Stephane Ferrara

Two people brought together by fate are torn apart by their cultural and familial differences in this romantic drama. Raphael Ramirez (Samuel Le Bihan) is a first generation Frenchman whose parents emigrated there from Spain. Formerly a boxer, Raphael turned his back on pugilism and has gone into auto repair, though both Raphael and his brother, Manu (Yann Tregouet), both have a keen interest in the local Thai boxing scene. Raphael was once close friends with Tony Tran (Bounsy Luang Phinith), the son of a successful local businessman (Thomas Larget) who settled in France after leaving his home in Vietnam. However, Tony and Raphael have become wary of one another, and the tension between the two increases when Tony announces he wants to buy Raphael's garage. The simmering anger becomes explosive when Raphael meets Chinh (Yu Nan), a shy but beautiful girl of Cambodian heritage who is pledged to marry Tony. Raphael falls head over heels in love with Chinh, and is determined to wed her, whatever the cost. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker Manuel Boursinhac directs the action thriller La Mentale. Samuel Le Bihan plays Dris, a criminal who wants to go straight. Major mob boss Yanis (Samy Naceri) is an old friend who desperately needs Dris' help. However, Dris has already spent enough time in jail and only wants to settle down with his old girlfriend Lise (Marie Guillard). When Dris finally agrees to go along with the plan, he finds his little brother Mel (David Saracino) kidnapped by the villainous Fèche (Michel Duchaussoy). La Mentale received a theatrical release in France in 2002 before going straight-to-video in the rest of Europe. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Set in the Italian resort town of Rimini, this Italian murder-mystery begins during the off-season as the corpse of a wealthy young woman is discovered in a canal. Greenhorn district attorney Stefano Rossi is assigned to investigate. He soon finds himself involved with drug smugglers, the decadent rich and the attentions of the spoiled, free-spirited and fabulously wealthy Gaia, who seems to have more than one reason for distracting the earnest attorney. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This European road movie chronicles the misfortunes, hopes, and dreams of a troubled teenage girl alone in a cruel world. Life for Marie has always been hard, but lately things have gotten worse. Her former boyfriend committed suicide. She is pregnant by her current one, her mother is forcing her to abort the baby, and then tells her that had it been possible, she would have done the same to Marie. (The mother's husband left her when Marie was born.) Marie is actually on the operating table when she suddenly loses her nerve and splits to find the baby's father in a pool hall. He rejects her and she turns to a friendly drug pusher who takes her with him on a trip to Brussels. The police stop them and request that the dealer, Paulo, meet them at his apartment. He dumps Marie and takes off. Marie keeps the appointment (Paulo was killed during a chase, but she doesn't know it.) and finds Tonio, Paulo's 7-year old son staying by himself. His mother returned to Portugal after his birth. She finds out Paulo when the police raid the apartment. Afterward, Marie heads to Lisbon to return the boy to his estranged mother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Soriba Samb (Oumar Diop Makena) is a Senegalese who has gotten a much-prized internship to study filmmaking in Paris. In this story, Soriba heads to Paris, accompanied by the five-year old son of a friend of his who is believed to be still living in Paris. In addition to coping with his new internship, Soriba has to track down the boy's father Issa, a childhood friend of his, and attempt to persuade him to return to Senegal. When he finds him, he discovers that he is successfully running a prostitution ring, and selling pornography, and is not at all inclined to leave Paris. Despite that, Soriba goes to the trouble of performing the spells and rituals he has promised Issa's mom he would do. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

While strolling through the Tuileries, Catherine de Medici's lovely palace and its grounds in the heart of Paris, Marie (Beate Jensen) meets Peter (Stephane Ferrara), a handsome man whom she instantly gets involved with. He has warned her that he sometimes kills women for the pleasure of it, but despite that evidence of a truly twisted mind, she embarks on a passionate affair with him which is graphically depicted onscreen. When he actually kills a woman whom they happen to meet, she helps him cover up the deed. Is she actually turned on by this mayhem? It is difficult to know, but after the murder she witnesses, she does belatedly begin to take some steps to protect herself from this monster. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this Italian film, a mysterious caller piques the interest of an attractive woman (Brigitte Nielsen), and the two form an unusual relationship. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Patrick (Stephane Ferrara) is a hired thug who goes into a small dinner theater to collect an overdue debt. He falls for the actress Catherine (Catherine Wilkening), and the two copulate like wild animals in heat on several occasions. When Catherine is offered a starring role in an upcoming production, her rehearsal schedule leaves little time for Patrick. Now addicted to her lovemaking, Patrick throws her in a car and tries to kill himself and Catherine by intentionally crashing his car on the highway. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

After several years of making films to please only himself, French director Jean-Luc Godard once more invites the audience to the party with The Detective. Not that there's anything so blase as a linear plot or appealing characters, but at least some of Godard's isolated vignettes are accessible this time around. Set in the Hotel Concorde at St. Lazare, the film is set in motion when miserably married Nathalie Baye and Claude Brasseur attempt to collect a debt from mob-plagued boxing manager Johnny Hallyday. Meanwhile, hotel detective Jean-Pierre Leaud tries to solve an old murder case. These two gossamer plot strands are used to tie together Godard's scattershot views on modern life, with emphasis on the voyeuristic potential of the recent video-camera boom. The director dashed off The Detective to raise money for a film he truly cared about, the controversial Hail Mary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In another typical Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicle, the French action hero plays a policeman prone to advancing the cause of justice by any means necessary. On his agenda is a powerful drug cartel working out of Paris and Marseilles, with a drug lord (Henry Silva) who is essentially inaccessible -- but not immortal. Stunts (performed by Belmondo) and chase scenes on land and water enliven the story, but the scenes with Belmondo's love interest are rather marginal themselves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide