Jacques Hinstin Movies
- 2003
A sexually frustrated husband learns to be careful what he asks for in this French marriage comedy from director Didier Bourdon. Their sex life virtually non-existent after only seven years of marriage, Alain (Didier Bourdon) and Audrey (Catherine Frot) rarely find time for bedroom hanky-panky as a result of Audrey's demanding job and her tireless devotion to their daughter Camille (Gabrielle Lopes Benites). Concerned that their marriage may be in trouble as he increasingly relies on pornography to fulfill his sexual needs, Alain consults a sex therapist for suggestions on how to re-awaken his wife's sexual appetite. Although some subsequent trips to nearby sex stores and steamy nightclubs at first make Audrey uneasy, hapless Alain soon finds himself getting more than he bargained for when his plan starts to work a little too well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Bourdon, Catherine Frot, (more)
- 1995
For 30 years the title eatery has delighted its customers with good family style French cooking, but as with many good things, its time has come and it must close. This semi-autobiographical French drama, adapted from screenwriter/director Laurent Benegui's novel, chronicles the final meal served to 15 loyal patrons on closing day. Amidst affectionate humor and occasional pathos, much attention is paid to the conversations, personal situations, and emotions of the diners and the staff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stéphane Audran, Michel Aumont, (more)
- 2003
Francis Palluau's directorial debut Bienvenue Chez les Rozes (Welcome to the Rozes) is a comedy about a hostage situation. Gilbert (Lorant Deutsch) and MG (Jean Dujardin) escape from prison and end up hiding out at the home of Daniel and Beatrice Roze (André Wilms and Carole Bouquet), who are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. MG takes everyone hostage in order to get money owed to him from the theft that put him in jail, and the Rozes do not seem to be perturbed at all by the evening's turn of events. Clemence Poesy rounds out the cast as Magali, the daughter of Daniel and Beatrice. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Bouquet, André Wilms, (more)
One man's sexual obsessions and emotional weaknesses are laid bare in this controversial drama. Jay (Mark Rylance) is a cold, emotionally distant man who abandoned his wife and children several years ago andnow works in a nightclub. Jay enters into an affair with a married woman, an amateur actress named Claire (Kerry Fox), in which their emotional needs barely enter the picture; they meet once a week and have sex, talking as little as possible and parting ways once they're done. One week, Jay follows Claire after their weekly encounter and sees her meeting her husband Andy (Timothy Spall), a cheerful and good-natured cab driver. Jay becomes curious about Andy and strikes up an acquaintance with him; as they become friendly, Jay begins sharing with Andy the details of his affair with a married woman, without mentioning his lover's name. Claire has already begun moving away from her affair with Jay, and when she discovers that he's been meeting with her husband and sharing information about their relationship, she becomes understandably furious. Intimacy was the first English-language film for French director Patrice Chereau; the film received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Rylance, Kerry Fox, (more)
- 1998
Gillaume Nicloux directed this French comedy drama about amateur sleuth Gabriel Lecouvreur, aka The Octopus (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), a Gallic gumshoe with no fixed address, who travels with his girlfriend Cheryl (Clotilde Courau) to a harbor town in western France. The graves of Cheryl's grandparents have been desecrated, and during their investigation of this, they encounter a half-dozen demented denizens and other looney locals. More than 100 paperbacks by different writers have chronicled The Octopus' adventures; this is the first film featuring the character. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Clotilde Courau, (more)
- 1997
The film's title is a pun, the double meaning referencing both the "wrong genre" and a person with distasteful motives. Insecure novelist Martial Bok (Jacques Gamblin) promotes his new sexy novel La Fille de Dos ("Girl Observed From the Rear") with a round of book-signings and talk-shows. When beautiful hat designer Camille (Monica Bellucci) buys the book, Martial follows her and spies on her as she reads his book and removes her clothing. It's the beginning of his obsession and also an inspiration. After Martial's live-in girlfriend Lucie (Elina Lowensohn) establishes contact with Camille for real, Martial is able to type out another sexy manuscript. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Gamblin, Elina Löwensohn, (more)
- 1999
A story about a man and his dog, this film is a wrought urban drama about the gritty realities of life on the street. Middle-aged Michel (Jacques Hansen) wanders the streets of Paris aimlessly until he happens upon an abused dog. When the police threaten to take the animal away, he reluctantly turns to his former lover who works with the city. The results prove to be disastrous for the brittle Michel. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Rousseau
- 1994
This gentle French comedy, set in Paris around 1960, follows the tribulations of an upper-crust Catholic family who finds itself suddenly living in a humble working-class apartment. After the Baron Guidon de Repeygnac loses his money from a stock swindle, he is force to move himself, his wife the baroness, their eight children, and the maid from their tiny Parisian apartment and into a humble, efficiency apartment in a government-subsidized low-income housing project. The baron tries to become a traveling salesman. The baroness, unable to adapt, begins to have regular nervous breakdowns while her children become street-wise urchins. Their new life is hard, but they quickly discover that there are benefits from it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delphine Rich, Samuel Labarthe, (more)
- 2005
Director Coline Serreau's warmhearted comedy Saint Jacques. . .La Mecque concerns a trio of estranged siblings who must complete a road trip together in order to collect an inheritance after their mother dies. The ever-at-the-end-of his-tether businessman Pierre (Artus de Penguern), mousy teacher Clara (Muriel Robin), and drunken reprobate Caludr (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), must travel together in order to each warn the millions their mother left them or else it all goes to charity. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Muriel Robin, Artus de Penguern, (more)
Agnes Jaoui co-writes and directs this romantic comedy of manners set in France's rustic Provence. Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella (co-scripter Jean-Pierre Bacri) reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux (Anne Alvaro). During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Bacri, Anne Alvaro, (more)
- 1998
- Add Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train to QueueAdd Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train to top of Queue
Patrice Chereau (Queen Margot) directed this French drama about a train trip to an artist's funeral. Friends of painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich (Jean-Louis Trintignant, seen in flashbacks) gather at a Paris railroad station for a four-hour journey to Limoges, where Emmerich wanted to be buried. The dozen travelers include art historian Francois (Pascal Greggory) and his lover Louis (Bruno Todeschini), who develops an interest in teenage Bruno (Sylvain Jacques). Traveling parallel with the train is a station wagon with Jean-Baptiste's body, and this vehicle is driven by Thierry (Roschdy Zem), husband of Catherine (Dominique Blanc), who's on the train with their daughter. Francois plays a taped interview with Jean-Baptiste, revealing his sexual appeal to both men and women. Lucie (Marie Daems) is convinced that she was his main love. Also on board is his nephew, Jean-Marie (Charles Berling) and Jean-Marie's estranged wife, Claire (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), After the funeral in "Europe's largest cemetery," the storyline continues in the mansion of Jean-Baptiste's brother, Lucien (also played by Trintignant). With hand-held camerawork for almost two-thirds of the film, the production involved two extra cars connected to a real scheduled train, headed one way in the morning and returning in the afternoon, with cast and crew logging some 12,000 kilometers over two weeks. Source music runs the gamut from James Brown to Jim Morrison. The title refers to the dying words uttered by the painter -- which actually are the last words spoken by filmmaker Francois Reichenbach who died in 1993 (and appropriated here by his friend, co-scripter Daniele Thompson). One of Francois Reichenbach's best-known films (and subject of an entire book) is the documentary Medicine Ball Caravan (aka We Have Come for Your Daughters,1971), a curious effort to duplicate the success of Woodstock (1970) by simply inviting a large number of musicians, hippies, and counterculture types aboard a cross-country train and filming the result. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascal Greggory, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1996
- NR
In this black comedy from France, a family gathers in a tavern, ostensibly to celebrate a birthday, but poking each other's sore spots turns out to be the main order of business. Henri (Jean-Pierre Bacri) runs a saloon that he inherited from his father called "The Sleepy Dad," and in the near-empty bar, he plays host to several members of the family as they mark the 35th birthday of his sister-in-law, Yolande (Catherine Frot). Henri's sister, Betty (Agnès Jaoui), is 30, single, and not very happy about it; his brother (and Yolande's husband), Phillipe (Vladimir Yordanoff), runs a growing software company; Mother (Claire Maurier) is the siblings' strong-willed matriarch; and Henri's dog is on hand, whom someone describes as "like a rug, but alive." It's not been a good day for most of them: Phillipe is convinced that his business will go out the window as a result of the ugly tie that he wore on television; Betty is depressed about the sad state of her current relationship; Henri has just learned that his wife is leaving him; and Mother is tossing caustic barbs at everyone left and right. Henri's bartender Denis (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) is the one neutral party on hand, and he provides the voice of reason in the midst of the bickering. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, (more)
