Hélène Surgère Movies

Acclaimed director Claude Berri (Jean de Florette) helms the whimsical romantic comedy Ensemble, c'est tout (Hunting and Gathering, 2007). A box office blockbuster in France, the picture follows the romantic couplings that form in the lives of several lonely Parisian singles. The lead characters include: an emotionally fragile, exhausted cleaning lady named Camille (Audrey Tatou) who is suffering from anorexia; a well-to-do young man named Phillibert struggling with his own sexual orientation (Laurent Stocker) but who begins to drift toward heterosexuality and a stable relationship with a woman; and Phillibert's rebellious pothead roommate Franck (Guillaume Canet), who can never quite breach the possibility of committing to one woman, or come face to face with his dream of opening a French restaurant - until he meets Camille and the pieces begin to fall into place. Writer-director Berri adapted the novel by Anna Gavaldi. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The third film collaboration from co-directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, The True Story of My Life in Rouen tells the tale of a young French teen's struggle to come to terms with his emotional and physical development during puberty. When young Etienne (Jimmy Tavares) turned 16, his grandmother (Helene Surgere) gave him a video recorder. The new toy turns into an obsession for Etienne as he sets out to film nearly every aspect of his life, as well as some of his friends' and family's lives -- much to the ire of his mother, Caroline (Ariane Ascaride). In the process, however, Etienne begins to emotionally distance himself from everyone around him. As his loved ones begin to find Etienne's filming intrusive, Etienne also discovers that the camera is not merely a passive observer, but holds a great amount of influence on the actions of those being taped. As Etienne continues to film his friends and family, Etienne's coming-of-age becomes the true subject of his films, which also have begun to inversely influence his developing maturity. The True Story of My Life in Rouen was an official selection at the 2002 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Former Cahiers du Cinema editor Serge Le Peron writes and directs this screwball crime comedy chock full of ironic film references. The film opens with student radical-turned-magistrate Francois Marcorelle (Jean-Pierre Leaud) stumbling into an art house movie theater mid-film. The rather comely woman next to him first begins to caress Marcorelle's leg, then she drops over dead. Later in the film, Marcorelle and his wife Claudie (Dominique Reymond) and their children are supposed to go on a family vacation. Unfortunately, Marcolle is snowed under by a case and is forced to stay behind. A lonely dining excursion in a Turkish restaurant leads to Marcolle driving a beautiful Polish waitress Agneska (Irene Jacob) back to her apartment. After an enjoyable round of adultery, he is attacked by Agneska's father, and the altercation leads to Marcolle inadvertently braining the old man. Agneska claims that she knows people who can dispose of bodies quietly and asks him to leave. Though no body ever turns up and Marcolle tells no one of his encounter -- save his best friend George (Phillippe Khorsand) -- an ambitious lawyer sets out to make a name for himself by accusing the magistrate. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

An ambitious project of Chile-born, Paris-based Raul Ruiz, this psychological drama brings to the screen the famous classic of Marcel Proust with fidelity to its interior monologues and streams of consciousness. Proust (Marcelo Mazzarella), on his deathbed in his small apartment on Rue Hamelin, is looking through old photos and remembering his life, as real characters intermingle with fictional ones from his novels. The period is 1914-18, when WWI is raging. Hidden in Paris, thanks to his asthma, Marcel Proust wanders into the night. He finds an aging courtesan in Café de la Paix, which is deserted by the curfew. Charlus, the seducer of young boys, is at the Palais des Felicites where he meets his lovers. Gilberte returns alone to Tansonville to evade the confiscation of her chateau by the Germans after the death of her husband at the front. Famous violinist Morel is hiding in a decrepit hotel. The demoralizing effects of war affect all the characters, hastening their decadence or transforming them into caricatures. In the whirlpool of the grotesque specter of war, Marcel finds refuge in his childhood memories to escape the atrocities around him. Death and decadence, the evanescence of human existence, and the relations between space and time are some of the main themes explored in this film, which reflects the works of Marcel Proust in every detail. Raul Ruiz has on his side a very good screenwriter, Gilles Taurand, and an impressive cast: Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich, who have collaborated with Ruiz before, Emanuelle Béart, Vincent Pérez, Pascal Greggory, and the Italian man of theatre, Marcello Mazzarella. Shown in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

In this French comedy, sisters Murielle (Isabella Ferron) and Victoria (Isabel Otero) are married to men who hate each other -- high-school teacher Bernard (Bernard Campan) and well-to-do Didier (Didier Bourdon), pharmacist in a posh Paris neighborhood. Both chain-smoke, and this leads to a cigarette challenge as they attempt to stop smoking for two weeks in order to prove who is the better man. Quitting brings on manic mood swings, massive food consumption, insomnia, and a host of habits that alter their lives and threaten their marriages. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Widower Edouard Pierson (Jeremy Irons) fought for Australia in World War Two, but he was born (and married) in Belgium. For the past twelve years, he has been living in Australia with his daughter. His occupation as a wool merchant is in keeping with his family's tradition. He is determined to remain in Australia, and is equally determined to keep his daughter (Danielle Lyttleton) from learning much about her mother, whom she never knew. Nonetheless, when his brother (Tcheky Karyo) calls urgently from Belgium, requesting his help in saving the family's business there, he returns to his hometown of Verviers. In addition to saving the family business, he comes to have second thoughts about returning to Australia after he has a brief affair with a Belgian woman (Fanny Ardant). Meanwhile, his daughter has made contact with her grandmother (Helene Surgere), and is beginning to learn about her mother. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Corruption in the rarified air of the corporate and governmental elite drives the action in this fast-paced thriller. Claire Rousset (Sabine Azema) heads to a small town to come to the aid of her ailing ex-husband, who has been poisoned by the town's drinking water. As Claire arrives, she sees a band of arsonists burn the city down, lock, stock, and water barrel. The iron-clad official statement is that the incinerated town had an unfortunate gas explosion. This blatant lie propels Claire to find out who torched the town, and why no one in government is listening to her. Meanwhile, Jeff Montellier (Richard Anconina), an employee of a company that transports lethal chemicals, finds out that a dangerous accident in the destroyed town poisoned its water supply. Eventually, Jeff and Claire cross paths in their investigations and discover that they are up against some very powerful enemies. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Ostensibly about the sudden disappearance of a businessman and the subsequent behavior of his wife Elena (Helen Surgere), his son Robert (Tcheky Karyo), and his accountant (Jean Bouise), this allegorical film is really a weighty statement on the nature of Swiss society. After her husband has disappeared, Elena takes over his business, but instead of nurturing it along she does just the opposite: she trashes it, step by step. Meanwhile, Robert asks Alice (Laura Morante), perhaps his father's lover, to help him look for his father and ends up losing his job with a Zurich orchestra because he can no longer cope. The accountant, in turn, is overwhelmed by the mother's actions, the disappearance of the father, and the son's emotional and psychological collapse. If director (Alain Klarer) is saying that there are serious problems at all levels of Swiss society, he is saying it too slowly, too didactically, and too abstrusely to entertain an average audience. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Françoise Canavaggia (Danielle Darrieux) heads back to Toulon in 1963 with murderous plans for the people who now inhabit the villa that had once been hers. After arriving in Toulon, Françoise meets up with her sister and a niece, both adding to her tendency toward self-analysis. But with images of the present and past mixed with memories and fantasies of the past -- and excerpts from speeches by Petain and De Gaulle combined with psychological and philosophical ramblings -- director Paul Vecchiali has created complexities that many an audience will never figure out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Bronte sisters are profiled in this biography. The film dramatizes the repressed Victorian lives of the three famed authors who all died young. Their writing, so full of life, was a total contrast to the reality of their existence, focused mostly upon arguing with their father and taking care of their younger brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Pierre (Nicholas Silberg) is a garage mechanic in his mid-30s with a considerable yen for the ladies. It comes as something of a surprise even to him, though, when he falls passionately in love/lust with Jeanne (Helen Surgere), a much older woman in her 50s. She is unmoved by his advances, but despite her sharp rebuffs, he moons over her and hangs on every phone call, expecting it to be from her. Her heart thaws when she learns she is suffering from an incurable and fatal disease, and she is not sorry. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide