Patrick Prejean Movies
- 2000
For her first feature film, French director Anne Villaceque focuses on a terminally shy bank clerk named Sybille (Corinne Debonniere) and the uncertain bond she forms with an enigmatic young man. Pushing 30, Sybille still lives at home, reading romance novels and engaging in stilted dinner conversation with her TV-obsessed parents. When the tall, dark Victor comes into her life, however, Sybille is transformed: the two instantly start up a carnal relationship, and the former wallflower begins to assert herself with her parents and co-workers. Victor, meanwhile, charms Sybille's parents so much, they allow him to move into the house, eat their food, and buy furniture and clothes on their tab. As the family continues to cave in to the young man's demands, the audience learns that the briefcase-carrying Victor may not be the upwardly mobile professional he seems to be: He spends his days wandering around shopping malls and parks, slowly hatching devious schemes. Petite Cherie was shown at the 2000 Cannes, Toronto, and Karlovy Vary film festivals. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corinne Debonniere, Laurence Fevrier, (more)
This charming motion picture relives the beautiful childhood memories of noted film director and writer Marcel Pagnol. While attending school in Marseilles, Marcel Julien Ciamaca daydreams about the nearby hills where he and his family spend vacations at a cottage. It is not enough to sojourn there over Christmas, Easter, and summer holidays; Marcel wants to be there all the time, to roam the fields, climb the rock faces, and enjoy other simple pleasures with his mother, father, and siblings. And then something marvelous happens. His mother Augustine (Nathalie Roussel) persuades his father Joseph (Philippe Caubere), a schoolteacher, to allow the family to spend each weekend at the cottage. Because they have no car, they must ride public transport part of the way, then walk the remaining five miles. However, a former pupil of Joseph's shows them a shortcut that crosses private estates and reduces the distance to only one mile. So the family enjoys weekend after wonderful weekend in the hills. Marcel plays with a country boy, picks thyme for the family's alfresco dinners, and meets a girl whom he rescues from spiders. Though she is an imperious little lass, Marcel is quite taken with her and even performs feats of derring-do to impress her. These carefree weekend outings continue until one day a heartless watchman charges the Pagnols with trespassing on an estate on their way to the cottage. Woe is Joseph. He believes his very proper school will fire him. But when the school officials call him in, they promote him! They know nothing of his trespassing, for Joseph's former pupil has tricked the watchman into dropping the charge. Then more good news comes; Marcel has won an academic prize. The film has a bittersweet ending in which Marcel, as an adult, reviews what has happened to the family members since those wonderful days when life was good and all was right with the world. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julien Ciamaca, Philippe Caubère, (more)
- 1989
For those unfamiliar with Asterix, a popular character in European cartoons and comic books, he is a courageous but humorous-looking warrior of the Gauls in Roman times, and often single-handedly fights off the encroachments of the Romans. In this feature-length cartoon, the Romans have conquered everything except the village where Asterix lives. This has survived because the town druid has a special potion which confers incredible strength. However, at the time of the film, the druid has been knocked on the head and has lost his memory, which is inconvenient, to say the least. Asterix and his villagers must search far and wide for something which can help them either with the druid's memory, or with reconstructing his potion. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Carel, Pierre Tornade, (more)
- 1985
The second of a long string of animated children's films based on cartoon characters created by Rene Goscinny and Alberto Uderzo, this is an entertaining adventure featuring the intrepid Asterix. The hero is accompanied by his mutt Idefix (Francophones will love that one - "fixed idea" characterizes a stubborn mutt indeed) and pal Obelix, a little lacking in the attic but full of heart. Their mission is to rescue two friends captured into slavery by the nasty Romans -- a galling thought. The trio head to North Africa where they join the Foreign Legion, apparently of a much longer history than otherwise known, and then head to Rome for a climactic confrontation with some hungry lions. For the moms and dads in the audience there are generous send-ups of biblical sagas such as Ben Hur. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Carel, Pierre Tornade, (more)
- 1974
- PG
When a master thief (Jacques Champreux) sets his sights on the centuries-old treasure of the Knights Templar, he must struggle to outwit the devoted keepers of the fortune. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gayle Hunnicutt, Jacques Champreux, (more)
- 1974
The on-again, off-again relationship between a man and a woman who first meet during a shipwreck (she is a Salvation Army soldier, he is a sailor, both are adrift) is the subject of this French film. The two meet and separate numerous times during the movie, until they are finally able to accommodate one another. In the meantime they are out of synch, each discovering a new facet of their lives to explore at just the wrong time for the other. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Bernard Fresson, (more)
- 1973
The Man Without A Face is an archvillain, comic-book style, and in this French action movie, he proves to be a worthy foe. The villain has an extensive crime network, including a retreat under the streets of Paris. He has discovered that the Knights Templar, outlawed many hundreds of years before, still exist as a secret society, and that they have access to a hidden treasure of gold. He wants it, and it is up to the daughter of a murdered Templar and a few none-too competent policemen to prevent him from getting it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Docteur Popaul, or Scoundrel in White is a black comedy by Claude Chabrol. It tells of the life and proper comeuppance of Dr. Paul Simay (Jean Paul Belmondo), an unusual sort of ladies' man. At his hospital, there is a bet to see who can seduce the most ugly women. Paul is confident he can win, because he already woos ugly women exclusively. He says he gets much better results from them. When he woos and finally marries Christine (Mia Farrow), buck-teeth, leg-braces and all, he eventually discovers that he has more than met his match. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Mia Farrow, (more)
- 1971
Imagine, for a moment, that a town in the American Old West was founded by and for French people, and that two of the sexiest women in modern times were rivals for control of that town. In Les Petroleuses, Frenchy (Brigitte Bardot) and Maria (Claudia Cardinale) are at war over an oil lease. Maria and her gang of train-robbing brothers got a poor haul on their last robbery. The only thing they found was one measly case with a geological map indicating that a nearby farm was a likely oil-drilling site. It's too bad for Maria that Frenchy has the deed to the farm. While the two of them feud over this and other issues, the bumbling local sheriff is desperately trying to learn French, so that he can woo one of these extraordinary dames. This film sounds as though it was intended as a comedy, but it was made as a perfectly straightforward, serious Western. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
Originally titled Peau D'Ane, Jacques Demy's Dos Cruces en Danger Pass is better known by its English-language title Donkey Skin. Based on a fairy tale by Charles Perrault (of Cinderella fame), the bizarre story concerns the king (Jean Marais) of a strange, enchanted land. Catherine Deneuve plays the dual role of the king's wife and daughter. When the wife dies, she makes the king promise that he'll never marry anyone less beautiful than she; thus, he is compelled to wed his own daughter! The fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) tries to save the girl from this incestuous fate by telling her to make impossible demands for her wedding gifts. One such demand is for the skin of a magic donkey which deposits valuable jewels in its compost heaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marais, (more)
- 1969
The Brain (Le Cerveau) is a tongue-in-cheek caper film with more twists and turns than a rural Oregon highway. David Niven plays The Brain, so named because it was he who mapped out the British Great Train Robbery (it says here). Now The Brain plans to lift a fortune in NATO money, which is being shipped by train from France to Belgium. Complicating matters are a pair of free-lance thugs (Jean-Paul Belmondo and Bourvil), who hope to steal The Brain's plans and claim the money for themselves. A plot device derived from The Lavender Hill Mob involves a 50-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty. An amusing closing-credits bit caps this exhilarating exercise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, David Niven, (more)
