Claude Bertrand Movies
- 1997
Comedian Pierre Yves (stand-up comic Jackie Berroyer, who co-scripted) has an act based on his sexual hang-ups. With his adult son Arthur (Tara Romer), Pierre travels to his childhood hometown, drab industrial Lievin in northern France, for an all-night comedy festival. Fest staffer Monica (Karin Viard) takes him on a tour of the town, and he soon develops a fixation on her, making a play for her after learning her husband is in prison. Meanwhile, he has to deal with various interviews, receptions and eventually face an unresponsive audience. Shown at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival. Alternate title Whats So Funny About Me? ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Berroyer, Karin Viard, (more)
- 1996
- R
A comically accented historical drama with culinary appeal, this film introduces us to Pascal Ichac (Pierre Richard), a French chef with a nose so sensitive that he can decipher the ingredients in a sauce with a single sniff. A true renaissance man, Pascal is a genius in the kitchen and a trained operatic vocalist and former gigolo. When he decides that he's beginning to tire of his surroundings in France, he heads for Russia to find new challenges and tastes in Georgia. En route to the Georgian capitol of Tbilisi, Pascal meets Cecilia Abachidze (Micheline Presle), a princess who is charmed by the suave chef; although he is in his 50s and she in her 20s, love is soon in the air. When Pascal's keen sense of smell helps prevent the president from being poisoned, the chef is given carte blanche to open the restaurant of his dreams. The New Eldorado is soon the toast of Tbilisi, but the arrival of the Soviet Army in 1921 puts an end to the delicious grace of Pascal's eatery, and he is forced to leave Cecilia, who is in turn forced to marry an Army captain. This film was was Georgia's official 1997 entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Micheline Presle, (more)
French director Christian Vincent charts the dissolution of a long-term relationship with his third film, based on the novel by Dan Franck. Daniel Auteuil and Isabelle Huppert star as Pierre and Anne, a couple who have been living together as husband and wife for several years. Although they never married, they do have a fifteen-month-old son, Loulou. One night at the cinema, Anne refuses to take Pierre's hand and the strained moment leads to her confession that she has fallen in love with another man. Although Pierre seems at first to take the news calmly, he becomes increasingly desperate and enraged as the days pass, while the distant Anne walks a fine line between embarking on a new romance and trying not to hurt Pierre too greatly. When a pair of friends, Victor (Jerome Deschamps) and Claire (Karin Viard), announce that they are finally marrying after their own years-long relationship, it sparks a final confrontation between Pierre and Anne. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Daniel Auteuil, (more)
This upbeat adventure tells a lively tale -- devoid of sex and violence -- that the whole family can enjoy. The fairy-tale begins as the beautiful Ana abruptly changes her mind about marriage while standing at the alter of a Caracas church, and boards a flight to Paris carrying only a small suitcase and her favorite poster of Maria Callas. She ends up in a tiny apartment filled with other illegal South American immigrants, one of whom is the strong-willed, self-absorbed video artist Celeste. Ana, who dreams of becoming a famous singer like Callas, soon begins studying voice with an aged Russian gentleman. In another part of town, a filmmaker searches the city for a singer to assume the lead in his forthcoming film version of Rossini's "Cinderella." Ana is at a cafe one day when a gay waiter uses his psychic powers to predict that great things will happen to her. Ana then makes friends with a moody psychiatrist. Behind it all, an African sorcerer works potent magic of his own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ariadna Gil, Arielle Dombasle, (more)
- 1985
Director Otar Iosseliani hit the nail on the head when describing Favorites of the Moon as "an abstract comedy." Indeed, if ten different people who saw the film were asked to describe the plot, there would be ten different answers. All would agree, however, that the storyline is contingent upon two inanimate objects: an 18th-century chinaware set, and a 19th-century nude portrait. The dozens of characters inextricably linked to these two items are drawn from social circles ranging from chi-chi art lovers to unscrupulous terrorists. The film's original title was Les Favoris de la Lune (no lie!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascal Aubier, Alix de Montaigu, (more)
- 1983
Without any plot to speak of, and no sequential, dramatic events, this film about young women who dress up as men and fight off the installation of new metal forges in their region in 1830 starts dragging quickly. The French peasants scare off a judge in the opening segment of the film, and at the end, when the judge finally gives up and leaves, it is hard to understand why. One part of the problem is a lack of action, the other is that the villagers speak Provençal and this has to be translated to the judge and by the time all the double talk has been completed, the industrial revolution hardly seems like big news anymore. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Roussillon, Jean-Quentin Chatelain, (more)
- 1983
In his third, somewhat flat interpretation of sexual motivations and a relationship based on love, writer and director Patrick Schulmann focuses on the gradually developing romance between a young artist and a good-looking, female radio producer whom he helps nurse back to health, as compared to his sex-possessed roommate, a photographer. Several secondary interests are pursued (a kidnapping, for instance) but none have a bearing on the main story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Bellego, Fabrice Luchini, (more)
- 1976
A tough but honest cop must clear his name after a corrupt colleague implicates him in a murder in this French thriller. Ferrot (Yves Montand) is a hard-as-nails police detective who is attracted to a beautiful woman named Sylvia (Stefania Sandrelli). Sylvia, however, is having an affair with Ganay (Francois Perier), who happens to be Ferrot's superior on the force; Ganay happens to be married to Therese (Simone Signoret), who is handicapped. Sylvia is found murdered, and Ferrot is assigned to investigate; Ferrot is convinced that Ganay killed Sylvia because she wanted to end their relationship, but to his dismay, Ferrot discovers that the killer has placed a number of false clues that point the blame toward Ferrot. Police Python 357's brisk cutting earned editor Marie-Josephe Yoyotte a Cesar Award (the French Oscar). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, (more)
Eric Rohmer ends his cycle of "Six Moral Tales" with this delightful film starring Bernard Verley as Frederic, a happily married man who discovers that he can't stop looking at beautiful women. As he says in a voiceover, "I feel marriage closes me in, cloisters me, and I want to escape." His escape comes to him in the form of Chloe (Zouzou), a woman from his past. Chloe had left for America as a successful model but has now returned to Paris, bored with her life and saddled with a man she doesn't love. Although Frederic is reluctant to see her at first, they agree to meet in the afternoons -- just to talk. He feels a freedom with her that he doesn't experience with anyone else because they have, he thinks, no commitments to each other. So, they talk of their problems and their relationships and, before long, Frederic finds that he is becoming increasingly attracted to her. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Verley, Zouzou, (more)
Two British nurses -- Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) -- take a vacation in the French countryside. Jane actually wants to tour the countryside, while Cathy wants to spend the time enticing men. After an argument while in a small French village, Jane leaves. When she returns, Cathy is gone. And if that weren't worry enough, it appears that the handsome young man Cathy flirted with on their journey is apparently a sex-crazed serial killer. In a panic, Jane tries to get some help from the villagers, but the townspeople are curiously uncooperative. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice, (more)
