged Maurice (Etienne Chicot), who is out cruising in his sports car. Maurice and J.P. go to a disco, but Lili is too young to get in. She spends the evening at a café talking to the celebrity musician Boris Golovine (Jean-Pierre Leaud), but she agrees to meet Maurice for a date at midnight. After much pleading with the doorman, Lili is allowed in to the disco where she dances with Maurice. Eventually, she leaves the club with him and spends the evening in his fancy hotel room. 36 Fillette was written and directed by Catherine Brelliat, who adapted the screenplay from her own semi-autobiographical novel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delphine Zentout, Etienne Chicot, (more)
- 1988
In this "inside look" at French filmmaking, Marechal (Francis Girod) - who is a has-been director - a producer, Vito Catene (Andre Marcon) and Camile Dor (Fabienne Babe), a big-name actress, have agreed to make a film about drugs, but don't have a story, financing, or any of the other elements needed to make it. This doesn't stop them; they cobble together the financing and begin shooting anyway. The producer is very fond of the leading actress, and when she gets hooked on drugs for real in the course of shooting what he feels to be a farcical imitation of a film, he gives up his shares in the film and heads off for the back of beyond (Zanzibar) to lick his wounds. To add insult to injury, the film winds up being a critical and commercial success. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabienne Babe, André Marcon, (more)
- 1987
Isabelle Huppert stars in this thriller as Sarah, a woman who has settled into a more or less normal life in Milan after her lover, a much-wanted terrorist, left the scene. Her life becomes complicated indeed when she becomes aware that he is about to return. The difficulty is that not only is she aware of this, but the police and various underworld groups are also. How is she to protect her own life under the circumstances, much less keep her lover from falling prey to the various traps that are being set for him? ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Joaquim de Almeida, (more)
- 1984
- NR
This strange crime-cum-romance story starts out with the ordinary work-a-day life of Mangin, an apparently straight-and-narrow cop (Gerard Depardieu), and then segues into a love story after he meets Noria, a beautiful Arab woman (Sophie Marceau) who has just been arrested during a drug raid. Mangin grills her, but his buddy, a lawyer of dubious ethics named Lambert (Richard Anconina), gets the woman released. Enamored almost from the beginning, Mangin begins to pursue Noria and soon finds himself faced with making the ethical decision to arrest her -- or not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Sophie Marceau, (more)
- 1979
A completely routine drama involving sexual situations and rough characters, this story directed and written by Catherine Breillat looks at the liaison between Solange (Dominique Laffin) and Bruno (Bertrand Bonvoisin). Solange is the female version of a womanizing film director who is confident about her conquests and her ability to figure out men. Along comes Bruno, and Solange's faith in her knowledge of men is put to a test and found wanting. In spite of her better judgment, she is undeniably attracted to Bruno though the man is going to be trouble in a big way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Laffin, Marie-Helene Breillat, (more)
- 1976
Christopher Lee dons the Count's legendary cape once again for this satirical French-made entry in the vampire genre (titled Dracula and Son for American release). It seems Dracula's son (Bernard Ménez) is a bit reluctant to carry on the family's blood-drinking tradition on account of severe squeamishness. This understandable rift is widened when the Dracula family is banished from Romania by the new communist regime, and they end up traveling their separate ways -- Ménez goes to France, while Lee, oddly enough, finds a lucrative career in British horror films (perish the thought!). They are reunited again at the premiere of one such film, where they meet and fall in love with the same woman). Directed by Edouard Molinaro, known best for his international comedy hit La Cage aux Folles, this was a very witty film prior to its decimation by an uncaring American distributor, who not only excised many of the jokes but also replaced them with horribly-written, sophomoric gags. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Bernard Menez, (more)
Directed by Catherine Breillat in 1975 but withheld from release for 25 years because Breillat's producer went bankrupt, Une Vraie Jeune Fille marked the director's feature debut. Like Breillat's controversial Romance (1999), Fille is concerned with the expression of female desire, and it takes a characteristically audacious approach to its subject. Striking close-ups of male and female genitalia, various bodily fluids, and graphic sexual fantasies make up a significant portion of the film, which charts the sexual awakening of the teenaged Alice (Charlotte Alexandra), who is vacationing with her parents in the country. Bored and restless, Alice spends much of her time lusting after Jim (Hiram Keller), a local sawmill worker. When not lusting after him, Alice fills the hours with such pursuits as writing her name on a mirror with vaginal secretions and wandering the fields with her underwear around her ankles. And, in true teenaged tradition, she spends a lot of time writing in her diary. Une Vraie Jeune Fille was adapted by Breillat from her third novel, 1974's Le soupirail, which she was commissioned to adapt for the screen by noted producer Andre Genoves. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Alexandra, Hiram Keller, (more)
- 1975
- R
Jane Birkin stars in this sex farce as a young British prostitute in Paris who, after her soft-core business fails, decides to go big-time and incorporate herself, selling stock to four disparate investors. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Patrick Dewaere, (more)
In Bernardo Bertolucci's art-house classic, Marlon Brando delivers one of his characteristically idiosyncratic performances as Paul, a middle-aged American in "emotional exile" who comes to Paris when his estranged wife commits suicide. Chancing to meet young Frenchwoman Jeanne (Maria Schneider), Paul enters into a sadomasochistic, carnal relationship with her, indirectly attacking the hypocrisy all around him through his raw, outrageous sexual behavior. Paul also hopes to purge himself of his own feelings of guilt, brilliantly (and profanely) articulated in a largely ad-libbed monologue at his wife's coffin. If the sexual content in Last Tango is uncomfortably explicit (once seen, the infamous "butter scene" is never forgotten), the combination of Brando's acting, Bertolucci's direction, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography, and Gato Barbieri's music is unbeatable, creating one of the classic European art movies of the 1970s, albeit one that is not for all viewers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, (more)
