Laurence Côte Movies

As a warm and gentle human fable with a leftwing political undercurrent, the French-language picture Looking for Cheyenne concerns two women passionately in love with one another, and yet hopelessly separated. Journalist Cheyenne (Mila Dekker) is reeling - not only from a split with one of the great loves of her life, high school science prof Sonia (Aurelia Petit), but from a recent and unexpected job loss - the product of her company's decision to downsize. When she finds it next to impossible to land another job, Cheyenne eventually throws up her hands in disgust and drops out altogether. Refusing to live by society's constraints, and rejecting every government "handout" that comes down the pike, Cheyenne lives without running water, electricity, or groceries, preferring instead to live off of discarded vegetables that she discovers in trashcans and to light her residence with candles. Meanwhile, Sonia keeps her job, but enters an affair with a freewheeling young man, Pierre. An anarchist who spends his time passing out flyers full of anarchist catchphrases and taglines, he readily admits to Sonia that he could care less about her pansexuality and is willing to accept her on her own terms. Sonia's affair represents an attempt to drown the sorrow out of her life, for she - like Cheyenne - is still destroyed and devastated by the recent breakup. As each woman grapples with a unique outlet for her sorrow, eccentric and endearing characters waltz in and out of their lives and form various romantic couplings; these include a wealthy middle-aged woman of a predatory nature (Guilaine Londez) ; a comely and naïve co-ed who decides to stage her own form of social rebellion (Eleonore Michelin); an affable and ebullient Russian (Miglen Mirtchev), and a man who believes in returning to the soil (Laurence Cote). Director Valerie Minetto thus weaves together a giant life tapestry composed of joys and sorrows, unexpected treasures and resounding disappointments. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Music video director Michael Shamberg debuts with this experimental drama about a woman who comes to terms with painful childhood memories. Orlando (Stanton D. Miranda) is an expatriate American sports journalist living in Paris. She is also slowly recovering from childhood sexual abuse from her father and an incestuous relationship with her late brother. As she wanders the streets on a rainy evening, she sullenly ruminates over her memories. Both Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci play small parts in this film, while legendary filmmaker Chris Marker provides computer graphics. Souvenir was screened at the 1999 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

The first film directed by the screenwriter who won a César for Ridicule, this film with a strange title carries the same humor as that earlier hit. Sauveur (Savior) needs someone to save him, and so he begins to look for his father, a fast- talking ladies' man. The son becomes attached to his misanthropic father, and soon a crippled woman photographer and a gigolo with a killer smile also enter the scene, and the situation becomes more and more impossible. This character-driven drama draws strength from the performances of Guillaume Canet as Sauveur and Jean Yanne, familiar from Claude Chabrol films, as the father. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

In this French-Portuguese film -- directed by Jacques Rivette's screenplay collaborator Christine Laurent -- French vocalist Laure Constant (Laurence Cote) goes to Montevideo, Uruguay, to see her old lover Colossus (Jose Olivera), but when he's a no-show, she becomes involved with several other men, while listening to advice from some older French women who are costume designers. Shown at the 1997 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Three modern Parisian women form the basis of this epic musical comedy from famed director Jacques Rivette. The story is set in summer and follows the predestined path of each woman. Louise has just awoken from a five year coma and has been released from the hospital. She moves to a hotel where she learns from talking to her father on the phone that her late aunt has bequeathed her a large chateau in Paris. Ninon works as a courier. She has recently run away from her creepy boyfriend, a criminal, and though she is trying to go straight, she can't help but rob the company cashbox and use the money to go out dancing. The third woman, Ida, is a librarian in a decorative-arts reading room. As a child, she was adopted and now wants to find her real parents. Her only clue to finding her mother is an old song that she vaguely remembers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The quiet agony of a mother whose daughter grows up to pursue her own life is chronicled in this realistically presented French drama. The Circuit Carole of the title refers to a motorbike racetrack. Jeanne and her 20-year old daughter Marie share a small apartment in a working-class Parisian neighborhood; the two live harmoniously, but the daughter is restless and anxious to set out on her own. Marie then takes a job in a northern suburb and their lives are forever changed. The racetrack is near her work; Marie is enthralled by the racers and their fast machines. Along with her new boyfriend, a racer, Marie begins riding herself. She then moves out of her mother's flat, leaving Jeanne bereft of companionship and a purpose in her life. Her silent, deeply internalized grief eventually drives her completely mad. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Nouvelle Vague marks the beginning of a period in Jean-Luc Godard's career in which he made films that looked back on his previous work. In these retrospective films, Godard asked himself whether it is possible to continue as a film director under the conditions imposed by international commercial cinema. Appropriately enough, Nouvelle Vague concerns the return of a man (Roger Lennox / Richard Lennox, played by Alain Delon, superstar of 60s and 70s international cinema) who may or may not have returned from the dead. The film's narrative is extremely disjointed and might be better understood as an essay on the idea of returning. The theme of a return from the dead gives Godard the opportunity to come back to the religious imagery and theological considerations that interested him from 1983's Hail Mary. The film's dialogue is a patchwork of unattributed quotations from works of literature, philosophy, and economics, a technique that Godard adopted in most of his films after this one. Even if the film's "story" is not easy to understand, the beauty of its images and sounds, along with the sublime rhythms of the editing, may be enough to ravish some audiences. ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Jean-Charles Tacchella, who had a huge international hit with Cousin, Cousine in 1975, helmed this drama 12 years later. In post-WWII France, three friends are intent on starting a film club for different reasons. Nino (Thierry Fremont), a rich playboy, thinks that it would be amusing to become a director. He hooks up with Donald (Simon de la Brosse), a young man from the countryside who is a serious student of film and hopes to become more urbane by getting involved in cinema. They join forces with Barbara (Ann-Gisele Glass), a young woman who knows how to get into a film warehouse. Their plan is to steal old prints from the warehouse and start their own enterprise. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide