Charles Berling Movies
Noted for his charismatic presence and his ability to immerse himself in a diverse range of roles, Charles Berling is an actor whose name garners respect and recognition in his native France. Berling first earned acclaim in the theatre, where he was a fixture for many years, before making his film debut in 1993's Salt on Our Skin. Three years later, he earned widespread acclaim for his leading role in Patrice Leconte's Ridicule, in which he starred as an 18th century nobleman who learns to play a delicate and deadly game of wit at the court of Versailles.Born on Tahiti in 1958, Berling studied acting at a Parisian drama school located on la rue Blanche and made his stage debut in 1982. He spent the next decade performing in a large variety of productions and ventured into cinema in the early 1990s. Two of his more memorable early films were Pascale Ferran's Petits Arrangements avec les Morts (1994), which cast him as an entomologist trying to come to terms with memories of his childhood, and Claude Sautet's Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (1995), in which he played Emmanuelle Béart's boring husband.
With the success of Ridicule, for which he earned a Best Actor César nomination (the film won four Césars, including Best Film), Berling became better-known to film audiences and subsequently began working steadily before the camera, often appearing in romantic and/or psychological dramas. One of his rare excursions into all-out comedy was Love, Etc., a 1996 feature that cast him as a ladies' man who becomes infatuated with his best friend's wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Berling, however, has been most effectively cast as a dramatic leading man, as was most notably the case with Nettoyage à sec (1997), in which he and Miou-Miou played a husband and wife whose marriage undergoes an upheaval; Cedric Kahn's L'Ennui (1998), which featured the actor as a man who becomes obsessed with a teenage girl; and Patrice Chéreau's Ceux Qui M'Aiment Prendront le Train, in which he played a gay art historian on his way to an artist's funeral. Berling received César nominations for his work in the first two films, which made him -- thanks to his first César nomination for Ridicule -- one of the few actors to be nominated for the honor three years in a row.
In 2000, Berling reteamed with Béart to star in Les Destinées Sentimentales, a period drama by Olivier Assayas; that same year, he headed the cast of Scènes de crimes, a crime thriller directed by Frédéric Schoendoerferr. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Directed by Michel Boujenah, Pere et Fils (Father and Son) centers around retired traveling salesman Leo Serano's (Philippe Noiret) decision to become closer to his three children, albeit late in life. Leo's first son, David (Charles Berling), is a longtime overachiever who runs his own plumbing fixtures company and employs his youngest brother, Simon (Pascal Elbe), in the warehouse. Pot-smoking Simon is blissfully unconcerned when it comes to the intricacies of his family, but David hasn't spoken to his unemployed brother Max (Bruno Putzulu) in years, and isn't particularly keen to build a relationship with his long absent father. However, when Leo convinces the trio that he's slated for a risky heart surgery in a couple of weeks -- in fact, Leo's physician had declared him perfectly healthy -- the broken family decides to take a spontaneous trip to Montreal. The film also features Marie Tifo, Genevieve Brouillette, Pierre Lebeau, Jacques Boudet, and Matthieu Boujenah. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Charles Berling, (more)
- 1994
A handful of people find themselves haunted on an idyllic summer afternoon by memories of death and loss in this contemplative drama from France. Siblings Zaza (Catherine Ferran) and Francois (Charles Berling) are enjoying a day at the beach with their brother Vincent (Didier Sandre) when Zaza and Francois each find themselves reminded in different ways of a tragic incident of 20 years ago when their younger sister died in an accident with a motorbike. Meanwhile, the grown-up Vincent builds a sand castle, as a young boy, Jumbo (Guillaume Charras), guards his creation from the waves. Jumbo, however, can't keep his mind from straying to thoughts of a close friend who recently died of cancer, and the boy can't help but imagine that he could have somehow prevented the death if he had tried. Director Pascale Ferran's work on Petits Arrangements avec les Morts was awarded with the Golden Camera at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Sandre, Alexandre Zloto, (more)
- 1995
Sixteen passengers aboard a Paris tour bus bound for Normandy provide the framework for this French ensemble drama. The trip takes 48 hours; in that time the disparate passengers begin forming a unique bond. Among the riders are a pair of snobs who have decided to "slum it" and take the bus; a country rube; a Jewish electrician and his beautiful black lover; a Romanian woman who wants to see a special mountain; a Japanese student researching dragons; a boorish middle-class couple, and "Mademoiselle Kleenex," so dubbed by the others because she never stops crying. En route, they begin to get to know each other, and almost immediately begin showing their character flaws. That night they are robbed on a lonely road and this brings them together on their shared odyssey. The next day they stop to see a sight, and there, one of them tries to kill himself leaving the others to wonder why as they are carted down to the police station to make their statements. During the evening, the passengers have a picnic on the grounds of a great chateau. There they hold a makeshift talent show. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Valadie
With Quiet Chaos (Caos Calmo), acclaimed Italian helmer Nanni Moretti steps away from his standard directorial role to essay the lead and co-author the script in a gentle psychological drama directed by Antonello Grimaldi. Moretti stars as Pietro, a film executive whose life takes an irreversible and devastating turn one fateful morning. During a trip to the beach with his brother, Pietro's path intersects with that of a woman, Eleonora (Isabella Ferrari), who is drowning in the ocean; horrified, Pietro rushes in to save her. He subsequently returns home only to discover that his wife, Lara, just died in a nasty falling accident; devastated to the core, this nascent widower must make the necessary psychological accommodations to adjust to life as a single parent, with sole responsibility for raising his ten-year-old daughter, Claudia (Blu Yoshimi). Almost instinctively, as a reaction to Lara's death, Pietro opts to sit and wait for his daughter to finish school each day (in a park across from the school), in lieu of abandoning her to his own priorities and commitments. This means that the fellow's colleagues in the film industry must, by necessity, come to do business with him in the park. Through it all, Pietro remains silently dumbfounded that the tragedy itself hasn't shaken him more, that the grief (the "quiet chaos" of the title) is subtly agonizing instead of grossly traumatizing and debilitating. Nevertheless, he ultimately begins to approach a full realization and acceptance of his loss, and gains an enhanced awareness of himself and others from the potentially crippling events thrust into his path. Valeria Golino (Rain Man) co-stars; Roman Polanski appears in a cameo as one of Pietro's industry colleagues. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nanni Moretti, Valeria Golino, (more)
This is a French costume drama from director Patrice Leconte that recalls both Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and Restoration (1995). Gregoire Ponceludon de Malavoy (Charles Berling) is a baron of the 18th century French countryside, wealthy in property and high in social position but poor in cash. Local peasants -- dependent upon his largesse for their income -- are in poor health, the result of a festering marsh that, if drained, could solve the villagers' illnesses and create valuable farmland. Ponceludon travels to Versailles to plead his case before King Louis XVI. There, he is informed that he has no chance of success unless he can impress the court with his verbal prowess, for the king and his minions value banter, preferably of the ironic, cruel, and insulting variety, above all else. Under the tutelage of the Marquis de Bellegarde (Jean Rochefort), Ponceludon discovers that his sober, blunt honesty can be mistaken for a skewering wit. Though the baron falls for his mentor's science-minded daughter Mathilde (Judith Godreche), he's forced to woo the politically powerful Madame de Blayac (Fanny Ardant). Ridicule (1996) opened the 1996 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Berling, Fanny Ardant, (more)
- 2000
As the title would suggest, this film, directed by Frederic Schoendoerffer, is a noirish crime drama about two forensic cops on the trail of serial murderer. Georges Fabian (Charles Berling) and Jean-Louis Gomez (Andre Dussollier) are put on the case when Marie -- the teenaged daughter of a couple who own a roadside cafe -- vanishes the day after the family dog disappears. Georges' schoolteacher wife is expecting their first child, while Jean-Louis' spouse walked out on him days after their daughter left home. The two discover a magazine daubed with Marie's blood in the eatery's lobby, and with the help of a police dog, they discover a canine corpse across the street. Later, when the bodies of a young white woman and a black man are unearthed sans heads and hands, Georges and Jean-Louis think that they have at last found Marie. In fact, they've hit upon a ritual murder similar to a series of killings that baffled the Belgian police in 1993. The two then begin to doggedly gather clues and witnesses. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Berling, André Dussollier, (more)
French Canadian director Denys Arcand pushes the boundaries of the mockumentary with Stardom, the tale of a fictional neophyte supermodel (Jessica Pare) told entirely through clips of her appearances on talk shows, television interviews, and documentaries. Originally titled 15 Moments, Stardom begins its portrait at a women's hockey game in the nether regions of Ontario, Canada. When the team's formidable teenage forward Tina (Pare) pulls her helmet off, letting her brunette tresses fly, a bystander snaps a photo, and Tina soon becomes the buzz at the country's hottest fashion houses. Her rise through the industry, however, is plagued by advances from older men with sundry motives: a smitten French photographer (Charles Berling), a smarmy entrepreneur (Dan Aykroyd), the Canadian Ambassador to the U.N. (Frank Langella), and a slick promoter (Thomas Gibson, the latter half of TV's Dharma and Greg). Stardom was the closing film at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, marking the first time in over 50 years that a Canadian production was chosen for such an honor; it would go on to open the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival before its theatrical premiere. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Paré, Dan Aykroyd, (more)
Three siblings must come to terms with their mother's mortality as they decide what to do with her valuable belongings in this warm family drama from filmmaker Olivier Assayas. Hélène Berthier (Edith Scob) is about to turn 75, and her children are gathering at her home in the country for a party. Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) has flown in from New York City, where she lives with her boyfriend, James (Kyle Eastwood). Jérémie (Jérémie Renier) has taken a rare break from his globe-trotting business interests to stop by with his wife (Valérie Bonneton). And Frédéric (Charles Berling), the only one who lives close enough to visit regularly, has also come with his spouse, Lisa (Dominique Reymond). Hélène has inherited a large and valuable collection of art from her brother, and with her health beginning to fail, she approaches Frédéric and asks that he, Jérémie, and Adrienne come up with a plan to deal with the pieces after her death. Frédéric wants to keep the collection together and see if they can persuade a gallery to purchase and present them as a set. Jérémie and Adrienne have other ideas, but as he's pondering a business opportunity in China and she's planning on settling in America for good, they don't have as much influence over the final decision as Frédéric. L'Heure d'Été (aka Summer Hours) was produced in part by the celebrated French art gallery Musée d'Orsay, and was one of a handful of films created to honor the museum in its 20th anniversary year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, (more)
- 1996
This French documentary chronicles the last few months in the life of seminal filmmaker F.W. Murnau (known for such silent films as Nosferatu). Carefully researched by scholar Bernard Eisenschitz, the film features considerable archival footage and original comments from the great director. The story begins as Murnau and American director Robert Flaherty embark upon a voyage to Bora Bora where they hope to escape into a more idyllic world. Unfortunately, while there, Murnau broke several island taboos while making his docudrama Tabu, a work Murnau said was about the way men feel compelled to create tragedies when life goes too smoothly. Just before the film premiered in 1931, Murnau was killed in an automobile accident. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Actor Gerard Depardieu co-directed (with Frederic Auburtin) this drama about a married woman who falls in love with another man, which stars Depardieu and Carole Bouquet. Mina (Bouquet) is a movie buff with a husband, Georges (Depardieu), who's out of work, and a 15-year-old son, Tommy (Stanislas Crevillen). While Mina works part-time as a domestic for Claire Daboval (Dominique Reymond), the family is terribly short on money, so when Georges is offered construction work on a massive bridge project, he immediately accepts, even though the job site is far enough away that he'll only be able to come home on weekends. One day, while taking in a matinee screening of West Side Story, Mina meets a man named Matthias (Charles Berling), an engineer associated with the bridge project. It's love at first sight for the both of them, and while Mina has no desire to hurt Georges, who is a good and decent man, she has found another good and decent man whom she loves even more. Tommy, on the other hand, has to deal with this crisis in his parents' marriage while he's sorting out his own infatuation with Ms. Daboval's daughter, Lisbeth (Melanie Laurent). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Bouquet, Gérard Depardieu, (more)
A woman begins to wonder if her young son is who she thinks he is in this psychological suspense story. Ariane and Pierre (Isabelle Huppert and Denis Podalydes) are the busy parents of a nine-year-old son, Camille (Nils Hugon). Camille feels neglected by his hard-working mom and dad and often seems to drift into a world of his own, preferring his imaginary friends to other children or his nanny Helene (Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre). One day, Camille startles Ariane by announcing he wants to live with his real mother -- and proceeds to lead her to an apartment across town, where Ariane is introduced to a stranger named Isabella (Jeanne Balibar). Camille seems to know all the nooks and crannies of Isabella's flat, and the latter insists that he is her lost son Paul, who actually drowned two years ago. Unsure of what to do, Ariane decides to play along, going so far as to allow Isabella to stay in the family's home as she tries to resolve Camille's dilemma with the help of her brother Serge (Charles Berling), a psychiatrist. Comedie de L'Innocence is based on a novel by Massimo Bontempelli and was directed by acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Raul Ruiz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Balibar, (more)
A man vacationing in the country with his wife and children finds his sexuality unexpectedly challenged in director Zabou Breitman's intimate drama. Frédéric is a family man who needs a vacation. Upon arriving at his cottage in the country, Frédéric makes the acquaintance of Hugo -- the gay neighbor who resides in the adjacent cottage. A free spirit who is open about his sexuality and frequently goes skinny-dipping in the moonlight, Hugo seems to be everything that Frédéric isn't. Soon, the tension between Hugo and Frédéric is palpable. Yet, while they may be at odds over their opposite lifestyles, the two men are also obviously attracted to one another and soon begin to flirt heavily. But Hugo's taunting of hopeless romantic Frédéric begins bordering on cruel when it becomes obvious that Frédéric is jealous of his new lover. Hugo is staunch in his belief that by committing to a relationship you effectively destroy any possibility of real love, yet Frédéric is vehement in his quest for devotion, despite the fact that his relationship with his wife is at a critical turning point. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Campan, Charles Berling, (more)
- 1998
- Add Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train to QueueAdd Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train to top of Queue
Patrice Chereau (Queen Margot) directed this French drama about a train trip to an artist's funeral. Friends of painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich (Jean-Louis Trintignant, seen in flashbacks) gather at a Paris railroad station for a four-hour journey to Limoges, where Emmerich wanted to be buried. The dozen travelers include art historian Francois (Pascal Greggory) and his lover Louis (Bruno Todeschini), who develops an interest in teenage Bruno (Sylvain Jacques). Traveling parallel with the train is a station wagon with Jean-Baptiste's body, and this vehicle is driven by Thierry (Roschdy Zem), husband of Catherine (Dominique Blanc), who's on the train with their daughter. Francois plays a taped interview with Jean-Baptiste, revealing his sexual appeal to both men and women. Lucie (Marie Daems) is convinced that she was his main love. Also on board is his nephew, Jean-Marie (Charles Berling) and Jean-Marie's estranged wife, Claire (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), After the funeral in "Europe's largest cemetery," the storyline continues in the mansion of Jean-Baptiste's brother, Lucien (also played by Trintignant). With hand-held camerawork for almost two-thirds of the film, the production involved two extra cars connected to a real scheduled train, headed one way in the morning and returning in the afternoon, with cast and crew logging some 12,000 kilometers over two weeks. Source music runs the gamut from James Brown to Jim Morrison. The title refers to the dying words uttered by the painter -- which actually are the last words spoken by filmmaker Francois Reichenbach who died in 1993 (and appropriated here by his friend, co-scripter Daniele Thompson). One of Francois Reichenbach's best-known films (and subject of an entire book) is the documentary Medicine Ball Caravan (aka We Have Come for Your Daughters,1971), a curious effort to duplicate the success of Woodstock (1970) by simply inviting a large number of musicians, hippies, and counterculture types aboard a cross-country train and filming the result. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascal Greggory, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 2001
This is a dark, sinister second feature from the director of the 1995 film The Rock of Acapulco, featuring Charles Berling and Karin Viard as a married couple in Paris enjoying the fruits of their careers. He works in an executive post and she works out of a spacious Paris apartment she has inherited from her parents. Their son Julien (Alexandre Bongibault) and daughter Aude (Camille Vatel) are mostly in the care of babysitter Daphnee (Ludvine Sagnier). One day, an unkempt older couple (Manuela Gourary and Pierre Julien) ring their doorbell and introduce themselves as "the Worms," a sibling pair that evidently lived in the building years before. Marianne welcomes them in to look around. Their behavior seems courteous at first, but upon their departure, the family is affected. The house begins to do things on its own, Marianne's depression comes back to haunt her, and Daphnee's sweet demeanor turns sour without warning. A moody thriller from France, this is the first production of Bee Movies, a genre-based company known for such fare.
~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karin Viard, Charles Berling, (more)
