Catherine Leprince Movies
- 1986
With embarrassing dialogue and a theatrical style, this feature-length comedy is based on cartoon characters and is equally two-dimensional. After some misguided attempts at mixing with the riff-raff, the young rich heiress Paulette (Jeanne Marine) decides to start giving her money away to anyone who sounds like they really need it. Considering this to be an act of insanity, her greedy and crooked estate administrator gets her institutionalized. In retaliation, Paulette escapes with a fellow inmate, and after several misadventures (some nudity here) she finds herself nearly drowned and still no closer to regaining her estate. She is saved by some bargemen who decide to help her out -- and the adventure continues. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luis Rego, Catherine Leprince, (more)
- 1985
Based on the prize-winning novel by Elvire Mural, the French Escalier C (Staircase C) stars Robin Renucci as a cynical, spiteful art critic. The critic learns the error of his ways through the catharsis of disturbing life experiences. Though many of his friends and neighbors try to crack the shell he has built around himself, his eyes are opened to the importance of human compassion only after the suicide of his neighbor. In the original novel, the critic finds fulfillment through homosexuality; this element is removed from the film version, though the gay subtext is still very much in evidence. Escalier C was directed by Jean Tacchella, best known internationally for his earlier Cousin Cousine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Renucci, Catherine Leprince, (more)
- 1984
Following a trend that may have begun with the first Blondie movie in 1938, this is an acted interpretation of a popular comic strip by the acerbic cartoonist Jean-Marc Reiser, who wrote the dialog for Vive Les Femmes but died before shooting was completed. Reiser's comic strip emphasized the lowest common denominator in intimate relationships, where physically flawed examples of both sexes go after each other with unbridled enthusiasm. Roland Giraud plays a womanizer, and Maurice Risch an unhappy loner whose manners will undoubtedly keep him that way, in this disconnected series of uneven skits that play to no unifying theme. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Risch, Roland Giraud, (more)
- 1982
Martin Terrier (Alain Delon) has a problem. He wants to quit his job, but unlike everyone else, he cannot do it because he is a hired hitman and his employers would hate to see him turned out to pasture -- he knows too much, and he is still useful. When he escapes to the countryside for awhile, he meets Claire (Catherine Deneuve), and love blossoms. Back in Paris to confront his employers once again, Terrier gets an ultimatum -- do one last job for them and he can go free. He has no choice but to accept, even knowing that the odds on a long retirement have just changed for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 1979
A discontented concert pianist causes all sorts of heartbreak with his egotistical and womanizing antics, and all the people in his life attempt to force him to grow up in this French comedy/drama (with English subtitles). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rochefort, Nicole Garcia, (more)
