Jacky Cukier Movies
Part romantic comedy and part black comedy, director Yann Samuell's 2003 feature film debut Jeux d'Enfants (Love Me if You Dare) follows the exploits of two young would-be lovers as they go from childhood to adulthood with themselves as the greatest hurdle to their own happiness. Julien and Sophie first meet at the age of eight when both are undergoing great trauma: Julien is watching his mother die and Sophie has become the focus of intense hazing at the hands of some fellow schoolmates. On one fateful day, Julien decides to stick up for Sophie and pulls a practical joke on her tormentors. Henceforth, the two embark on a close friendship that revolves around daring each other to pull increasingly audacious practical jokes, rather than on the seemingly obvious intimate relationship they seem dangerously close to discovering at any moment. Jeux d'Enfants was selected for inclusion into the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival as well as that same year's Telluride International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, (more)
- 2001
Three families trace their fortunes, for good and ill, over the course of ten summers in this drama from French filmmaker Yves Hanchar. The Bertini, Delperee, and Foucher families first meet by the seaside in 1990, and as the various members become fast friends, they find themselves vacationing together each summer over the next decade. Daniel Delperee (Jeremy Lippmann) finds himself falling in love with Carole (Jessica Pare), a friend of one of the Foucher girls, and over the next several summers he has to come to terms with his feelings for her. He must also face new responsibilities, as his mother Marianne (Catherine Hosmalin), who had been unhappy since parting with her husband Paul (Luc Picard), dies in an auto accident. Daniel then is unsure how to react after Paul becomes involved with a much younger woman, Maddelena (Floriane Devigne). En Vacances received its North American premiere at the 2001 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luc Picard, Luigi Diberti, (more)
Amos Gitai directed this Israeli-French family comedy-drama, the second film in a trilogy about contemporary Israeli cities. A Jewish woman, Hanna (Hanna Maron), runs a bakery with her Arab husband Yussef (Yussef Abu Warda), while their son Moshe (Moshe Ivgi) has problems with his wife Didi (Dalit Kahan). With a proposed retail mall in the future, Yussef feels there are inherent political implications if he were to sell the bakery to the Israeli developer. Shown at the Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moshe Ivgi, Hanna Maron, (more)
- 1996
In a Brussels courthouse, notoriously brutal killer Julius Mandenne stands trial for dismembering a woman and cryptically painting the letter "s" on a wall with her tongue. Attending the gruesome trial are his four illegitimate off-spring, none of whom knew the other existed. With grim Gallic humor, this serpentine tale follows what happens when the four team up to learn more about their enigmatic sire. The now-grown children couldn't be more different. Forty-four-year old Parisian barmaid Sylvette loves life and free-love while 41-year-old Sophie is utterly bourgeois and uptight. Twenty-eight-year old Susan is a radical American feminist who wants to be an actress. After their father is sentenced to 20-years in jail, the threesome encounter their half-brother Sandro who at 39, works as an auto mechanic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anémone, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1994
This unique French offering is a compilation of 30 short films focused on AIDS. The mini-films were based on over 3,000 ideas put in by French school children and were made by filmmakers on a voluntary basis. Most of the vignettes deal with heterosexuality and AIDS, but one deals with drug-usage, and one with homosexuality. It took four production houses three years to create this inspirational and informative film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anémone, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1988
Seraphin Monge (Patrick Bruel) is a World War I veteran whose family was killed when he was an infant. At the end of the war, he returns to seek vengeance on the murderers. Monge is unable to carry out his revenge when the victims die before he can kill them. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bruel, Anne Brochet, (more)
