Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre Movies
- 2010
As a rule, many tend to think of Norway as a neutral country with a passive military. But in a couple of historical instances, the Norwegian army engaged in acts of controversial brutality by opening fire on innocent locals. This sweeping epic drama from director Marius Holst recreates one such tragedy. The year is 1915; the place is a remote fjord just outside of Oslo, where an institution called the Bastoy Boys' Home is situated. Functioning as both a residence for youths from dysfunctional or impoverished homes and a reform school, it is guilty of routine acts of sadistic brutality meted out for even the most inconsequential of crimes, such as pilfering money from a church collection plate. It also operates according to a warped and twisted deviation of evangelical Christianity that involves viscerally abusing young charges into becoming faithful believers. Perhaps most unbearable is the atmosphere of extreme dehumanization: Administrators rob the boys of their names and tag them with arbitrary numbers. As the story opens, a newcomer arrives -- a whaler named Erling (Benjamin Helstad), who is alleged to have committed homicide. In no time at all, he stirs up trouble wherever he goes, as he does battle with the school governor (Stellan Skarsgard), confronts the sexually abusive dorm master (Kristoffer Joner), and expands the horizons of sincere but troubled dorm leader Olav (Trond Nilssen). Before long, Erling drums up the spirit of revolution in the school hallways. Many of the boys are delighted to find a courageous leader who will help them stand up to injustice, but no one can anticipate the punishment that the government has in store for the hell-raisers. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Kristoffer Joner, (more)
A man with a troubled past becomes the prime suspect in a small-town murder case. Adapted from the novel by Patricia Highsmith, The Cry of the Owl tells the tale of Robert Forrester (Paddy Considine), a man who flees from the city and his marriage in search of solitude. Eventually, Robert winds up in a quaint community and becomes drawn to Jenny (Julia Stiles), a pretty local whose simple existence holds a unique appeal to the former big-city dweller. When Jenny notices Robert peering in through her kitchen window, she senses that he doesn't mean her harm and strikes up a conversation. Suspicious of the mysterious newcomer's motivations and jealous of the attention his girlfriend is getting, Jenny's boyfriend Greg (James Gilbert) launches an obsessive campaign to humiliate and destroy Robert. After a heated confrontation Greg goes missing, and the authorities begin looking to Robert for answers. Now the higher the stakes get, the more Robert begins to suspect that he's being set up to take a big fall. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paddy Considine, Julia Stiles, (more)
- 2008
A dream narrative told in flashback structure, France-based filmmaker Raoul Ruiz's Nucingen Haus follows writer William James (Jean-Marc Barr) as he learns that he has won a sprawling mansion, and decides to take up residence there with his wife (Elsa Zylberstein). But Nucingen Haus is already populated by a collection of eccentric residents who speak their own outlandish language and operate by their own bizarre social code - and they don't take kindly to the prospect of being displaced by these two newcomers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Marc Barr
- 2008
Adapted from the French comic book Panic in London, director Pierre-Francois Martin-Laval's sophomore feature tells the tale of a forgotten isle inhabited by five people who live like they're in medieval times while awaiting the arrival of their new king. Tourist train driver Guillaume (Martin-Laval) and his tuba-playing wife, Magali (Florence Foresti), are deeply in love. They lead a blissful life in the suburbs, and they've just discovered they're about to start a family when the father Guillaume never knew contacts the couple with a shocking announcement: by virtue of an accord reaching back to the Middle Ages, Guillaume is the heir to a kingdom located just off the coasts of France and England. But while the elated couple at first imagine themselves living in an island castle and presiding over a paradise filled with faithful subjects, the reality of the situation isn't quite so romantic. Battered by North winds, the island is little more than a glorified rock. To make matters worse, the current residents are five eccentrics who seem to have forgotten what century they live in. Now, while Magali gets wrapped up in the prospect of becoming a genuine queen and Guillaume celebrates his status as a crowned head, their new servants scramble to cover up the truth about the island until their new ruler can no longer renounce his throne. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre-François Martin-Laval, Florence Foresti, (more)
Widow and empty nester Salma Zidane lives on the Palestinian West Bank, in a little house flanked by lemon trees planted by her great grand parents. Unfortunately, when the Israeli minister of defense builds a house adjacent to her own, her lemon trees are deemed a security risk. Salma hires a lawyer to prevent the powerful man from having her ancestral trees removed, but the odds are stacked against her, and to make matters worse, she begins to fall in love with her lawyer. Things seem bleak, but it looks like hope could shine in from an unexpected source, when the minister's neglected wife develops sympathy for Salma's plight. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hiam Abbass, Ali Suliman, (more)
- 2007
The tragic events that informed José Padilha's 2003 documentary Bus 174 serve as the inspiration for this docudrama detailing the events that unfolded when, on the morning of June 12, 2000, the passengers on a bus traveling through the wealthy Rio de Janeiro district of Jardim Botânico were taken hostage by a disturbed young man who had been abandoned by society. Marisa (Cris Vianna) is a drug addict whose baby, Alessandro, was taken from her by drug dealers after she failed to pay a lingering debt. Later, after becoming sober, Marisa becomes obsessed with finding her son and begins searching the local juvenile detention homes. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Rio, a young boy named Sandro wanders into his mother's shop to find her lifeless body riddled with knife wounds. Wistfully recalling his mother's promises to take him to Copacabana, the grieving boy runs away, ultimately falling in with a group of street kids and becoming addicted to drugs. Later, Sandro somehow manages to survive the notorious Candelária massacre (in which Rio police attempted to thwart crime by murdering street kids in their sleep), only to be locked away in a juvenile detention center. It's there that Sandro meets Alessandro. When Marisa arrives at the center in search of her son, she mistakes Sandro for Alessandro and tenderly takes the troubled boy under her wing. But Sandro's scars run deeper than Marisa could ever imagine, so deep that he believes his only hope for survival is taking a busload of hostages. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel de Souza Gomes, Cris Vianna, (more)
The events surrounding Japanese emperor Hirohito's August 1945 call for a complete cease fire among his troops serves as the subject of Alexander Sokurov's thought-provoking historical drama. In the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito (Issey Ogata) announces to the world that Japan will surrender unconditionally. His declaration was broadcast over the radio on August 15, 1945, and stunned the Japanese people. In this film, Sokurov details not only the events surrounding the emperor's declaration of surrender, but his renunciation of divine status as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Issey Ogata, Robert M. Dawson, (more)
- 2005
Tom Ripley (Barry Pepper) and friends cover up the death of a renowned artist in order to continue profiting from his work, but find their ruse threatened by a sharp-eyed art collector who recognizes one of the paintings as fake. Tom Wilkinson, Claire Forlani, Alan Cumming, and Willem Dafor co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barry Pepper, Tom Wilkinson, (more)
A family deals with the typical anxieties of a wedding day while also confronting the political turmoil of the Middle East in this drama, a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. Hammed (Makram J. Khoury) is a leading political figure in Majdal Shams, a Druze community that has been under Israeli occupation since the late '60s. Years ago, Hammed arranged for his daughter Mona (Clara Khoury) to marry Tallel (Derar Sliman), who has since become a successful actor in Syria. Hammed has gathered the family together to see Mona off, but the occasion is a bittersweet one -- given the combative relationship between Israel and Syria, once Mona crosses the border with her husband, it's unlikely she will ever be able to return. Hammed's oldest son, Hattem (Eyad Sheety), comes back from Russia, where he now lives with his wife, but his father still refuses to forgive him for leaving the land of his birth. Marwan (Ashraf Barhoum), a younger son, is a businessman living in Italy who uses his visit home as an opportunity to visit Jeanne (Julie-Anne Roth), an American United Nations representative he's been dating. And daughter Amal (Hiam Abbass) helps her sister Mona deal with the stress and details of her big day as she struggles to live as a modern woman while married to Amin (Adnan Tarabshi), who wants his spouse to follow a more traditional path. Makram J. Khoury was ideally cast as Hammed in at least one respect -- he's the real life father of Clara Khoury, who plays his screen daughter Mona. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hiam Abbass, Makram Khoury, (more)
A destitute child from an impoverished Ukrainian village finds that the world can be a cold and cruel place after being lured from his home by a nefarious huckster under the guise of working in the circus. Barbu is a ten-year-old boy whose dreams of a brighter future find him slowly falling for the hollow promises made by shady promoter Caruso. Though Caruso regularly descends upon the town to seduce gullible children with promises of fame and fortune in the West, the truth about what actually happens to Caruso's children couldn't be more tragic. When Barbu is lured to Berlin and sold to a gang that uses children for stealing, the strong-headed youngster soon determines to make the best of his situation and become the best thief in the bunch. His quest to become the King of Thieves is sidetracked, however, when after learning that Caruso has sold his older sister Mimma to a Berlin brothel, Barbu determines to rescue his sister from a grim future of forced prostitution. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lazar Ristovski, Yasha Kultiasov, (more)
- 2004
A pair of unlikely lovers make their way across Europe in this offbeat comedy drama from Germany. Olga (Clemence Poesy) is a 16-year-old girl who imagines she'll be spending an uneventful summer tending the counter at her parent's filling station when a driver has a wreck in a nearby garden. It seems Daniel (Bruno Todeschini) is an artist wrestling with a midlife crisis and thoughts of suicide. As Olga offers to help, they decide running off to the French Riviera might be just the thing for both of them. Olga and Daniel hit the road and a blossoming flirtation begins, though Daniel isn't sure what to do when he realizes his attraction to Olga is more than just physical. Olgas Sommer (aka Olga's Summer) was the second feature film from director and screenwriter Nina Grosse. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruno Todeschini, Clémence Poésy, (more)
Based on the novel by Witold Gombrowicz, writer/director Jan Jakub Kolski's Pornography is set in the Polish countryside during WWII. Witold (Adam Ferency), the narrator, is at a gathering of his intellectual artist friends in Warsaw, where he meets Frederick (Krzysztof Majchrzak), a mysterious, but charming, stranger. They hit it off, so Witold invites Frederick along as he goes to visit the home of his friend Hipolit (Krzysztof Globisz) and his wife Maria (Grazyna Blecka-Kolska). Witold and Frederick become obsessed with arranging the coupling of Hipolit's beautiful teenage daughter, Henia (Sandra Samos), and an equally beautiful young man, Karol (Kazimierz Mazur), who is working at the farm. But Henia is engaged to Vaclav (Grzegorz Damiecki), who is visiting with his deeply religious mother, Amelia (Irena Laskowska). As the two middle-aged gentlemen scheme, Germans fight with the Polish resistance, led by Siemian (Jan Frycz), in the woods nearby. Hipolit supports the resistance and his household is thrown into chaos when he is ordered to "liquidate" Siemian to prevent him from talking if he's captured by the Germans. Meanwhile, Frederick's obsession with Veronika, a pretty young maid at the house, masks a dark secret from his past. Pornography was shown at the 2003 Venice Film Festival and selected for the 2003 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Krzysztof Majchrzak, Adam Ferency, (more)
- 2002
Nae Caranfil's Filantropica (Philanthropy) is a comedy about a man attempting to live beyond his means. Ovidiu (Mircea Diaconu) is a teacher and struggling writer who still resides with his parents. He falls in love with Diana (Viorica Voda), the sister of one of his students. In order to impress her he agrees to a scam thought up by the roguish Pepe (Gheorghe Dinica). The scam involves Ovidiu pretending to be married to Miruna (Mara Nicolescu). ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mircea Diaconu, Gheorghe Dinica, (more)
Veteran Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic leaves the battles in the Balkans behind for this drama set in rural Ireland. Believing that "a man is measured by his enemies," Harry Maloney (Colm Meany) sets out to ruin George O'Flaherty -- the most powerful man in town, who not only owns the local pub and most of the businesses in the area, but is also the local matchmaker. When Harry's son Gus -- upon whom Harry regularly heaps abuse -- falls for the lovely Eileen, George helps broker their nuptials. All the while, Harry quietly mobilizes his dastardly plans. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colm Meaney, Adrian Dunbar, (more)
A woman begins to wonder if her young son is who she thinks he is in this psychological suspense story. Ariane and Pierre (Isabelle Huppert and Denis Podalydes) are the busy parents of a nine-year-old son, Camille (Nils Hugon). Camille feels neglected by his hard-working mom and dad and often seems to drift into a world of his own, preferring his imaginary friends to other children or his nanny Helene (Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre). One day, Camille startles Ariane by announcing he wants to live with his real mother -- and proceeds to lead her to an apartment across town, where Ariane is introduced to a stranger named Isabella (Jeanne Balibar). Camille seems to know all the nooks and crannies of Isabella's flat, and the latter insists that he is her lost son Paul, who actually drowned two years ago. Unsure of what to do, Ariane decides to play along, going so far as to allow Isabella to stay in the family's home as she tries to resolve Camille's dilemma with the help of her brother Serge (Charles Berling), a psychiatrist. Comedie de L'Innocence is based on a novel by Massimo Bontempelli and was directed by acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Raul Ruiz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Balibar, (more)
- 2000
Nae Caranfil directs this playful movie about the two years that young French author Stendhal gallivanted about the Italian countryside. Stendhal (Francois Cluzet), then still known simply as Henri Beyle, is living the life of a gentleman-wanderer, looking for a direction in his life. He spends a few nights at the estate of Count Nencini (Giancarlo Giannini) as he waits for the army to dispatch with a brigand lair. He learns that the melancholy Count is secretly supporting the bandit, which soon embroils the young writer in a web of intrigue. Meanwhile, he finds himself profoundly attracted to young widow Giuseppina (Isabella Ferrari). ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margherita Buy, François Cluzet, (more)
- 1999
French filmmaker Jean Vigo made only four films prior to his death in 1934 at the age of 29 (only one a full length feature), but all of them are today recognized as landmarks of the European cinema, and Zero For Conduct and L'Atalante are often cited among the greatest films of their time. Vigo: Passion For Life is a dramatic biography that explores his brief life and tumultuous career. Born the son of a famous figure in the French anarchist movement, Jean Vigo (played here by James Frain) suffered from poor health throughout his life; he contracted tuberculosis as a young man, and met his wife Lydu Lozinska (Romane Bohringer) when both were receiving treatment in a sanitarium. Vigo made A propos de Nice in 1929 as an attack on bourgeois French society; the premier led to a riot, the first of many controversies surrounding Vigo's work (Zero For Conduct was completed in 1932, but its anti-authoritarian stance caused it to be banned until 1945). Vigo's fragile health was already beginning to fail him while he was filming L'Atalante; a fall into an icy river while trying to retrieve a camera only added to his ills, and he edited most of the film at home, too sick to leave. However, he was passionate about his art to the end, constantly battling producers and authorities to make films as he chose to make them. He died in 1934, the same year L'Atalante was released. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Romane Bohringer, James Frain, (more)
- 1998
- R
Goran Paskaljevic directed this French-Yugoslavian-Greek-Macedonian-Turkish comedy-drama about life in contemporary Belgrade. A Cabaret-like emcee introduces a collection of characters seen in the city during a single night: a Bosnian Serb family living in a garage, a middle-aged boxer who kills his best friend, an ex-cop beaten by one of his former victims, a young man attacked by a mob, a former student revolutionary, a VW driver caught in road rage after a minor traffic accident, and an angry young man who hijacks a bus because the driver dawdles over his coffee. The source of the film is a successful stage play by Dejan Dukovski. Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miki Manojlovic, Nebojsa Glogovac, (more)
- 1997
- R
- Add Metroland to Queue
An unexpected visit causes a man to wonder what path he should have taken in life in this drama. In 1977, Chris (Christian Bale) and Marion (Emily Watson) are a staid married couple living in a working-class community near the outskirts of London, where the Metro tube line dead-ends. While Marion is reasonably happy, Chris is bored and restless, and he often daydreams about how his life could have been different. Chris and Marion first met in Paris in 1968, when revolution was in the air and they were both footloose bohemians exploring the world. Chris was briefly in love with Annick (Elsa Zylberstein), a wild, beautiful, and high-spirited young woman, but he married Marion instead, and he frequently wonders if he made the right choice. One day, Chris receives a telephone call from his old buddy Toni (Lee Ross), who was his best friend back in his days in Paris. While Chris has joined the working class, Toni is still following his muse around the world, drifting through Europe, America, Africa, or anywhere else the breeze takes him. Toni is visiting England and invites Chris to leave Marion behind and join him in his travels. Already in an unsure state of mind, Chris finds himself calling practically every aspect of his life into question -- he even wonders if Marion might be attracted to Toni, whom she's never cared for. Metroland was adapted by Adrian Hodges from the novel by Julian Barnes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Lee Ross, (more)
- 1995
- R
Immigrant friends living in a shabby corner of Brooklyn while they pursue the American Dream are the center of this comedy-drama from Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic. Tom Conti stars as Alonso, a Spaniard and owner of the Paradiso, a run-down bar where he lives with his blind mother and where his friend Bayo (Miki Manojlovic), an illegal immigrant from Yugoslavia, works as janitor in exchange for free room. The best of friends, Alonso and Bayo are united in believing that they'll succeed in the Land of Opportunity, despite much evidence to the contrary. Bayo's family then follows him to New York from Montenegro, but his beloved youngest son is drowned in the Rio Grande during the dangerous journey. Unable to cope with his grief, Bayo blames his eldest son, Luka (Sergej Trifunovic) for the tragedy. Luka, however, turns out to be the salvation of both his father and Alonso, transforming Paradiso into a trendy ethnic restaurant and marrying a Chinese-American girl in order to gain citizenship. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Conti, Miki Manojlovic, (more)
- 1994
- R
This European buddy movie chronicles the relationship between a famed yet depressive hairdresser and the suicidal plumber who becomes his "adopted" son after he rescues him from a canal. Georges is the hairdresser who gained notoriety as a hairdresser to stars such as Grace Kelly, and Ava Gardner. His clients are all interesting. For example, there is the butcher who loves tall hair on his mistress' head, and a balding fellow who wants his remaining hair combed forward. Gus, after being mistreated in love, decides to end it all by jumping into a canal. Georges tries to save him and the soggy twosome become bosom buddies. Georges takes Gus to the Louvre where he critiques the hairstyles on the art work. After a peer breaks his arm, Georges agrees to take his place in the World Hairdressing Championships in the Czech Republic. Many surreal hairstyles are to be seen there, including replicas of the Eiffel tower, a battleship, and a burning building. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Yanne, Albert Dupontel, (more)
- 1992
- R
In this hectic farce, Louis Aubinard (Bob Hoskins) is at the bottom of every totem pole he's ever come near, a nebbish and unattractive man who makes a poor living as a photographer of religious tableaux. His sister doesn't respect him and deliberately cooks awful food just to makes his life more miserable. At work, he is in danger of losing his job if he can't find a suitable model for a Christ-on-the-cross photo. One of his friends (Jean-Pierre Cassel) asks him to fill in for him on a movie project, and without knowing what he's being asked to do, Louis agrees to help out. He is astonished to discover that he is to provide the voiced-over cries of orgasmic delight for a porn movie. His fellow dubber is a lovely woman named Sybil (Natasha Richardson), and together, they voice a world-shaking sexual climax for the movie. Sybil then asks the hapless Louis to do a favor for her, and once again, he agrees. He meets the actress' boyfriend (Jeff Goldblum) as he is being released from jail and simultaneously finds his model for the troublesome photo. Things become particularly frenetic when the addle-pated ex-con takes his holy image too much to heart and begins trying to work miracles. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum, (more)
- 1989
In this romantic comedy/spy thriller, Clarissa Boulanger (Sabine Azema) is eager to take a breather from her deteriorating marriage, so when the French Secret Service asks her to team up with Hippolyte (Isaach de Bankole) and pose as a newlywed in order to thwart the shipment of powerful weapons to terrorists, she is all too happy to oblige. However, she and her new partner find that it's easier to say "pretend" than it is to avoid having a real romance heat up between them. Things get complicated when Clarissa's husband gets wind of her "beau" and comes to where the agents are staying in order to "catch her in the act" with her partner and win an easy divorce. None of this helps the two secret service agents in their mission. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azéma, (more)
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