Jean-Paul Rappeneau Movies
A popular French screenwriter/director who first entered the entertainment industry by scripting such features as Signed, Arsene Lupin (1959) and Zazie Dans le Métro (1960), Jean-Paul Rappeneau quickly realized that he was also adept at directing his own works. Though Rappeneau had previously directed the film Chronique Provinciale in 1958, it wasn't until the 1966 film La Vie de Château that he truly began to come into his own behind the camera. A light romantic comedy dealing with life, love, and war as D-day draws near, the film proved a success, and in 1971, Rappeneau returned to equal success as the writer/director of The Scarlet Buccaneer. By this point, he was almost exclusively directing his own screenplays, and that trend would continue through the Golden Palm-nominated Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), The Horseman on the Roof (1995), and Bon Voyage (2003). If anyone were to doubt Rappeneau's staying power behind the camera, they need only reference the nomination sheet for the 2004 César Awards, which found him not only up for Best Director and Best Writing, but also Best Film, which once again took a relatively lighthearted approach to events surrounding World War II. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The last frantic days before the Germans seized France in 1940 provide an unlikely backdrop for this dark comedy. Viviane (Isabelle Adjani) is a glamorous and well-known film actress who attracts the attentions of many men -- often many she has no interest in knowing. One night, at a reception following the premiere of her latest picture, Viviane finds herself pursued by Beaufort (Gérard Depardieu), a government official whose girth exceeds his charm. To throw him off her trail, Viviane allows a cranky older man, André Arpel (Nicolas Vaude), to escort her home. During the evening, Viviane and André quarrel, and after slapping him, she discovers that he has simply dropped dead. An understandably terrified Viviane calls a former boyfriend, Frédéric Roger (Grégori Derangère), and asks him to help her get rid of the body. In hopes of reviving their romance, he agrees, but after an auto accident, Frédéric is caught with the body, and is taken to jail to await his trial. When word gets out that German troops are due to arrive in Paris at any minute, Frédéric and his fellow prisoners are instructed they're to be moved out of town; Frédéric is handcuffed to petty thief Raoul (Yvan Attal), and en route the two are able to make their escape. When Frédéric learns that Viviane has fled to Bordeaux, along with much of the French upper crust, he makes his way there, where he finds he has a new rival for her affections -- Beaufort, who no longer seems such a poor prospect. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, (more)
In this beautifully mounted historical drama, Angelo Pardi (Olivier Martinez), an Italian soldier, is fleeing his country in 1832. After the fall of Napoleon, Austria is swooping down on Italy to take control of the nation, and like many patriots, Pardi is hoping to escape to France and fight for their freedom abroad rather than submit to Austrian rule. However, as Pardi discovers upon arival, an epidemic of cholera is sweeping the land, leaving death in its wake and causing most people to be fearful of strangers, who may well be infected. As he tries to outrun a trio of mercenaries who have been hired to take him back to Italy, he finds himself accused by a group of villagers of infecting their water supply. Trying to escape would-be captors on all sides and searching for refuge in a rainstorm, Pardi finds a house and takes shelter inside. Unknown to Pardi, Pauline (Juliette Binoche), the lady of the house, is at home, but to his pleasant surprise, she welcomes him cordially rather than sending him away. It seems that Pauline's husband is missing, and as she desperately wants to find him and Pardi needs to escape to friendlier circumstances, they travel together through the French countryside, hoping to avoid both the disease and the tragedy travelling in its wake. Reportedly the most expensive French production ever made at the time of its release, Le Hussard Sur Le Toit (released in the United States as The Horseman on the Roof) was nominated for ten Cesar Awards (the French Oscar); it won two, for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivier Martinez, Juliette Binoche, (more)
Edmond Rostand's classic drama of inner and outer beauty is given a lavish treatment in this acclaimed French production. Gérard Depardieu portrays the title character, a brilliant, charismatic swordsman with a generous spirit and a genius for poetry. It would seem that such a man would have no trouble attracting women, but Cyrano considers himself doomed to loneliness by an unattractive face featuring an oversized nose. His feelings of inadequacy are emphasized when Roxane, the beautiful woman he adores, attracts the attention of Christian, a young cadet in Cyrano's service. Christian lacks the poetic gift, however, and he ironically turns to Cyrano for help in winning Roxane's love. What follows is a tale of deception, with Roxane falling in love with the ineloquent Christian thanks to Cyrano's words of love. The underlying narrative has become quite familiar to modern audiences through retellings and variations from the 1950 adaptation starring José Ferrer to Steve Martin's Roxanne. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's interpretation stresses the tragic majesty of the original, setting a vigorous performance by Depardieu against a beautifully designed reproduction of the period and an emphasis on the sound and poetry of Rostand's original language; the subtitles for the film's English release were penned by renowned British author Anthony Burgess. This attention to detail creates a particularly faithful cinematic rendering of the original work that met with positive critical responses. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, (more)
- 1981
Yves Montand is Victor Valance, a long-lost father who has come home to his brood of daughters and his mother in order to weazel some money out of them to front a gambling casino. Unable to tell them the real reason he wants the money, he just says it is for a country house for them - though his oldest daughter Pauline (Isabelle Adjani) is immediately suspicious of these surprising good intentions. It does not take her long to find out why he needed the cash, and she sets out to sabotage his project and get the money back, with a vengeance. Her attitude changes just as fast when she realizes that gangsters are out to take over her father's casino project - which would equally cost her the family's money. The mob adversaries cause the father and daughter to team up in self-defense, leading to a climactic chase through the mountains. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Isabelle Adjani, (more)
- 1975
In this romantic adventure comedy from French writer/director Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Catherine Deneuve stars as Nelly, a young French bride who gets cold feet and flees the altar with her irate Italian groom Vittorio (Luigi Vannucchi in hot pursuit. While she is on the run in Venezuela, Nelly carries with her a priceless stolen painting and meets Martin (Yves Montand), a financially and personally troubled middle-aged French perfume maker who is fleeing both his marriage and his failing business. Together the unlikely pair from a bond upon finding themselves in need of each other's assistance. Also starring Tony Roberts and Bobo Lewis, La Sauvage was released in the United States under the English-translated title, The Savage. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Yves Montand, (more)
In this parody of James Bond movies, a dullard of a spy novelist finds himself the subject of an English sociology student's term papers. She travels to his Paris apartment to do her research and their relationship is interspliced with episodes from the writer's newest book that features his popular hero Bob St. Clair, master spy and anithesis to the writer, and his lovely assistant Tatiana, (who is of course, the lookalike of the lovely student). The spy's nemesis is in reality, his pushy publisher. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
- 1971
This film is a French period comic romance, set in the time just surrounding the French Revolution (1789). "Year Two," of the French title refers to the second year following the revolution. Those who guided the French Revolution renamed the days of the week, the months of the year, and much more. They also began their calendar from the time of the revolution. In this film, Jean-Paul Belmondo plays the husband of a vivacious, two-timing, and socially ambitious young woman (Marlene Jobert). After he kills one of her aristocratic lovers, the husband flees to the New World (the Americas). He returns to France after the revolution, finds that he has been divorced, and then works hard to woo his ex-wife away from all the important men and outlaw aristocrats she is spending time with. Happiness reigns anew as, remarried, they both attain aristocratic status in Napolean's regime. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marlène Jobert, (more)
A Matter of Resistance is the English-language title of the frothy wartime comedy La Vie De Chateau. Set in occupied France, the film stars Catherine Deneuve as the young and beautiful bride of middle-aged and homely Philipe Noiret. Disappointed at Noiret's indifference concerning the Nazi invaders, Catherine is swept off her feet by handsome Resistance leader Henri Garcin. Throughout the rest of the film, it seems as though the underground operatives and the German officers are more interested in bedding the bewitched Ms. Deneuve than in winning the war. The music by Michel Legrand lends just the right airiness to this captivating farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 1965
Co-directed by French filmmakers Noël Howard and Denys de La Patellière, La Fabuleuse aventure de Marco Polo is a star-studded, epic retelling of the story of the famed thirteenth-century Venitian explorer. Filmed on location in France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Egypt and Afghanistan, the film stars Horst Bucholz as Polo, the ambitious young voyager who, along with his faithful servant Akerman (Orson Welles), ventures to China, where he joins Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan (Anthony Quinn) in his fight against rebelling forces. Also starring Omar Sharif, La Fabuleuse aventure de Marco Polo was released in the United States and Great Britain under the title Marco the Magnificent. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Elsa Martinelli, (more)
- 1964
An eight-day pass, a kidnapping, and a greedy group of South American Indians provide the basic ingredients of this madcap adventure. A French air force pilot has the pass and plans to use it to see his girl friend in Paris. He gets there just in time to see a gang of South American Indians, who believe the girl knows the location of a set of statues that can pinpoint the location of a fabulous jungle treasure, kidnapping her. He follows them to the Brazilian jungle and many riotous adventures ensue. Eventually the lovers manage to escape and return to France just before the pilot's pass expires. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Françoise Dorléac, (more)
- 1962
Louis Malle directed this drama about the toll fame takes upon a women pursuing a May-December romance. Jill (Brigitte Bardot) is a lovely 18-year-old girl who lives with her mother on a comfortable estate in Lake Geneva. Jill has dreams of some day becoming a ballet dancer, but her immediate concerns often focus upon Fabio (Marcello Mastroianna), a attractive older man who publishes a magazine and has married one of Jill's closest friends, Carla (Ursula Kubler). In time, Jill decides Fabio will never love her, and she runs away to Paris to study dance. While her career in ballet never pans out, she becomes an immediate success as a fashion model, and goes on to become a top film star. Five years after leaving home, Jill has become weary of fame, and comes home to her mother's home to rest. Jill discovers that Fabio and Carla have divorced, and he now takes a very keen interest in her. While stardom has now made Jill desirable to Fabio, it also attracts the attention of the world's press when word gets out that the screen goddess is dating a man almost fifteen years her senior. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1961
The political overtones in this action-oriented drama may be a little murky outside of its time and place, yet the story is well told. Clement (Jean-Louis Tritignant) is a right-wing rabblerouser married to aspiring young actress Anne (Romy Schneider). He belongs to an underground terrorist group determined to spread chaos among the Western nations in order to eventually gain political control and then expand their activities. At the moment, he is taking part in an assassination scheme aimed at a major labor leader that ultimately fails because of an informer. Clement takes off to find the culprit, leaving Anne in the care of his supposed friend Paul (Henri Serre). That turns out to be a mistake on several different counts. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1960
The lighthearted comedy Zazie Dans Le Metro, an early directorial effort from Louis Malle, stars Catherine Demongeot as a 12-year-old girl named Zazie. Zazie is forced to travel to Paris when her mother wants to rendezvous with her lover. Zazie is left in the care of Uncle Gabriel (Philippe Noiret), an eccentric transvestite. Both with him, and on her own, Zazie meets a variety of unusual city dwellers, and gets into a series of misadventures that reach their greatest level of wackiness during a café food fight. The film is based on a novel by the distinguished French author Raymond Queneau. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Demongeot, Philippe Noiret, (more)
