Hélène de Saint Père
- 2007
When wealthy and divorced tech company president Lucas becomes hopelessly smitten by the beautiful artist he has hired to paint a fresco for his enormous office building, he hires a private detective to discover why such a lovely and talented woman is still single. While Roland is a seasoned private investigator who only uses the latest technology in observing his subjects, he must be especially cautious in this case since getting discovered wouldn't bode well for his powerful client. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Lindon, Sandrine Bonnaire, (more)
- 2007
A bodyguard hired to look after a lawyer ends up protecting the man from himself in this breezy comedy from France. Bertrand Beauvois (Fabrice Luchini) is a successful fifty-something attorney who's hired to represent Edith Lasalle (Stephane Audran), who has been charged with killing a man with ties to the Russian mafia. Edith's adult son Louis (Gilles Cohen) has been warned that Russian strong-arm men may try to silence his mother and her legal team, so he hires a private security team to protect them and Bertrand finds he's shadowed at all times by stone-faced Christophe Abadi (Roschdy Zem). Bertrand doesn't see the need for Christophe's presence, but when the lawyer has trouble brushing off a former girlfriend he'd rather not see, the bodyguard turns out to be a valuable ally. Bertrand and Christophe strike up a friendship, as the former is increasingly impressed with the latter's street smarts and good judgment, but when Audrey Varela (Louise Bourgoin), a gorgeous woman nearly half Bertrand's age, begins throwing herself at him, Christophe has a hard time convincing his client that something is clearly not right. La Fille de Monaco (aka The Girl From Monaco) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabrice Luchini, Roschdy Zem, (more)
Paris resident Laure (Valerie Lemercier) has just finished packing her belongings in preparation for moving in with her lover, though she is oblivious to her apparent jitters at doing so. As she leaves her apartment for the night to join a pair of friends for dinner, Laure gets held up in traffic, due to a crippling public transportation strike. As she waits in her car, she finds a sense of serenity in the midst of all the chaos and begins to watch a number of people as they work their way through the congestion. One man in particular attracts her attention, as he also seems to be calmly regarding the traffic jam and its participants. The man, Jean (Vincent Lindon), gets into Laure's car and transports her down a number of side streets and away from all the confusion -- as both the strangers begin to feel an attraction toward one another. Director Claire Denis' Vendredi Soir was selected to compete in a number of film festivals in 2002, including the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valérie Lemercier, Vincent Lindon, (more)
- 2002
Actor Vincent Perez makes his feature-film directorial debut with the romantic drama Once Upon an Angel, which he cowrote with his wife, Karine Silla, and Jerome Tonnerre. Young Angèle (Morgane Moré) sets out to find work in order to ease the burden for her poor, debt-ridden parents and finds a job as a maid. By chance, she meets Gregoire Berthelot (Guillaume Depardieu), who takes a carnal interest in the young woman and seemingly nothing more. Intensely attracted to Gregoire and against all reason, Angèle spends an evening with the fiery stranger who promptly leaves her the next morning -- but he comes away from the tryst with more feelings toward Angèle than he hoped. For her part, Angèle is also left with more than fond memories of her experience with Gregoire and she eventually tracks him down -- but discovers that a couple of major complications may prevent them from developing a meaningful relationship. Once Upon an Angel was chosen as a competing film in the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgane More, Guillaume Depardieu, (more)
- 1997
In this short and uneven film about a single mother and her brood, the difficulties and obstacles involved in loving someone are presented with sympathy and fine sentiment, yet the film is slow in parts and although short, could have been advantageously edited to a still briefer length. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hélène de Saint Père, Michèle Moretti, (more)
- 1989
In this romantic thriller, Zoe (Nathalie Cardone), a girl who has gotten into serious trouble, finds an ally and protector in Bambi (Smain), a juvenile delinquent who has fallen in love with her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nathalie Cardone, Smain, (more)
