Claude Bouchery
- 1991
The coming-of-age ritual of young Alexina (Valerie Stroh) is complicated by an unforseen circumstance. How can a girl become a woman if she isn't a girl in the first place? Alexina confirms this biological fact by entering into a confusing relationship with an older woman. If, after watching Alexina, you're as mixed up as the heroine/hero, rest assured you're in good company. English-language prints are unrated, but you've probably gathered that this one isn't for the kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This film is based on a short novel by Russian author Anton Chekhov, with the settings changed to 1870 France. It concerns the romantic frustration of two extremely pleasant and civilized people. Alexandre (Jacques Villaret) is a middle-aged bachelor, pleasant and well-to-do, who fears the prospect of a lonely old age. With that in mind, he proposes to Julia (Sabine Azema), the beautiful and young only daughter of the town doctor. Given the lack of any real acquaintance between them, when she accepts his proposal, he is surprised. Once they are married, he is bitterly disappointed to discover that Julia married him because she also fears a lonely old age. Unskilled in matters of the heart, he had hoped and imagined that she was at least a little in love with him. When a financial reverse looms on the horizon, he throws himself into work and ignores his relationship with his new wife, who gradually has come to love him, though he remains unaware of this fact. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sabine Azéma, Jacques Villeret, (more)
- 1986
This provocative French drama is based upon the true story of Herculine Adelaide Barbin, a person who lived in the 19th century and grew up assuming that she was a woman. The character in the film is named Alexina. She had been raised in a convent and at 22-years-old, became the town school teacher in La Rochelle. There she is embraced by the locals who quickly befriend her. The trouble begins when she begins having sexual feelings for her roommate, a teacher named Sara. Their bedroom is divided by a curtain and at night, it is pure torture for Alexina who is deeply confused by the lust she feels. Eventually the two embark upon a lesbian romance until Sara remarks that Alexina loves as if she were a man. Their love affair causes a scandal amongst the townsfolk who find it disgusting. Later, Alexina is examined by a physician who discovers that "she" is also a "he," in short, Alexina is a hermaphrodite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillippe Vuillemin, Valerie Stroh, (more)
- 1976
In this complex chronicle of the evolution of a provincial family's life, the story follows three generations of at least two neighboring families from the 1890s to the 1970s. In one of many related tales, a man who was engaged to the older daughter of a farmer elopes with the younger one. After many years and the birth of five children, the man leaves his wife and family for the bright lights of the city but continues turning up from time to time, until he is finally taken into the home of one of his sons when he is a quite old man. The complex interactions of the legitimate and illegitimate children of a womanizing miner give rise to yet another set of related stories. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nathalie Baye, Claude Bouchery, (more)
