Anne Coesens Movies

Gerard Depardieu, Oliver Marchal, and Asia Argento star in this thriller about a Paris police officer who puts his own career on the line to help his lifelong friend, a crooked narcotics cop who does some drug trafficking on the side. Mat works the night beat in the city, and his best friend Franck works in the drug squad. But after busting the local drug dealers, Franck turns a tidy profit by selling their product at cut-rate prices. When Franck gets in over his head, it's up to Mat to help and old friend by taking matters into his own hands. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An executioner and his colleagues ponder the integrity of their trade in this historical drama inspired by actual events. In March 1918, after fifty years of refusing to implement the death penalty, the King of Belgium decides a recent criminal case demands capital punishment -- a man who was found guilty of killing his pregnant wife. However, since it has been decades since Belgium executed a felon, the state lacks the necessary tools, and the King calls upon France to let them borrow a guillotine and a man who knows how to work it. Deibler, considered to be one of the most skillful executioners in France, is sent to Belgium with a guillotine in tow to do the job, accompanied by his associates Lieutenant Vinel, Corporal Thabar and Jules Pasquier. However, as they make their way to Belgium, traveling through battlefields of the First World War, Deibler and his friends find themselves torn over the ethics of the case as citizens of both nations argue about the political and moral issues tied to the death penalty. Starring Jean-Michel Dupuis, Gérald Laroche and Bernard Blancan, Le Voyage de la Veuve (aka The Journey of the Widow) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A tragic accident brings a rebellious son closer to understanding the plight of his single mother in this family drama from French filmmaker Laurent Jaoui. It's been years since Tom and his young mother, Valerie, were abandoned by Tom's father, and contrary to the age-old adage that time heals all wounds, Tom has only grown increasingly bitter with each passing year. Convinced that it was his mother who drove his father from their family, Tom has taken to shouting and disobeying his mother as a means to express his constant resentment and frustration with their current situation. When Tom and his mother are involved in a horrible car accident during an especially heated argument, Tom walks away from the crash, but his mother is left in a deep coma. Soon placed in a group home by the juvenile court, Tom attempts to deal with his pangs of guilt while simultaneously forming a bond with Malik -- the stern head of the group home, who instills Tom with a much needed sense of discipline. When Tom's mother awakens from her coma with no memory of the events leading up to the crash, Tom must make the difficult decision of facing up to the past or protecting his mother from the painful memories of their relationship even as he struggles to come to terms with his newfound respect for her plight. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This portrayal of the reunion of an estranged father and daughter is set against the backdrop of a theatrical production. The father Pierre (Michel Piccoli) is the artistic director of a theater, and when his daughter Manon (Sandrine Bonnaire) lets him know that she is coming to see him after a year's absence, Pierre decides to prepare for the meeting. He goes to the theater with his girlfriend Ariane (Sabine Azema) and has the actresses in his troupe act out different aspects of his daughter's character. Unfortunately, this is not adequate preparation, for when Manon does show up, nothing goes quite as he imagined. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide