Jean-Pierre Cassel

The astonishing true-life story of Jean-Dominic Bauby -- a man who held the world in his palm, lost everything to sudden paralysis at 43 years old, and somehow found the strength to rebound -- first touched the world in Bauby's best-selling autobiography The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (aka La Scaphandre et la Papillon), then in Jean-Jacques Beineix's half-hour 1997 documentary of Bauby at work, released under the same title, and, ten years after that, in this Cannes-selected docudrama, helmed by Julian Schnabel (Basquiat) and adapted from the memoir by Ronald Harwood (Cromwell). The Schnabel/Harwood picture follows Bauby's story to the letter -- his instantaneous descent from a wealthy and congenial playboy and the editor of French Elle, to a bed-bound, hospitalized stroke victim with an inactive brain stem that made it impossible for him to speak or move a muscle of his body. This prison, as it were, became a kind of "diving bell" for Bauby -- one with no means of escape. With the editor's mind unaffected, his only solace lay in the "butterfly" of his seemingly depthless fantasies and memories. Because of Bauby's physical restriction, he only possessed one channel for communication with the outside world: ocular activity. By moving his eyes and blinking, he not only began to interact again with the world around him, but -- astonishingly -- authored the said memoir via a code used to signify specific letters of the alphabet. In Schnabel's picture, Mathieu Amalric tackles the difficult role of Bauby; the film co-stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, and Patrick Chesnais. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

When a retired police officer is forcefully checked into a senior citizen's home, a fatal accident involving one of the residents leads him to suspect foul play in this lighthearted thriller written and directed by Romuald Beugnon. Simon may be up there in years, but he still feels like he's got more than a few good years left, and the thought of being marginalized as a result of his age is flat out infuriating. Upon being admitted to the Sapins Bleus retirement home against his will, Simon quickly discovers he's not the only one who feels this way: Ageing rocker Francky can still belt out a mean karaoke tune, former executive Jane Latour-Jackson still possesses a good portion of her feisty American spirit, and even nurses aide's Christine and Chantal have a special kind of sparkle in their eyes. After seventy year-old Alfred steps down from his post as the director of the home, Madame Laval takes over and at first it seems like everything is business as usual. Things soon start to get strange, however, when Alfred dies in a fatal accident that Simon senses may have been a homicide. Determined to get to the bottom of this deadly mystery, sharp-minded sleuth Simon enlists the aid of observant sidekick Francky in figuring out who would have benefited the most from Alfred's untimely death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Roschdy Zem and Cecile de France star as a Muslim Arab and a Jewish woman who find their four-year love affair put to the ultimate test in director/co-writer Zem's 21st Century take on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Ishmael (Zem) is a music instructor at a Paris conservatory. His widowed mother still lives in the housing project in which her son was raised, and his Jewish best friend is the proprietor of a popular independent record store. Clara (France) is a physical therapist who specializes in helping motor-impaired children and whose retired parents live with her single sister in the family's comfortable suburban home. Secular thirty-somethings who never put much credence in adhering to their respective faiths, Ishmael and Clara have remained together for four fun-filled years without incidence. When Clara discovers that she has become pregnant with Ishmael's child, however, the couple's carefree romance threatens to grow complicated as their ethnic backgrounds bleed into the forefront of their consciences and they struggle with how to reveal the development to their traditional-minded parents. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man is torn between his disgust for the decadence of the idle rich and his desire to get what he can from them in this drama from France. Mimmo (Francois Vincentelli) is a Parisian cab driver who one night picks up a young woman who has staggered out of a party at a posh estate. The girl is far gone on drugs and drink, and looks as if she's been worked over; after a few minutes, she's dead. Mimmo returns to the house to inform the owner about what happened, but John Deveau (Jean-Paul Rouve) can't be bothered with bad news, while his pal David Dermont de Villard (Bouli Lanners) believes there's nothing to be done. Trying to find someone who can help, Mimmo crosses paths with Laetitia Cornet d'Anthes (Audrey Marnay), John's wife, who is quite impressed with the cabbie's rugged good looks. Laetitia is convinced Mimmo has the face and the charisma to become a movie star, and despite his qualms about her seemingly heartless husband, he's intrigued by the possibility of becoming an actor. After John and his compatriots are found to be blameless in the girl's death -- in part due to influence exerted by John's father (Jean-Pierre Cassel) -- Mimmo is invited into their social circle, where he becomes their pet proletarian and he hopes to get a break in show business. Meanwhile, as Mimmo's story plays out in Paris, a young man from Belgium who is obsessed with Japanese culture makes a pilgrimage to Tokyo, with a phony samurai sword at his side. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A popular French comic strip of the 1950s becomes a candy-colored feature film in this race-car adventure. The Leaders and the Vaillants are rival families of Formula One car drivers, the former group devious and cutthroat, the latter benevolent and amiable. But when the hallowed Le Mans 24-hour race is at hand, both clans find that they'll resort to anything to win. With many of its scenes filmed at the real Le Mans race in the summer of 2002, Michel Vaillant was co-produced by international crossover success Luc Besson. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Two very different policemen seeking the truth about separate crimes find a terrible common link in this thriller from France. Pierre Niemans (Jean Reno) is a noted French detective assigned to investigate a brutal murder at a prestigious college located high in the Alps; the victim was first disfigured and dismembered, then strangled to death. Niemans soon realizes the murder was not an isolated incident when several similarly mangled corpses are discovered. Meanwhile, in a town 150 miles away, a young police investigator, Max Kerkerian (Vincent Cassel), is called in to investigate when the grave of a ten-year-old girl is dug up and ransacked. While interviewing the mother (Dominique Sanda) of the young girl, he crosses paths with Niemans, whose investigation has led him to the same town, and the two men begin to realize a surprising and troubling link between the crimes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed Belgian novelist Jean-Philippe Toussaint drew attention to his directorial talents in 1990 with a remarkable satire on modern life, Monsieur. His third feature, La Patinoire, is about a film director who is shooting a highly symbolic film called 'Dolores' at an ice rink. He has hired a Lithuanian ice hockey team with which he is having enormous communication problems. His actors all have inflated egos, his film crew is made up of fools, and there is a politician on his back. But he must finish the film, no matter what, in time for the Venice Film Festival. A black comedy which is applicable to all absurd situations of life, but particularly those associated with the film industry, La Patinoire is a clever satire from beginning to end, including its title. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Set in the suburbs, this tale of seduction, philandering, vengeance and murder is told with an airy, comical twist. The tale begins in summer on the day in which jealous husband Marco chokes his wife to death and then buries her in his backyard. He killed her because he discovered that she was planning to leave him for their neighbor, Andre. Because Andre is away on business, Marco tries to get more vengeance by seducing Consuelo, Andre's wife, but the relationship goes awry and once again Marco's thoughts turn to murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This French drama about the relationship between an insanely jealous man and his wife took 30 years to make. Since its inception by the late director Henri-Georges Clouzot the film was plagued with bad luck. He began filming it in 1964. There are only two characters in the film and on the third day of shooting the female lead became gravely ill. Later during rehearsals with a new actress, the director had a heart attack. Though he lived until 1977, he never got around to finishing it. The script was passed on to producer Marin Karmitz by Clouzot's widow. Paul wanted to buy the beautiful resort hotel he worked at for 15 years. His happy and spirited wife Nelly goes along with it. She is already a mother and contented with her life. Paul, who incurred tremendous debts to get the hotel, is not so happy. He is stressed to the breaking point. After he suspects his wife of philandering he slowly goes insane. He also begins increasing his consumption of alcohol and sleeping pills. Their lives become a living hell. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This large, sprawling comedy directed by Robert Altman concerns a variety of romantic and personal intrigues that intersect against the backdrop of Paris's annual "Pret-a-Porter" fashion extravaganza. With 31 principal characters and a number of cameos from well known models, designers, actors and actresses, there's far too much going on to describe the film in a limited space, but Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins get stuck in a hotel room together, Danny Aiello wears a dress, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni reignite their old passion (or at least try to), Stephen Rea humiliates a number of female journalists, Kim Basinger often looks dumbfounded, and Lyle Lovett plays a Texan (talk about imaginative casting!). Originally called Pret-a-Porter, this underwent a last-minute title change when the distributor discovered very few Americans understood what the French phrase means, with the English translation taking its place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide