Emmanuelle Devos Movies

This wild, raunchy, gag-a-minute French farce concerns Hervé (Vincent Lacoste), a skirt-chasing 14-year-old boy struggling to contend with social awkwardness and the fact that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Nor do female respond favorably to him either: he suffers rejection after rejection, until he draws some attention from gorgeous and popular classmate Aurore (Alice Tremolieres). Suddenly, with Aurore at his side, Hervé lands in the middle of the most exclusive social circles, but finds himself surrounded by a series of wild and unruly characters. Meanwhile, he struggles to contend with the emotional ups and down of a young adolescent. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Alain Resnais, one of the towering figures of the French New Wave, demonstrates he still has plenty to say in this drama based on a novel by Christian Gailly. Marguerite (Sabine Azema) is a successful dentist with a busy practice and an offbeat hobby, flying small airplanes. One day, while running errands, Marguerite loses her wallet, and it's found by Georges (Andre Dussollier), a seemingly happy man with a wife, Suzanne (Anne Consigny), and two children (Vladimir Consigny and Sara Forestier). As Georges looks through the wallet and examines the photos of Marguerite, he finds he's fascinated with her and her life, and soon his curiosity about her becomes an obsession. Georges attempts to integrate himself into Marguerite's begin to alarm her, and she hires a private security team (Mathieu Amalric and Michel Vuillermoz) to keep him away, but Georges is determined that his new love for her will not be denied. Les Herbes Folles (aka Wild Grass) received its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A confidence man stumbles into a scam that's not only lucrative but might actually help people in this comedy-drama inspired by a true story. Paul (Francois Cluzet) is a minor league swindler who after getting out of jail finds himself in a small town in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, where the economy has been in the doldrums ever since a major road construction project was abandoned. Paul tries to pull a small scale con on someone while posing as a representative of a large construction firm, and when word gets around that one of the company's men is in town, word spreads that the highway project is on again, and local subcontractors are eager to give Paul cash payments to be part of the job. Soon Paul is managing a big road building operation, even though he doesn't know the first thing about construction, and a number of men who've been out of work for months are on his payroll. Paul also find himself working side by side with the town's mayor, a lovely widow named Stephane (Emmanuelle Devos), and the two drift into a romance, but how long can Paul keep up this game before he's found out? A L'origine (aka In The Beginning) also stars Gerard Depardieu, Vincent Rottiers and Soko. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When a woman who always placed the needs of others before her own develops a fierce independent streak and decides to start taking her writing seriously, the friends and family who were always her top priority have little choice but to watch on in befuddled bemusement. Elaine Weiss (Emmanuelle Devos) is a Paris schoolteacher with a rather selfless reputation; most days, after catering to the needs of her old-fashioned husband, their young daughter, her neurotic widowed mother, and a classroom of kids, she never had so much as a minute to herself. But having neglected her own needs for so long, Elaine finally begins to wonder what life would be like if she could just live by her own rules for a while instead of constantly bending over backwards to make everyone in her life happy. When Elaine buys a laptop, takes up smoking, and begins spending late nights with her handsome young publisher, her husband (Gérard Darmon) is at first tolerant of her quest for independence. But later, when Elaine begins staying out late with her handsome young publisher, things around their once-happy household begin to grow noticeably tense. Meanwhile, Elaine's clingy, Yiddish-speaking mother seems hopelessly clueless about her daughter's artistic aspirations despite the fact that the entire family comes together weekly for their boisterous Shabbat dinners. Perhaps the only one who can truly understand Elaine'e newfound need for self-fulfillment is her later father. Though he may not be there to console her in person, he still offers comfort and guidance during Elaine's regular visits to his graveside. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

"What would you think if I shaved my moustache?" asks Marc (Vincent Lindon) of his wife, Agnès (Emmanuelle Devos), one fateful night as they prepare to visit friends for dinner. She's never seen him without it, but while she goes to do some last-minute shopping, he impulsively shaves the moustache off. Thus begins a tragic odyssey that leads Marc to question every relationship in his life, and even his own identity. Marc's journey into darkness begins when Agnès returns home. At first, he playfully tries to conceal what he's done. When he finally reveals his bare face to her, with a flourish, her reaction is...nonexistent. She baffles him by appearing not to notice the change. Confused, he says nothing, and they proceed with their plans for the evening. When the couple's friends Serge (Mathieu Amalric) and Nadia (Macha Polikarpova) also fail to make note of the change in Marc's appearance, he begins to get angry, believing that Agnès is playing an elaborate prank on him. In the car on the way home, he loses his temper, and it's her turn to be baffled. What moustache? How can she have noticed that he shaved his moustache when he's never had one? While Agnès begins to question her husband's sanity, Marc frantically searches for evidence of his former facial hair. Things only get worse for Marc, as no one at his job remembers him having a moustache either, and before long, he discovers that there are other details of his life that only he remembers. The Moustache marks the directorial debut of Emmanuel Carrère, who adapted his own novel with Jérôme Beaujour (She's One of Us). The film was shown as part of The Film Society of Lincoln Center's 2006 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, 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

A wealthy but dysfunctional family teeters on the brink of collapse in this emotional drama leavened with a strong dose of dark comedy. Federica (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) is the daughter of a wealthy Italian business magnate (Roberto Herlitzka) who relocated himself and his family to France in the 1970s, after a wave of kidnappings among the rich and prominent led him to fear for their safety. Years later, Federica and her siblings -- brother Aurelio (Lambert Wilson) and sister Bianca (Chiara Mastroianni) -- still feel lost and disconnected, and with their father on his death bed, they each confront their feelings in their own way. Emotionally distant Aurelio plans a long and expensive vacation, while Bianca is in a sour mood that refuses to lift. Federica, who is attempting to establish herself as a playwright, tries to focus on her work, but she finds herself romantically torn between her current beau, down to earth Pierre (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and her former lover Philippe (Denis Podalydes), who despite his infatuation with her can't tear himself away from his wife and child. Il Est Plus Facile Pour un Chameau... was the first feature film from Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, who wrote and directed the film as well as playing Federica. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Pascal Bonitzer's heavily plotted comedy Petites Coupures (Small Cuts) opens with journalist Bruno (Daniel Auteuil) and his wife, Gaelle (Emmanuelle Devos), having it out over his affair with Nathalie (Ludivine Sagnier). After an invitation from Bruno's uncle Gerard (Jean Yanne), Bruno and Nathalie travel to the town where Gerard is mayor. Bruno learns that his aunt is having an affair. Gerard is aware of his wife's infidelity and asks Bruno to take a letter to the man who has cuckolded him, a doctor named Verekher (Hanns Zischler). On his way to the doctor's home he meets Marie (Dinara Droukarova), and once there he encounters the mysterious Beatrice (Kristin Scott Thomas). Small Cuts was screened at the Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A middle-aged Frenchwoman is either experiencing delusions of grandeur or the full force of destiny in director Tonie Marshall's 2002 romantic drama Nearest to Heaven (Au Plus Pres Du Paradis). When single non-fiction book author Fanette (Catherine Deneuve) accidentally bumps into former schoolmate Bernard (Bernard Le Coq) -- who was smitten with Fanette in school but whose affection remained unrequited -- she is reminded of another man whom she loved intensely. This other man, Philippe, left a huge impression on Fanette as she begins to lose herself in reminiscences over the brief, intense relationship the two experienced. After catching a number of screenings for the 1957 film An Affair to Remember -- which was also Fanette and Philippe's favorite film during their fling -- Fanette gets the notion from what may or may not be a figment of her imagination to go to New York and visit the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Setting out under the pretense of putting the finishing touches on her latest book, she arrives in the States and discovers her usual photographer has been replaced by the single and somewhat attractive male photographer Matt (William Hurt) -- which further confuses Fanette when she eventually develops feelings for him. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

The English-language debut of French director Arnaud Desplechin, Esther Kahn charts the ascension of a lower-class Jewish girl from a turn-of-the-century London ghetto to one of the stage's leading actresses. Esther (Summer Phoenix) feels set apart from her large, raucous family, who are all employed in the garment business. Her life is changed when she attends a Yiddish theatre performance, and she is suddenly determined to become an actress. After joining a small theatre company, she becomes the protégé of Nathan (Ian Holm), a stage veteran who instructs her in her chosen craft. Esther gradually works her way up in the ranks -- taking a lover, brainy French theatre critic Philippe (Fabrice Desplechin), along the way -- until she is cast in the title role of Hedda Gabler, which she performs to great acclaim. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

What do three hitmen, a lost foreskin, and the pope have to do with each other? This wacky French comedy answers this question and many more. Set during the 1997 papal visit to Paris, 23-year old father Jonas (Clemont Sibony) is given his son's foreskin in a wad of tissues after the bris and solemnly told to bury it in three days without fail. Three days later, Jonas suddenly remembers his sacred duties while playing keyboards at a bar mitzvah and tries to leave. Unfortunately, the bar mitzvah boy's father comes to believe that Jonas has been flirting with his drunk and buxom wife Sophie (Emmanuelle Devos) and orders him murdered by three of his crack hitmen. Later, when Jonas tries to comfort Nina (Rona Hartner), a Romanian hell-bent on seeing the pope, he unwittingly gives her the exact wad of tissues that contain the foreskin. Tracking down Nina and finding a suitable place to bury the foreskin in the urban scrawl of Paris proves to be no easy task. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this bittersweet look back at the trials of growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Emilie (Magali Woch), Ines (Ingrid Molinier), Stella (Julie-Marie Parmentier), and Marion (Camille Rousselet) become friends as they share the humiliations that are a part of adolescent life -- going to school, dealing with your parents, dealing with the emotional abuse of your peer group. La vie ne me fait pas peur spent several years in production; during a layoff in shooting, director Noemie Lvovsky shot a television film with the same characters entitled Petites, and later incorporated footage from the TV project into this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide