Lou Castel Movies

The Italian Rorret was directed by Fulvio Wetzl, a man who (to lapse into the vernacular) "knows from movies." Lou Castel plays the owner of a revival theatre, specializing in Hollywood thrillers of the 1940s. Castel is also mad as a hatter: he spends his off-hours murdering people he doesn't like. In the manner of the American film Fade to Black, Castel commits his crimes in imitation of famous movie death scenes. Unfortunately, once the basic "joke" of Rorret is established, it is stretched rather than developed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed French director Alain Resnais, winner of many international film awards for his ground-breaking creativity (Hiroshima, Mon Amour, L'Année Dernière à Marienbad), follows up his successful La Vie Est Un Roman with this continuing saga of love and death. This time, two principal actors from La Vie.. (Pierre Arditi and Sabina Azéma) star as Simon and Elizabeth, a new couple very much in love, and two more (Fanny Ardant and André Dussolier) star as their friends Judith and Jerome Martignac. After Simon has arrived at an archaeological dig he is directing in the south of France, he meets the winsome Elizabeth, and the two fall deeply in love, living joyously together for a full two months. Then Simon has a seizure of sorts and appears to have died, but he miraculously revives with memories of his experience that make his feelings for Elizabeth pale by comparison. As he searches for a way to express and regain that experience, he has another seizure, and this time he does not come back. Elizabeth continues their previous conversations with friends Judith and Jerome, both Protestant ministers, in an effort to come to a decision about her own life and death. In this highly symbolic drama, Simon is clothed only in black, Elizabeth only in red, and several dozen especially composed musical interludes alternate with the action, their sounds accompanied by a snow-like pattern that moves down a black screen. Although critics do not rank this effort by Resnais with some of his earlier, best films, Amour à Mort is still a strong cinematic statement. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Too many hours under the sun, artificial or not, might have warped this experimental work by Philippe Garrel. Ostensibly starting out as a movie about a young man and a woman whose relationship is coming apart, the story itself then comes apart. Soon director Garrel himself is in front of the camera, as the story turns into a film within a film, and other directors are brought in to salvage it: Chantal Ackerman and Jacques Doillon. After two hours of smoke and mirrors, viewers themselves will have to judge whether or not the salvage job worked. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this slightly garbled mystery story, Anna (Birgit Doll) works in a Munich detective agency as an assistant to Sam Schwarz (Armin Müller-Stahl) -- an inept private investigator and aspiring author -- and one day she decides to unravel a missing persons case herself. She travels to the Brittany seacoast and settles into the abandoned cottage that had been occupied by the now-missing Maria. After a short while in the cottage, Anna begins to suspect someone malevolent is out to murder her, and she deteriorates emotionally, even contemplating suicide. A friendly neighbor helps her out more than once, but the mystery of Anna's response to the cottage and of the missing Maria is not resolved until Sam Schwarz arrives from Munich and starts working on both cases. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Giulio Berruti's unusual cult horror film casts former sex symbol Anita Ekberg as Sister Gertrude, a nun working in a mental institution. Gertrude is clearly insane, and takes a great deal of morphine for her self-diagnosed cancer. She goes to town and picks up men, seduces a younger nun (Paola Morra) who was abused by her grandfather, and supposedly murders patients until the Mother Superior (Alida Valli) has her poisoned. Luigi Casellato appears as a crippled painter who gets kicked to death, and genre favorite Joe Dallesandro leads the supporting cast as a handsome doctor. Antonio Maccoppi's skillful cinematography gives the film a harsh, intimidating look and Ekberg creates a sympathetic character, although certain scenes -- such as her stepping on a patient's dentures -- cross the line into unintentional humor. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

The endless philosophizing which often accompanies love between two college students is accurately recounted here, as are the erotic explorations of other students, including some lesbian and homosexual contacts. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

With Fred Williamson as director and star of Mr. Mean, is there any question as to the identity of the title character? Williamson plays a former Cosa Nostra henchman who seeks greener pastures. Hiring himself out as a hit man, he immediately lands a job. His mission: wipe out his old boss. Filmed in Italy, Mr. Mean certainly fulfills audience expectations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wim Wenders' mines Dennis Hopper's real-life experience as a painter and collector in this existential take on the American gangster film based on a Patricia Highsmith novel featuring the notoriously sociopathic Tom Ripley. Hopper stars as the eponymous American, currently a middleman selling the work of American painter Derwatt (Nicholas Ray), who has feigned his own death to increase the value of his paintings. While auctioning this work in Berlin, he meets art restorer Jonathan Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz), who he learns is suffering from an incurable blood disease. When a shady friend (Gerard Blain) requires Ripley to find a "clean" non-professional to do a contract hit in order to pay off a debt, even he is reluctant. But he quickly realizes that the physically vulnerable Jonathan would be perfect for the job, and tries to get him to accept by employing various subterfuges to persuade him that his condition is even worse than it is. For his part, Blain guarantees the restorer that his family will be financially secure for life, and a deal is struck. As usual, nothing works out quite as expected. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

Themes long forbidden in Spain under the Franco dictatorship began to be explored in the years just following his demise. In this 1976 film, an unhappy and very effeminate man (played by a woman, Victoria Abril), experiences one difficulty after another. As a boy in Cataluña, his father attempts to teach him to "be a man." These lessons include taking him to a big-city whorehouse to have sex. At the bordello, he successfully avoids having sex with a woman, but when he sees a transvestite revue which culminates in the actors revealing their actual genitalia, he is fascinated. He runs away from home, learns to be a hairdresser, and develops a transvestite act of his own. After numerous love affairs with men, he eventually realizes his transsexual nature and goes to another country to have a sex-change operation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Also known as Nada, The Nada Gang is a lesser effort from director Claude Chabrol. A group of European terrorists calling themselves the Nada kidnaps an American ambassador. Their hideout is besieged by a sadistic police official and his minions. Thanks to the official's eagerness to pull the trigger, everyone winds up dead, including the ambassador. The Nada Gang was based on a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unhinged by the murder of his wife by a madman dressed as a cowboy, Alexis (Jean-Luc Bideau) hops into his car and lays himself wide open for a number of adventures; some of them are heavenly, but most of them are harrowing in the extreme. Along the way he meets a suicidal emigre (Micheline Lanctot) and brings her along his complicated journey. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Wim Wenders' The Scarlet Letter (German title: Der scharlachrote Buchstabe) may well be the most fascinating of the many screen versions of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 19th-century novel. Though the story is set in 17th-century Salem, Massachusetts, the film was lensed in Spain. Senta Berger is surprisingly well cast as Hester Prynne, whose sexual indiscretions have compelled her to wear the letter "A" (for adultery) on blouse--a symbol of shame to her neighbors, but a strange source of pride for Hester. Lou Castel plays the tortured Reverend Dimmesdale, the man who impregnated Hester but whom has been sworn to secrecy by the self-sacrificing heroine for the "good of the community." Hans Christian Blech portrays Hester's long-lost husband, whose reappearance sets the stage for the wrenching climax. Wenders' interpretation of the customs, behavior and inbred bigotry of the early American immigrants is eye-opening, as only an "outsider's" perception of what we take for granted can be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An enterprising reporter takes along four willing adventurers to interview and photograph a young Sardinian criminal in hiding. Under intermittent gunfire, they make their way to the mountain hideout of the bandit. After a leisurely conversation and photo session, the encampment comes under fire from a group of armed citizens acting as police. Bullets fly and violence overtakes the criminal's two henchman, as the thrill-seeking group and the wanted criminal find themselves under attack. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide