Andre Schmidt Movies

This is a charming and successful farce from director Thomas Gilou, featuring a witty screenplay co-authored by producer Monique Annaud. When a group of African squatters in Paris are threatened with eviction, they find themselves fighting against a bureaucracy that few French citizens understand, let alone immigrants. In desperation, they turn to their best option to resolve this dilemma: they call for a sorcerer from home. The sorcerer hops on a jet to Paris to cast spells on the entrenched bureaucrat, and while en route he strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger, mentioning his job pays quite well. The interested passenger could stand to make a few extra francs, so he decides to take the sorcerer's place. Once he arrives, this imposter has to act like he knows what he is doing, and at the same time, he had better solve the eviction problem. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This Swiss film, in French, deals with the progressive deterioration of a young soldier, as evidenced by his having stolen a motorcycle while in his underwear, strewing his military belongings behind him. He undergoes psychotherapy, though to little effect. As he descends into madness, he lurches around as best he can, poking into fringe elements of society including avant-garde theaters and hippie communes. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This Swiss-made film closely examines the character of a non-conformist, a subject of unending interest to the reputedly highly conformist Swiss. A TV journalist reads of a lawsuit, dropped for lack of evidence, in which a girl is accused of deliberately shooting (and wounding) her uncle. For some reason, this piques his interest, and the journalist even goes so far as to talk a novelist friend of his into joining him in researching the incident. As their research and interviews proceed, it becomes clear that they have no interest in the actual truth of the incident, but are more concerned to dig deeply (each in his own way) into the characters of the girl and her uncle. One memorable scene has the girl, while serving as a shoe store salesperson, fondling the legs of her customers. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Charles (Francois Simon) is a middle aged business man who runs an inherited company. On the anniversary of his company's founding, he finds himself suffering from depression and wishes more could be done for the workers. After he expresses his views to a television reporter, Charles leaveshome and his business behind. His conservative son is horrified at his father's behavior when he takes up with an anarchistic couple who push his car over a cliff in a symbolic gesture of material rejection. The man encourages Charles to make love to his wife, but Charles is reluctant. Charles's daughter sees him with the couple and is delighted he shares in her liberal thinking. His son tries to have Charles comitted to an asylum if he will not sign over control of the company in this satirical social commentary. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide