Michel Peyrelon Movies

A genteel teacher finds himself out of his element when his request to be assigned to a Parisian school lands him in an impoverished, multi-cultural ghetto suburb outside of Paris. There Laurent Monier (Gerard Depardieu) finds himself forced to live in a project apartment and teach classes full of underprivileged, tough and troubled youth. His former spouse is also a teacher, but she got a plumb job in an upscale part of Paris while Laurent -- who moved to Paris to be near her -- struggles to keep his car intact and to stay alive on the dangerous streets. Still, he does his best in the schoolroom and eventually earns the respect of his students. Trouble brews however, when school gossip gets out of hand and threatens to destroy his career. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A modern farce about medieval life, this is a time-travel comedy by French director Jean-Marie Poire. A 12th-century nobleman, Godefroy (Jean Reno), and his squire Jacquouille (Christian Clavier) are the victims of a mistake by an aging wizard. While trying to work another spell, the sorcerer accidentally transports the pair to the late 20th century. To his great dismay, Godefroy finds that his family is now poor and has sold their estate to Jacquouille's rich descendants, including Jacquart (also played by Clavier). The insensitive new owners plan to turn the castle into a modern hotel. Meanwhile, the sorcerer asks his own descendant for help in trying to get his charges to return back to medieval times. The film, which details with comic precision the differences in manners and technology between the two eras, was a huge hit in France. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Is Nosfer Arbi a vampire? Or is he just a very emaciated, very strange and possibly quite lonely young man from an Arabic country with an obsession with death? On the other hand, why is the previously cheery Parisian teenager Nathalie Belfond throwing fits and speaking in Arabic? Her strange behavior began with the appearance of a caped and cadaverous man outside her window. Mr. & Mrs. Belfond have their hands full trying to sort this mess out, in this extremely unusual and award-winning comedy which puts a new wrinkle on the vampire mythos. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Georges (Thierry Fremont) is a juvenile Nazi collaborator who agrees to gather information on others in France in exchange for the authorities forgiving his own transgressions. Rove (Andre Dussolier) is the intelligence officer who trains Georges in his quest to hunt down Nazi war criminals. Liberation judges demand full sentences for the small-time collaborators while allowing the bigger fish to escape, and other Nazis are allowed to be recruited by the United States, as political pressures move towards a communist witch hunt. Conveniently overlooked once again is the historical fact that only a small minority in France were actively involved in the heroic resistance movement against the Nazis. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This unflinching, provocative drama is set in the slums of Gay Paree, where dwells the dregs and fringe of French society. There Miss Mona, an aging drag queen, dreams of becoming a real woman before he dies. Unfortunately, an old lover stole all the money he was saving so he could become a she instead. Miss Mona finally gets his chance to earn more cash when he meets a destitute young Arab, an illegal immigrant. The queen takes the Arab in and convinces the destitute and desperate youth that he will make enough money to buy immigration papers if he becomes a prostitute. The Arab reluctantly agrees to it, but does not realize that the money he grits his teeth to earn is actually going to pay for Mona's dream surgery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this confusing, surreal, and slow-paced drama that swings back and forth from strange to farcical, Robert (Alain Delon) meets Donatienne (Nathalie Baye) on a train. She tells him a story about a woman and a man who meet on a train and subsequently spend a night - only one night - in a glorious sexual encounter before they part forever. He is so taken with her that he ends up in her mountain chalet, not just for one night, but for many - drinking beer and forgetting about his wife in Paris. Donatienne then has sexual relations with all the men in her neighborhood - and the film steps fully into a bizarre world in which neither Robert nor Donatienne can honestly relate to each other. The mystery about what is going on is revealed in the end, but by then the film - verbose, inscrutable, and artificial - may have alienated more than one viewer. On the other hand, the performances of Delon and Baye stand out against this flawed backdrop, an achievement recognized at the 1984 Cesars when Delon won the Best Actor award for his role as Robert. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Elements of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream are mixed with a few doses of Bell, Book and Candle in the French Rendez-Moi Ma Peau. A contemporary witch decides to switch the personalities of two wildly divergent mortals. The comic complications involve the "uptight" character's attempts to adapt to a freewheeling lifestyle, and vice versa. Some potent satirical points are made, but for the most part we're in this for the laughs, and nothing but the laughs. Director Patrick Schulmann doubled as the film's screenwriter, then trebled as musical composer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When the local police inspector was found dead in a prostitute's house, police division commissioner Stan Borowitz (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is sent to investigate the situation. Posing as the prostitute's long-lost brother "Antonio Cerruti," he discovers a mare's nest of police corruption. In fact, in this comedy thriller the whole town is corrupt. If they were closely examined, Stan's methods for pursuing this investigation might embarrass the police. For instance, he drives into a criminal's house in a fancy, expensive race car. In another incident, he callously blows up a casino owned by Musard (Georges Geret), one of the town's crime bosses. On that occasion, he first forces Musard to remove his clothes, and the poor criminal watches his casino explode from across the square while standing naked in a phone booth. Meanwhile, Stan seduces the lovely Edmonde (Marie Laforet). This box-office smash was the first of four wildly successful collaborations between Belmondo and director Georges Lautner. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

After a computer-tested set of features is found to be the face most likely to win the confidence of the French people, Marcel (Jean Carmot), who recently turned down a promotion at his bank in order to spend time with his wife, finds himself swept up into the schemes and shenanigans of the President of France (Michel Lonsdale) to regain the confidence of the French. After being manipulated, used, and worked to the bone, he manages to get a little revenge on the politicians. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this French spy thriller, a policeman with wide-ranging powers to protect an African dictator who is visiting France -- to negotiate a uranium-mining treaty -- reveals an unexpected degree of skillfulness in doing his job when he is challenged by the actions of spies from other countries and the obstinacy of the dictator himself. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In truth, there are two French Detectives in this European crime melodrama. Lino Ventura plays an aging, been-around gumshoe, while Patrick Dewaere is his young, callow and cynical associate. The two detectives don't like each other much at first, but this will change. Their current assignment: getting the goods on a corrupt politician. Occasionally more violent than it needs to be, The French Detective has the twin advantages of authenticity and sincerity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Veronique goes on vacation with her godparents and begins to grow aware of the complexity and power of sexual attraction. She and her godfather develop a relationship which could easily have become sexual, but does not. She confides in her diary afterwards that she wishes she had permitted things to go further. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide