Pierre Curzi Movies

Director Denys Arcand revisits the situations and relationships that informed his international breakthrough The Decline of the American Empire with this dialogue-driven character study. Set 17 years after Decline, The Barbarian Invasions, like its predecessor, examines the varying politics -- economic, personal, and sexual -- at play among an aging group of friends, lovers, and ex-spouses. This time around, leads Remy (Rémy Girard) and Louise (Dorothee Berryman) are divorced, with their son Sebastien (Stéphane Rousseau) living in capitalist splendor in London. But the slightly estranged family is brought together by Remy's losing battle with terminal cancer, and the hedonistic, ex-radical father and straight-laced son have to overcome their differences. Along the way, Remy waxes nostalgic with many of the same pals who made up the dinner party of the first film. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Set late at night within a Montreal college, this Canadian psychological drama centers on the bizarre, fleeting relationship between three strangers. Middle-aged nightwatchman Pierre has a real passion for astronomy and when not patrolling the grounds can be found in the campus observatory. One night he is upon his rounds, his surveillance cameras reveal a young man attempting to make a video. Pierre confronts him, but ends up feeling sorry for distraught Nathan and allows him to complete his task, not realizing at first that the youth is taping a suicide note to give to his ex-girl friend. Later, Pierre's lover Helene appears with a big bottle of red wine. They end up cavorting naked through the gym, making love and having great fun until she tells him that she's pregnant. An ugly fight ensues and Helene leaves. Later Pierre and Nathan end up hang out and talk about their troubles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This French Canadian film details the aftereffects of a daring robbery. Veteran criminal Theo (Jacques Godin) and his novice gang - including his son, played by Eric Brisebois -- very nearly pull off the theft without a hitch, but the son panics and shoots two of the guards. The third guard (Robert Gravel) hides in the back of the armored car, locking himself in so that the criminals can't get either him or the loot. The efforts by Theo to extricate the guard from his stronghold end a shootout that proves fatal for everyone involved. Blind Trust was inspired by James Hadley Chase's novel The World in My Pocket previously filmed in 1962 and 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One day Jean-Baptiste Beauregard (Pierre Curzi) does not go out to face work or daily activities, instead he daydreams about the women in his past, about his teenage years, his failed marriage, and even his boyhood desires. His mental images follow each other across the screen, revealing that the women in his life are all the same (different wigs and costumes on the same actress), and his love life never changes either. This sameness can have a dulling effect on the viewers, indicating that if Jean-Baptiste's reminiscences were trimmed and his daydreams more varied and exciting, he would hold interest a little longer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Montreal provides a backdrop for this intriguing, fast-paced political drama about the later, dangerous interactions of two boys who first became best friends during their years at an orphanage. Once the boys leave the orphanage to continue their separate ways as adults, they keep in touch with each other even though they disagree on almost all the major issues in life. Lucien (Pierre Curzi) veers to the active left as he joins causes defending the disenfranchised against the powerful and wealthy, and Jacques (Roger Blay) has joined the powerful and wealthy -- he is a lieutenant of the Prime Minister himself. Lucien is thrown in prison for two years on charges that were false, and when he gets out he joins up with Jacques who has been demoted by the Prime Minister and is angry enough to take action. The two men devise a plan to settle their scores, though there are more perils involved in the plan than first meets the eye. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Plouffe Family, aka Les Plouffe, is a Canadian assault to the kidneys directed by Quebec's "critic's darling" Gilles Carle. The film covers seven years (1938 through 1945) in the lives of the French/Canadian Plouffe clan. Emile Genest is the one "name" player in this phlegmatic character study. Like to try this one on for size? Be warned: it runs (or crawls) 180 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama is set in Montreal when in the mid-'50s a young woman is impregnated by a petty thief who is caught and given ten years in the slammer. In the meantime, the woman bears a son and marries another. The time passes quickly and the thief is eventually released. He immediately goes to her and this nearly destroys her marriage. Fortunately, he realizes that taking the woman away from her husband will only hurt his son and so backs off. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide