Serge Dupire Movies

Filmed in France, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Morocco, and Canada, this ambitious biographical TV miniseries chronicles the life and times of the "Little Corporal" from Corsica who managed to conquer nearly all of Europe within a period of a dozen years. The narrative begins in the mid-1790s, as Napoleon Bonaparte (played, curiously enough, by comic actor Christian Clavier) makes his mark on posterity with spectacular victories in Austria and Egypt. On the home front, Napoleon woos and wins the lovely (and considerably older) Josephine (Isabella Rossellini), but finds time for extracurricular romances with other women, notably Countess Marie Walewska (Alexandra Maria Lara). Ultimately, Bonaparte's ambitions destroy him, first in Russia, then at Waterloo, consigning the general-cum-emperor to live out his life in humiliation and exile. When originally broadcast in France in October 2002, Napoleon ran six hours (plus commercials), with four episodes. For its American presentation on the A&E cable network beginning April 8, 2003, the production was literally sliced in half, shown in two installments with a running time of three hours. What remained was all highlights and few insights, though a few brilliant moments remained, many of these supplied by the supporting cast, which included Gérard Depardieu (who also produced) as Fouche, and John Malkovich as Talleyrand. Thankfully, the full six-hour version was made available in the U.S. on DVD and VHS in 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Police detective Jacques Laniel's life becomes a nightmare the day drive-by shootists gun down his partner Thomas Colin. His colleagues make matters worse by blaming him for the death, and after his wife leaves him, Laniel decides to quit the force and launch a private investigation into Colin's murder. Soon afterward, Laniel finds the bullet-riddled body of famed author and literature professor Zachary Osborne tied to his car hood. The professor's wife hires Laniel to solve the murder, but what the detective finds is ugly: Osborne was a part of a lucrative land-speculation deal that involved the sale of a crumbling old rectory that had been turned into a halfway house called the Haven of the Monsters. The name is apt, for all the residents are convicted killers who were given inordinately light sentences. Up to this point in the plot, the film has been a standard crime thriller. But when Lanier starts questioning the Haven's tenants and their crimes are revealed via flashback, it takes on the character of a David Lynch production. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When eighteen-century sailors and the natives on the Tahitian island where they have landed begin to interact, racial prejudice becomes an over-riding consideration in their personal relations. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Le Matou is based on a novel by Yves Beauchemin. The title translates freely to "Alley Cat", in reference to a pet owned by a Canadian street kid. Cat and kid are but two of several eccentrics with whom restauranteurs Jean Carmet and Monique Spaziani come in contact. Others include a bombastic chef and a self-styled conjurer. Filmed on location in Quebec and Florida, Le Matou was apparently never intended to draw huge crowds; its calculated quirkiness is aimed squarely at the "festival" crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even though the protagonist of the Canadian Femme De L'Hotel is a female filmmaker, one would think twice before suggesting that this effort by Swiss-born director Lea Pool is autobiographical. Paule Baillargeon portrays a well-known director who returns to her home town of Montreal to film a high-budget musical drama. At her hotel, Paule has a brief but unsettling encounter with a suicidal elderly woman (Louise Marleau). This element of the plot is briefly forgotten as we get to know the actors in Paule's current project. Then she meets the old lady again, and with mounting incredulity Paule discovers that the actual events in the woman's life mirror the fictional events in the director's film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide