Clovis Cornillac Movies

Two leading figures in the French cinema, actor Gerard Depardieu and director Claude Chabrol, collaborate for the first time in this breezy whodunit. Paul Bellamy (Depardieu) is a French police detective whose wife Francoise (Marie Bunel) has managed to persuade him to take a vacation for the first time in years. While she's enjoying the sights in Nimes, he's itchy to get back to work, but as it happens crime follows him to the hotel where he's staying. A fellow guest, Noel Gentil (Jacques Gamblin), confesses to a very unusual murder -- Gentil has had plastic surgery to heighten his resemblance to a homeless man, who Gentil and his wife planned to murder as part of an insurance scam. However, the scheme fell apart when Gentil's wife discovered he was having an affair, and now he's responsible for the death of an innocent man. While Gentil admits his guilt, Bellamy thinks something isn't right about his story, and he sets out to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Bellamy has to deal with an unwanted distraction in the form of his half-brother Jacques (Clovis Cornillac), who is addicted to booze and gambling and is a constant thorn in the cop's side. Bellamy received its British premiere at the 2009 BFI London Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the pit of a darkened cave, a man awakens next to a corpse and finds himself pursued by a mysterious creature. Perhaps if he can navigate the strange network of tunnels created by a company named Eden Log, he can escape with his life. But what is this vicious predator that pursues him, and why was this vast series of tunnels constructed in the first place? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

It's hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys in this slick, densely plotted thriller from France. Cash (Jean Dujardin) is a suave and well-mannered outlaw who specializes in grand-scale heists that turn on carefully constructed confidence games as much as muscle. When Cash's brother and partner in crime Solal (Clovis Cornillac) is killed by members of a rival outfit who try to force their way into a carefully planned heist, Cash assembles a new crew to rob the gunmen for their ill-gotten gains. Cash joins forces with Maxime Dubreuil (Jean Reno), a gifted veteran thief who brings along his beautiful protégé Garance (Alice Taglioni). As Cash, Maxime and Garance map out plans for the robbery of a lifetime, they're joined by Julia (Valeria Golino), a beautiful woman with a full compliment of criminal skills. But what they don't know is that Julia is actually an undercover police officer who is looking to shut down Cash's operation from the inside. Cash was written and directed by Eric Besnard; it was his second feature as director after establishing himself as one of France's leading screenwriters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As World War I looms ever closer on the horizon, an elite police task force organized by Minister of the Interior Georges Clemenceau (aka "The Tiger") mobilizes to apprehend the gang responsible for the first motorized hold-up in French history. The year is 1912, and despite operating in the shadow of the guillotine French gangsters continue to flourish. In order to ensure the safety of the public Minister of the Interior Clemenceau creates a dozen "mobile brigades" consisting of policemen with automobiles and fingerprinting equipment and deploys them nationwide. One such unit, fronted by straight-arrow cop Valentin (Clovis Cornillac, and consisting of sardonic brute Pujol (Edouard Baer), badge-toting pugilist Terrasson (Oliver Gourmet), and Italian immigrant Achille (Stefano Accorsi), is assigned the task of tracking down the gang led by notorious anarchist Jules Bonnot (Jacques Gamblin). An ambitious criminal mastermind whose recent heist involving a getaway car set a new standard in armed robbery, Bonnot has grown dangerously emboldened while establishing himself as France's most wanted. Meanwhile, as the Paris opera prepares to stage a new version of Ivan the Terrible and Russian princess Constance Bolkonski (Diane Kruger) embarks on an affair with Bonnot behind the back of her unsuspecting husband (Alexandre Medvedex) - who is furtively attempting to establish a self-serving three way alliance between Russia, England, and France - crack journalist Jean Jaures (Andre Marcon) struggles to bring it all together in the headlines as World War I and the Russian Revolution loom heavy on the horizon. Director Jerome Cornuau collaborates with screenwriters Xavier Dorison and Fabien Nury to resurrect the popular French television series of the 1970s with a multi-layered period thriller that is likely to evoke memories of the similarly themed Untouchables for stateside audiences. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

During his adolescent years, Sami, a French teen, saved 15-year-old buddy Patrick from a potentially fatal skiing accident - causing Patrick to feel long indebted to his friend. Years later, Patrick (Clovis Cornillac) has evolved into a congenial husband, father and businessman with a handsome Parisian flat and a gorgeous wife named Justine (Alice Taglioni), but the poor Sami (Pascal Elbe) failed to make an equally smooth transition into adulthood. He developed a severe case of hypochondria - so severe that he's now a basket case and spends inordinate amounts of time in the hospital undergoing every medical test in the books, and presumably torturing his insurance company in the process. So begins Gerard Bitton and Michael Munz's outrageous comedy-of-errors The Cactus. When Sami endures a brain scan and overhears a conversation between a doctor and a nurse, indicating that the patient "is suffering from a severe case of white spots" and "won't last the winter" - his paranoia leads him to conclude that they are discussing the results of his procedure; unbeknownst to him, the discussion pertains to the office cactus. Terrified of impending death, Sami leans more heavily than ever on Patrick and Justine (for whom he carries a serious torch) - first moving into their house, and then carting the Patrick along with him on a trip to India to consult with a famous healer. Alas, the two men's problems are only beginning, and when Patrick's decides to skip work in order to help his friend, it marks the beginning of a journey full of outrageous errors and mishaps that collectively turn each man's life upside down and inside out. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A woman struggles to hold on to the man she loves in this drama set in the 1930s from Belgian filmmaker Frédéric Fonteyne. Elisa (Emmanuelle Devos) is a housewife who is passionately devoted to her husband, Gilles (Clovis Cornillac), who works in a steel mill. Despite taking care of twin daughters and unfailingly seeing to the cooking and cleaning in their home, Elisa is as adoring of Gilles as she was on the day they met, and she eagerly tends to his ravenous sexual appetite. However, while most men would be thrilled to have a wife like Elisa, after years of marriage she begins to suspect that he might be having an affair with her sister Victorine (Laura Smet) while Elisa is pregnant with their third child. Elisa is too much in love with Gilles to leave him, but while she can accept her husband's faults, neither she nor her husband are certain if this is a casual fling or a love affair that will put an end to their relationship. La Femme de Gilles (aka Gilles' Wife) was adapted from a novel by Madeleine Bourdouxhe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this tart comedy from France, Raphael (Edouard Baer) is a glib but talented author who has built a career out of ghost-writing autobiographies for a variety of celebrities. Raphael is also happily dating Muriel (Marie-Josée Croze), a successful architect, but that begins to change when he begins his latest project, a book on soccer superstar Kevin (Clovis Cornillac). While wading through Kevin's monumental ego and strange creative notions is a challenge in itself, what really sets Raphael's mind off course is the discovery that Kevin is dating Claire (Alice Taglioni), the object of Raphael's unrequited affection while he was in college. Raphael is suddenly determined to win Claire away from Kevin, though he hasn't figured out how to do this without alienating his wife and his client. Mensonges et Trahisons et Plus Si Affinité (released in English-speaking territories as The Story of My Life) was screened in competition at the 2004 Avignon Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker Sam Karmann directs the crime drama A La Petite Semaine (Nickel and Dime), co-written with actual ex-con Desir Carre. When fiftysomething Jacques (Gerard Lanvin) gets released after serving five years in prison, he goes right to his local hangout and reunites with his old hoodlum friends in a working-class section of Montmarte. His friend Francis (Jacques Gamblin) has been taking acting classes, living with his mother (Liliane Rovere), and dating the waitress Camille (Julie Durand). His other friend, small-time crook Didier (Clovis Cornillac),has been gambling a lot, event though he and his wife Josiane (Sarah Haxaire) are expecting a baby. To the dismay of head criminal Marcel (Etienne Chicot), Jacques doesn't want to continue with a life of crime. A La Petite Semaine also stars Philippe Nahon as the bartender. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Four prisoners sharing the same cramped cell make a discovery that could help them escape from even the most high security prison if it doesn't split their world wide open first. Carrere is an ambitious company director serving time for fraud, Marcus is a thirty-five year old transsexual on course to becoming a real woman, Daisy is a mentally deficient servant, and Lassalle is a sixty year old intellectual who murdered his wife of many years. Together, these lawless misfits do their best to serve their time without losing their minds. One day, after discovering a loose stone slab in their cell, the four incarcerated convicts unearth the diary of a former prisoner named Danvers who occupied the exact same cell at the turn of the century. According to the diary, there exist magic formulas so powerful than any prisoner could use them to escape. Later, when the men attempt to decipher the formulas, the entire prison becomes a terrifying cauldron of bizarre phenomena. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Carnage, an example of what the French call un film chorale, tells several intertwining stories. In the central tale, a young second-generation bullfighter, Victor (Julien Lescarret), is gored, and is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. A little girl, Winnie (Raphaëlle Molinier), sits next to a massive Great Dane and watches the fateful bullfight on television, and becomes obsessed with the bull. A university researcher, Jacques (Jacques Gamblin of Safe Conduct), cheats on his massively pregnant wife, Betty (Lio), who hides a critical fact about her pregnancy from him. Jacques' brother, Luc (Bernard Sens), an amateur taxidermist, lives with their mother, Rosie (Esther Gorintin), who loves him, but withholds a family secret. Winnie's teacher, Jeanne (Lucia Sanchez), struggles to understand her neurotic mother, Alicia (Ángela Molina), when she visits. When her car is dented by a shopping cart, Carlotta (Chiara Mastroianni), a struggling actress, meets Alexis (Clovis Cornillac), a suicidal philosopher/skater who offers to lead her to the culprits. Carnage, the debut feature from writer/director Delphine Gleize, won the Sutherland Trophy at the 2002 London Film Festival and Best Screenplay at the 2002 Stockholm Film Festival. It was also shown at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and at Lincoln Center in New York as part of their 2003 Rendez-Vouz with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Karnaval is set against a backdrop of intolerance and hostility in the gloomy Northern French city of Dunkirk. The story is set during carnival time, when the citizens let themselves loose for six weeks of partying, carousing and having a good time. The film centers on Larbi (Ben Abdallah), an Arab youth, and his confrontation with one of the turning points of his life. After a violent argument with his father, Larbi decides to leave the family's business and go to Marseilles for a fresh start. On his last night in the town he grew up in, he sleeps in the hallway of an apartment building, where he is disturbed by Béa (Sylvie Testud) and Christian (Clovis Cornillac), a couple having fun at the carnival. Larbi is attracted to Béa and decides to stay a few more days to try his luck. In the free atmosphere of the carnival, Larbi discovers a world that he did not know existed, a world which is about to clash with his conservative outlook, and the three lives are changed forever. First time director Thomas Vincent approached the project with a realistic perspective rooted in a social context while remaining very lyrical, an approach he admired in the films of Ken Loach. Karnaval received the Alfred Bauer Prize for a debut film at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival in 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide