Grégoire Colin Movies
Tall, lean, and possessing sensuously moody features, French actor Grégoire Colin has been acting in films and on the stage since he was 12. Although he found steady work in his native country for years, it was not until 1992 that audiences outside of France became aware of him. That year, he had the title role of a disturbed, enigmatic teenager in Agnieszka Holland's Olivier, Olivier and gave an unnerving performance that caught the attention of international critics and art house audiences.Colin went on to excel in roles that demanded of him a sober, sometimes dark, complexity. In 1994, he starred as a serious young monk in another art house favorite, Milcho Manchevski's Before the Rain, and that same year portrayed a teenager looking for love in the wrong places in U.S. Go Home, the first of his collaborations with director Claire Denis. He and Denis collaborated again, two years later, on the widely acclaimed Nénette et Boni, in which the actor starred as a lovelorn pizza maker; in 1999, he once more stepped in front of Denis' camera to play a young Foreign Legion recruit, in the military drama Beau Travail.
Colin did some of the strongest and most disturbing work of his career to date in Erick Zonca's La Vie Rêvée des Anges (The Dreamlife of Angels, 1998), an internationally celebrated film in which he played a coolly monstrous club owner. After doing some lighter work in Jacques Rivette's Sécret Défense, a comedy drama that cast him as a young man bent on killing his father, Colin stepped into period costume to portray a Jewish radical and poet living in pre-World War II Pairs in Disparus (1999). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Time and romantic attraction threaten to sour a family relationship in this drama from writer and director Claire Denis. Lionel (Alex Descas) is a middle-aged widower who makes his living driving a train and shares an apartment with his twentysomething daughter, Joséphine (Mati Diop). Lionel and Joséphine have a warm and caring relationship, and while it's not Lionel's nature to say very much, his affection for his daughter is clear. Lionel's on-and-off girlfriend Gabrielle (Nicole Dogue) and their footloose friend Noé (Grégoire Colin) live in the same building, and together the four have fallen into a casual family relationship. However, when Lionel's close friend and fellow driver René (Julieth Mars Toussaint) announces he's retiring, Lionel becomes painfully aware that he's not as young as he once was, and realizes how much he depends on his daughter. This knowledge sets Lionel on edge when Joséphine's friendship with Noé begins to evolve into a romantic relationship. 35 Rhums (aka 35 Shot of Rum) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alex Descas, Mati Diop, (more)
Set in 1810, director Micha Wald's tense revenge drama follows a vengeful Cossack (Adrien Jolivet) as he sets out on an epic journey to bring his brother's killer to justice. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrien Jolivet, Grégoire Colin, (more)
- 2007
Circa 1853, at an undisclosed locale in Eastern Europe, two sweaty, dirty and muscular brothers, Jakub (Adrien Jolivet) and Vladimir ((Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) - both fire-breathing brutes of an almost subhuman order - participate in tortuous hazing as they undergo Cossack initiation rituals. During Vladimir's attempt to swipe a Cossack horse with a third brother (the slightly gentler Elias (François-Rene Dupont)), thug Roman (Gregoire Colin) murders Vlad; the hell-bent Jakub then embarks, cross-country, on a violent mission of revenge, wielding deadly weapons and vowing to annihilate Roman's own siblings. Micha Wald directed the French-language Voleurs de chevaux and authored the original script. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrien Jolivet, Grégoire Colin, (more)
Tensions arise in the household of a bourgeois architect and his young wife when they hire a young peasant girl as a wet nurse for their newborn daughter, and a friendship blossoms between the two women despite class differences. Set in 1877, A Song of Innocence opens to find Julien (Gregoire Colin) and his wife Charlotte (Emilie Dequenne) welcoming their infant daughter home. It was a difficult delivery for Charlotte, and since ambitious Julien is always away at work, the couple agrees to bring in Angele-Marie (Islid Le Besco) as a wet nurse. Disappointed at having a girl, Julien plans to try for a male heir as soon as possible despite the fact that Charlotte isn't sure she wants to have anymore children. The mood in their household is already strained when, in Julien's absence, Charlotte and Angele-Marie discover that they have more in common than either woman expected. Just days before going to work for the Charlotte and Julien, Angele-Marie gave birth to her own child, quickly sending her baby off with another wet nurse so she could earn a decent wage as a wet nurse to the wealthy couple. But Julien makes no attempt to hide his distain for the relationship between the two women, and it isn't long before the situation threatens to turn violent. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isild Le Besco, Émilie Dequenne, (more)
- 2004
Bruno (Grégoire Colin of Beau Travail) is a troubled art student fascinated with pristine white walls and empty space. A squalid, unhappy childhood has left him angry, reclusive, and obsessive. When his brutish uncle (Etienne Chicot), fed up with Bruno's eccentricities, threatens to kick him out, Bruno calmly murders him. Elise (Julie Ordon) is several years younger than Bruno, just entering adulthood. Her mother was murdered when Elise was a little girl, and Anne (Brigitte Catillon), the psychiatrist who used hypnosis to try to draw out her memory of the event, is now married to Elise's father, Richard (Laurent Grévill). Anne still worries that the mysterious man who murdered Elise's mother will return to harm Elise. She's overprotective to the point of paranoia, and Elise grows increasingly weary of her stepmother's constant meddling. When Bruno gets an interior design job at the upscale shoe store where Elise works, they are immediately drawn to each other. While Elise is quietly determined to draw out the odd, shy young man, Bruno seems to see Elise as some kind of ideal objet d'art. Anne, ever suspicious, suspects that Bruno is up to no good, and tries to keep Elise from seeing him. As Bruno plots to make Elise his, the twisted truth about her mother's murder is revealed. Inquiétudes, based on the novel A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell, was written and directed by Gilles Bourdos. It was shown at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendezvous With French Cinema in 2004. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grégoire Colin, Julie Ordon, (more)
Claire Denis' elliptical drama L'Intrus was inspired by a short book written by philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy about his heart transplant. In the film, Michel Subor (Le Petit Soldat) stars as Louis, who lives fairly self-sufficiently in a small cabin in the snowy wilds near the Swiss border. Louis has a son (Grégoire Colin, who also starred with Subor in the director's Beau Travail) whose wife (Florence Loiret-Caille) is a border guard, and they have two young children, but Louis has a strained relationship with his family. He lives a hard, stoic life out in the cold. Mysterious strangers cross the border at all hours of the day and night, and Louis vigilantly -- sometimes violently -- protects his homestead. It soon comes to pass that he needs a heart transplant. Louis quickly and quietly makes some arrangements, and travels to Pusan for the operation. He makes the demand that he be given a young man's heart, and not a woman's. His health still failing, Louis then travels to Tahiti, hoping for a final reunion with another son, whom he abandoned years before. The footage of the young Subor in Tahiti was taken from an uncompleted adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson story directed by Paul Gégauff. L'Intrus also stars Béatrice Dalle, Katia Golubeva, and Alex Descas in smaller roles. The film was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of 2005's Rendez-Vous With French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, (more)
- 2003
Olias Barco's drama Snowboarder is set in the Alps. Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) is a young, gifted snowboarder. He is lured away from his ski shop job by the snowboarder he admires most in the world, Josh (Grégoire Colin), who, it turns out, does not have Gaspard's best interests at heart. Juliette Goudot rounds out the cast as Josh's girlfriend, Ethel. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Duvauchelle, Grégoire Colin, (more)
Catherine Breillat's Sex is Comedy concerns a female film director, Jeanne (Anne Parillaud), who is attempting to film a sex scene in her new movie. Complicating the already emotionally difficult shoot is the fact that Jeanne and her lead actor (Grégoire Colin) are sexually involved. The scene being shot echoes with a scene in Breillat's previous film, Fat Girl, adding to the supposed "reality" of the situations presented in the film. Roxane Mesquida rounds out the cast as the actress playing the 15-year-old in the scene being filmed. Sex Is Comedy was screened during the Director's Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Parillaud, Grégoire Colin, (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
Yolande Zauberman's World-War II drama The War in Paris tells a sad story of a teenager trapped in a terrible time. Jules (Jérémie Rénier) is a 19-year-old living in Nazi-occupied Paris. After Jules' brother takes a Nazi's weapon, local cop Grégoire Colin puts Jules in a difficult place. Either Jules must give up his brother, or their parents will be deported. This is the first of many crises of conscience that Jules faces. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Traveling down the river from the distant Bolivian outpost of San Jacinto in 1945, moody traveler Timar (Grégoire Colin) reflects on his star-crossed affair with the eponymous Adela (Eulalia Ramon) at her husband's decrepit hotel. Because Adela was married, deceitful, and adept at using her feminine charms, trouble duly followed her steamy encounter with Timar, problems ranging from difficulty in finding good hired help to a sudden abundance of dead bodies, and culminating in a climactic courtroom showdown. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eulalia Ramon, Grégoire Colin, (more)
Daniel Auteuil stars as the infamous Marquis de Sade, who at the beginning of Sade, is serving a sentence in Paris' grim Saint Lazarde prison. The year is 1794, and Sade is being persecuted for his steadfast atheism, which runs counter to the beliefs of Robespierre, France's terrifying revolutionary leader. The Marquis is granted something of a reprieve when he is transferred -- courtesy of his mistress Sensible (Marianne Denicourt) -- to Picpus, a former convent that now serves as the equivalent of a luxury prison. Although Picpus is not without its own guillotine and mass grave, Sade is more concerned with the blossoming Emilie (Isild Le Besco). Meanwhile, Sensible, who has a son who calls Sade "Papa," is forced to share the bed of her own protector, Fournier (Gregoire Colin), a moody lout who hates Sade and works for none other than Robespierre. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Marianne Denicourt, (more)
- 1999
Sex, avant-garde art, and Communist ideology are at the heart of this compelling historical drama. The film opens just as the Soviet Empire crumbles in 1989. As Louise (Brigitte Catillon) mourns the death of her lover, she discovers the journal of Alfred Katz (Gregoire Colin), an earnest Jewish radical and erstwhile poet who disappeared in 1938. With the aid of a history professor, Louise unravels what happened to Katz. In the feverish climate of pre-WWII Paris, Katz reveals himself as both a fervent Trotskyite and an unabashed romantic. At a party thrown by the noted surrealist Andre Breton, he meets Mila (Anouk Grinberg), a beautiful part-time model, part-time whore. As soon as he falls for her, he learns of her other lover Felix (Xavier Beauvois), a fervent Stalinist. Bored with politics, Mila eventually marries Katz. Soon betrayal and politics catch up with the poet. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grégoire Colin, Anouk Grinberg, (more)
In this military drama, a military man finds his position of prominence questioned when a new recruit wins the commander's favor. Galoup (Denis Lavant) is an officer at a French Foreign Legion outpost in the Gulf of Dijbouti, where he enjoys a close relationship with the Commanding Officer (Michel Subor) and works with a team of fit young men who work hard all day and play hard all night. When Sentain (Gregoire Colin), a new recruit, joins the troops, Galoup believes that it upsets the delicate balance between the C.O. and the other men. Sentain is well-liked by his comrades for his good humor and selfless nature, and his virtues make him the C.O.'s new favorite. Galoup is jealous of the attention Sentain receives, and he devises a plan to discredit Sentain in the eyes of the other men and have him drummed out of the service. Galoup's plot is found out, however, and Galoup is stripped of his rank and sent home. Beau Travail was loosely based on Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville, though disco dancing did not figure quite as prominently in Melville's novella. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, (more)
Innovative director Jacques Rivette created the memorable, multi-leveled classic Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), seemingly the inspiration for Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Rivette generates a far-different mood in this French-Swiss-Italian murder mystery. Medical researcher Sylvie (Sandrine Bonnaire) is keeping late lab hours when she catches her brother Paul (Gregoire Colin) with her gun. Having discovered a five-year-old photo with new evidence of their father's death, Paul wants to kill Walser (Jerzy Radziwilowicz), who now heads their dad's high-tech company. To protect Paul, Sylvie decides to kill Walser herself, and she boards the train for Walser's country estate. But is Walser guilty? ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandrine Bonnaire, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, (more)
Elodie Bouchez and Natacha Regnier both won "Best Actress" honors at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival in this naturalistic drama about two women alienated from mainstream society. After a trio of short films, this is the feature directorial debut of 41-year-old French filmmaker Erick Zonca. With opening scenes reminiscent of Agnes Varda's Vagabond (1985), optimistic hobo Isa (Bouchez), with her life in her backpack, has a gritty existence on the road, going from one town to another through northern France, working factory jobs and selling cards. After she loses a garment-factory job, her withdrawn, near-catatonic co-worker Marie (Regnier) lets Isa share space in her Lille living quarters -- an apartment actually belonging to a hospitalized mother and daughter. Marie begins an affair with burly bouncer Charly (Patrick Mercado) before achieving an emotional breakthrough with sleazy, animalistic club-owner Chriss (Gregoire Colin). Meanwhile, Isa becomes fascinated with the girl who lived in the apartment but now lies in a coma at the hospital. The film combines handheld camerawork with a minimalist music score (Yann Thiersen) and documentary-like street sounds. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Natacha Régnier, (more)
- 1997
Though he is near death, blind Rene, an elderly Italian-French intellectual, continues to make his annual conference abroad accompanied by his self-centered loyal, beautiful assistant Sibilla who may or may not be his lover. Rene's domineering mother strongly disapproves of Sibilla and his continual galavanting, but Rene disregards her and goes anyway. While in Spain, Sibilla falls for a handsome young toreador who also captures the interest of Rene, though it is hard to say whether his feelings for the bullfighter are fatherly or more romantic. It is also unclear as to whether Sibilla and the bullfighter are lovers either. Thus an enigmatic romantic triangle forms until Rene and Sibilla suddenly decide to wed. The character of Rene seems to be closely patterned after Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Celebrated blind poet Rene Kermadek (Claude Rich) is married to his former student Sibilla (Valeria Cavalli), who provides his only true connection to the world. Although Sibilla is a faithful and devoted wife, he suspects her of cheating on him -- currently with matador Manuel Fernandez (Gregoire Colin). Since she never succeeds in convincing him of her love, he plans his suicide. A multiple winner at Montreal's 1997 World Film Festival, this film was shot on locations in Switzerland, Spain, Italy, India, and Germany, the English title being Homer - Portrait of an Artist as an Old Man. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rich, Valeria Cavalli, (more)
Nenette (Alice Houri) is a 14-year-old girl with an attitude problem who runs away from her boarding school only to knock on the door of her older brother Boni (Gregoire Colin). Boni has his own problems most of which center around an erotic fixation with the baker's sexy wife (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi). He is very reluctant to take Nenette in. Then he finds out she is pregnant. As their relationship grows and adjusts, each begins to understand what maturity it takes to bring a new life into the world. Claire Denis, best known for her film Chocolat, directed. This French film won top honors at the 1996 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grégoire Colin, Alice Houri, (more)
- 1995
A young aristocratic military cadet gets a dose of reality that shakes his high ideals to the core when he is called to fight in the Spanish Civil War in this French anti-war drama. Rafael, is the boy. He comes from a prominent Spanish family of military heroes and has spent his teens studying in a prestigious French military academy run by Dominicans. By October, 1936, Rafael had become a lieutenant; his life forever changes when he is suddenly called back to France to fight against the Communists and defend Franco. He is assigned to report to Col. Masagual, an outwardly tough officer who is flamboyantly effete in his private life. Masagual orders Rafael to first serve on the firing squad to prepare him for the atrocities of the front. In this capacity, the innocent Rafael is forced to slaughter all manner of prisoners, including women and children. It takes a heavy toll upon him and while he and the others shoot the guilty, the colonel and his aristocratic guests, who have come to watch the festivities, gaily sip tea and chat. Soon Rafael has become a literal killing machine, with little emotion. His first experience with sex degenerates into brutal rape. Then Rafael is ordered to kill a renegade priest. Suddenly he remembers his ideals and double-crosses the cruel colonel. This leads to a moral sparring match between the priest and the colonel. The gist of their argument is to demonstrate the stupidity of war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Grégoire Colin, (more)
This gentle French comedy has a meandering plotline as it traces the exploits of a young man recognized as a the son of a star. The main protagonist is 23-year old Harvey who works as the guide for a group of Georgian singers who have a Paris gig. He is interested in Dinara, the 18-year old interpreter for the group. While in a restaurant, they encounter Marco Garciano who tells them he played the small lad in Crin blanc, a classic French film. He is really a half-time chauffeur and con-artist. Marco tells Harvey that he is the son of Gascogne, the father of the New Wave, and close friend and inspiration to many directors between 1958 and 1962. Marco tries to prove his point by taking Harvey and Dinara to meet some former French film impresarios. They see Alexandra Stewart and Bernadette Lafont. They also meet Claude Chabrol while he eats lunch. They meet many more including director Michel Deville. All they meet are convinced that Harvey is indeed Gascogne's son. Many of the female stars claim to be his mother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Grégoire Colin, (more)
- 1995
This French anthology is a tribute to A Propos de Nice (1930), a classic documentary that took a poetic and sometimes satirical look at life in the French Riviera town. This version blends fact and fiction to chronicle life in modern-day Nice and is comprised of seven vignettes, each directed by an internationally renowned filmmaker. Only one of the episodes, "Reperages," from Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami and Parviz Kimiavi, stays close to the style of the original film by Jean Vigo as it chronicles the experiences of a filmmaker who came to Nice to do research on Vigo for his upcoming documentary. A different episode eavesdrops upon a man and two women discussing sociopolitical concerns as they lie indolently on the beach. In another, a photojournalist cruises the city's lively Promenade des Anglais. In a silent vignette, "Nice, Very Nice," a young killer is seen gliding through a crowd of carnival goers on the way to perform a hit. The other three cover subjects ranging from the history of Nice, to a political rally, to a portrait of the city as a popular spot for different kinds of rendezvous. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This film is part of the nine volume "Tous les Garcons et les Filles de Leur Age" series which chronicles the adolescent eras of nine prominent directors. "U.S. Go Home," set in 1965, chronicles 24 hours in the lives of three teenagers as they try to finally lose their virginity. Martine, Marlene, and Martine's older brother Alain, live in a small town outside of Paris. They are preparing to attend a wild party where Martine hopes to get laid. Unfortunately Martine is a shy wallflower, and does not get lucky at the party despite the tender consolation of her equally unlucky brother who tried to score with Marlene. Martine's prospects brighten when she accepts a ride home with an initially reticent American soldier. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Houri, Jessica Tharaud, (more)
- 1994
A private eye finds that her professional and personal lives are beginning to intertwine in this French drama. Maxime Chabrier (Anémone) is a woman in her mid-40s who works as a private detective. Despite her chain smoking and sloppy appearance, Maxime is regarded as a skilled investigator by her colleagues and considered the best PI at her agency by her boss. While Maxime has romantic dalliances with both men and women, she hasn't been involved in a long-term relationship since she left her husband 15 years ago. However, Maxime is hired to look into a case that suggests that her former husband has become involved with insurance fraud, which brings her into contact with her 17-year-old son Baptiste (Gregoire Colin) for the first time since the divorce. Just as Maxime is trying to mend fences with her son and find out what her ex has gotten himself into, she finds herself falling in love with Jacques (Michel Didym), an economist. Pas Tres Catholique was nominated for the prestigious Golden Bear award at the 1994 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anémone, Roland Bertin, (more)
Milcho Manchevski's first feature film is a three-part story of the violence and political chaos tearing apart the newly independent nation of Macedonia (former Yugoslavia). In part one, Kiril (Grégoire Colin), an Orthodox monk, encounters Zamira (Labina Mitevska), a Muslim from Albania. Zamira is frightened and has nowhere to go, so Kiril lets her stay in his cell, knowing that if the authorities find her, his peaceful life will be shattered. The second segment, set in London, concerns Anne (Katrin Cartlidge), married to stable but boring Nick (Jay Villiers) but enjoying an affair with Macedonian photographer Aleksander (Rade Serbedzija); Anne is trying to decide if she should stay with Nick or leave with Aleksander, before unexpected events make the decision for her. The conclusion follows Aleksander back to Macedonia; while he's tired of photographing war, he finds no sanctuary in his home town, as Christians and Muslims wage war and he accidentally causes the death of innocent bystanders. Before the Rain received an 1995 Academy Award nomination as Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katrin Cartlidge, Rade Serbedzija, (more)
