Marylin Even Movies

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, Rovi

Veteran film-theater-TV actress Myriam Boyer produced, scripted, and directed this French drama about a bitter bistro owner. In industrial Lyon of the early '50s, a widowed bar-owner (Boyer) listens to radio crime serials, reads detective magazines, and grieves for her daughter, killed two years earlier in a mineshaft accident. Consumed by her loss and unwilling to face the truth, the bar-owner becomes suspicious of the grim patrons in her drab tavern, seeking someone to blame as she contemplates revenge. Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Three down-and-out characters animate this imaginative demi-monde of the dispossessed: Genie (Marylin Even), a young female alcoholic whose mental faculties have been damaged by her drinking; Gregor (François Balmer) the "King of China" who buys junk from the homeless; and Emile (Roger Jendly), an older, alcoholic hobo, intriguingly self-assured. As the interactions between this trio unfold, their backgrounds and relationships move slowly into focus, and the real identity of Emile emerges. The ponderous movement of the plot detracts somewhat from the effective cast and interesting story, and there may be a point or two that is left unclarified -- but director Fabrice Cazeneuve has created a commendable first film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi