Charlotte de Turckheim Movies
- 1981
Two single, quiet, and physically plain neighbors in an apartment building meet each other and strike up a friendship - something they both had needed for a long time. As their relationship begins to convert into a romantic pairing, the two go ahead and become lovers. Although that seemed to be the ultimate expression of their feelings, the couple start to question whether or not they were happier sharing their original, unfettered friendship -- and reconsider their options. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Blanc, Anémone, (more)
- 1981
Gerard Barbier (Michel Coluche) has taken on a temporary job at a small elementary school and soon finds himself involved in sticky situations that challenge his inventiveness. In one such instance, a suicidal fellow-teacher has to be rushed to the hospital and the only available vehicle is an oversized tractor trailer, hardly the ticket for charging down the road. This is the first of four planned films for French comedic star Coluche, working under director Claude Berri. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Coluche, Josiane Balasko, (more)
- 1983
In this routine romantic comedy, a veterinarian who mingles with humans of a higher pedigree gets an unwelcome visit from a female tax inspector -- and tries to seduce her as a way out of his dilemma. His screwball accountant's version of keeping books is no help, and so in desperation, the veterinarian performs a mock operation on the tax inspector's beloved pet dog in the hope of "saving the day" for himself in her eyes. Their continued interaction through thick and thin have changed the way the tax inspector and veterinarian regard each other, and disparate as they may be, an undeniable attraction starts to grow between them. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Brasseur, Josiane Balasko, (more)
- 1983
The French My Other Husband (Attention! Une Femme Peut en Cacher une Autre) would eventually suffer the indignity of an American TV-movie remake, which will go unnamed here to protect the guilty. The original film is a sprightly vehicle for the delectable Miou-Miou. Thanks to her resourcefulness and spunk, Alice (Miou-Miou) manages to get two well-paying jobs in two separates cities. She also acquires two husbands, airline pilot Philippe (Roger Hanin) and school teacher Vincent (Eddy Mitchell), and three children unevenly distributed between them. Our Heroine is found out when Philippe's schedule is changed and he chances to meet Vincent. Both men accept the situation philosophically, but a frantic Alice feels an explanation is necessary. It is that explanation that provides the heart and soul of this irresistible little film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Roger Hanin, (more)
- 1983
In a comedy that is dead-in-the-water, a disconnected series of events serves as a framework for Jerry Lewis to put on his stock-in-trade mugging act. He plays a Las Vegas policeman visiting his ex-wife in France, only to be caught up in the shenanigans of a group of art thieves. His ex-wife has remarried and her husband is undercover among the art thieves, carrying out an assignment given him by his superiors in the police force. Inevitably, the current husband and the ex-husband are bound to clash. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Michel Blanc, (more)
- 1983
This tragic musical drama chronicles the star-crossed love between beloved French singer Edith Piaf and World Middleweight boxing champion Marcel Cerdan who died in a plane crash. The tumultuous affair is paralleled by the love affair of a French POW and his young pen pal who get engaged after writing to each other for four years and having never met. Their romances are framed by the sad, torchy songs of Piaf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyne Bouix, Marcel Cerdan, Jr., (more)
This ambitious attempt to film a portion of Marcel Proust's epic novel Remembrance of Things Past stars Jeremy Irons as Charles Swann, a Jewish intellectual who has managed to overcome growing anti-Semitism in 19th century France and travels in an elite social circle. But Swann has become obsessed with Odette (Ornella Muti), a courtesan who cares more for money than Swann's passion for her. In time they marry, but Swann soon realizes his desire for her is based purely on physical lust for someone with whom he has no rapport, or even much affection, and the relationship begins to erode the social acceptance Swann struggled to achieve. Meanwhile, the Baron de Charlus (Alain Delon) finds himself similarly attracted to a young man who does not share his desires. Un Amour de Swann was much praised for its production design and the cinematography of frequent Ingmar Bergman collaborator Sven Nykvist, though many felt director Volker Schlondorff failed to capture the narrative depth and complexity of Proust's novel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1984
In this clichéd, uneven, confusing melodrama about love and politics by Philippe Labro, Sacha (Nathalie Baye) is a divorced woman from the Left Bank of the Seine, out of a job because she refused to bestow sexual favors in the line of duty, and Paul (Gérard Depardieu) is a lawyer from the Right Bank whom she first rejects and then accepts when she sees his noble behavior on television. Paul has become well-established because of some shady moral compromises but suddenly finds his backbone when he turns against the crooked tycoon he had represented (Bernard Fresson) and does so on public television. Paul has given up everything for his love of Sacha, and now she is in danger from the vengeful tycoon -- not to mention Paul's irate wife. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1987
Francois Marboni (Victor Lanoux) is a butcher who is being blackmailed for having an affair with the prostitute Rache (Pauline Lafont) in this black comedy. He decides to hire a hit man when the blackmailer demands that he start cutting his profit margin to the bone. Francois soon becomes a target of the hitman he hired. Michel Aumont plays the policeman who also covets Rache, with Francois Stevenin as the hilarious hit man. Marie Laforet stars as Francois' space-cadet spouse Marthe. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Lanoux, Pauline Lafont, (more)
- 1988
Celine (Sophie Marceau) must choose between Tarquin (Lambert Wilson) and Aurele (Stephane Fries) in this historical drama set during the French Civil War of 1793. The Republican Army decimated Western France when an insurgence of peasants, clergy, and aristocrats loyal to the Royalists staged a counterrevolution. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Sophie Marceau, (more)
- 1988
In this romantic comedy, an astrologer matches up two people who are married to other people. Each is convinced that what they need in order to have a more fulfilling life is an extramarital affair, and they intend to take their medicine, no matter how distatsteful it proves to be. Luckly for the audience, it proves to be awful indeed, as they attempt to set fire to this soggy fuel for romance in a series of ill-starred dates. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Weber, Charlotte de Turckheim, (more)
- 1991
In this comedy, Andre is anxious to please his fourteen-year old daughter when he picks her up from her mother (whom he's divorced from) for a vacation on Maritius. She is full of romantic notions, and when she spies a cute windsurfer at the resort, she concocts a story to win him to her side. First of all, she claims to be eighteen, not fourteen. Secondly, she claims that she is the mistress of a dangerous gangster who is dying (her father). Not only that, but everyone believes her. Her father is understandably surprised by these revelations when she is forced to take him into her confidence, but he is a romantic too. He gamely plays the role assigned to him while maintaining a fatherly eye on the proceedings. Gérard Depardieu plays the father in this movie and also in its 1994 American remake. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Marie Gillain, (more)
Best known for their historical epics that examine class and social issues in British life through a thick lens of tasteful production design and good manners, director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant set their sights on an American protagonist for a change with Jefferson in Paris. As the title suggests, Jefferson in Paris deals with the five years that Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) spent as U.S. ambassador to France prior to the French Revolution; while Jefferson is sympathetic to the revolutionary forces in France, he's become well enough acquainted with the ruling aristocracy that he finds himself torn between the two sides of the issue. Jefferson, a recent widower, also becomes friends with Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), who is married to a foppish British artist; while it's obvious the two are in love, neither is in a position to do anything about their infatuation. And while Jefferson's daughter Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow) loves her father, she's very upset with him when he sends her to a convent school. In this midst of this personal turmoil, Jefferson's younger daughter Polly (Estelle Eonnet) arrives in Paris, with her slave Sally Hemmings (Thandie Newton) in tow. Attractive and bright (if uneducated), Sally catches Jefferson's eye, and a friendship develops that grows into something deeper; in time, Sally becomes pregnant, and her family claims that Jefferson is the father. At the time Jefferson In Paris was released, the question of Sally Hemmings' relationship with Thomas Jefferson was a matter of lively historical debate; since then, genetic evidence has shown that, while Jefferson's paternity can't be proved beyond a doubt, it is likely that he did father children with Hemmings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1996
- R
Noted producer Ismail Merchant stepped up to the director's chair for this drama. Adrienne Mark (Jeanne Moreau) is the most acclaimed French novelist of her generation, whose best known work, Je M'Appelle France, was an international best-seller made into an award-winning French film (and a disastrous Americanized remake). Adrienne is living in New York City when she learns that the flat in Paris where she grew up (as Adrienne Markowsky) is up for sale. Looking for a key to her past, she buys the apartment and discovers a cache of letters written by her late mother. Adrienne's mother died in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, but while she's been led to believe that her mother was betrayed while working with the resistance, the letters suggest that the truth was far more troubling. Along the way, Adrienne is romantically pursued by a young fan, William O'Hara (Josh Hamilton), though he instead finds love with Virginia Kelly (Sean Young), an American film producer eager to work with the great writer. The Proprietor also features Sam Waterston, Nell Carter, and Austin Pendleton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Moreau, Josh Hamilton, (more)
- 1997
This French drama, adapted from the novel Playback by Didier Daeninckx, centers on small-town girl Johanna (Virginie Ledoyen) who dreams of becoming a rock star. Johanna and her shy friend Jeanne (Maidi Roth) perform in a small mining town when Parisian Luc (Marc Duret), on a visit to close the mine, catches their act. When Luc loses his job, he becomes their representative. At a talent show for solo performers, Jeanne sings backstage while Johanna lip-syncs onstage. Fame follows, but Johanna's promiscuous activities and drug use create frictions with her friends. As Pierre Montgolfier, a friend of Jeanne's mother, veteran performer Serge Reggiani offers a rendition of the 1943 tune "Douce France." Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginie Ledoyen, Maïdi Roth, (more)
- 1999
- NR
In this sly comedy of manners, Anne (Victoria Abril) is a free-spirited single mother whose three children were all fathered by different men, none of whom are currently in contact with Anne and none of whom know that Anne bore their offspring. Anne's son Victor (Pierre-Jean Cherit) has started asking his mother questions about who his father is and where he's gone; Anne, however, isn't sure just what to tell him, or any of his siblings, about their Dads without things becoming embarrassing. However, when Anne takes the kids on a vacation to Mexico, she realizes she'd better come up with an explanation and quick, since all three of her former beaux happen to be staying at the same resort where Anne and her brood are registered. Mon père, ma mère, mes frères et mes soeurs was the first directorial credit for actress Charlotte de Turckheim, who also appears in the film as Jeanne. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victoria Abril, Charlotte de Turckheim, (more)
- 2002
Lies, betrayal, lust, and ennui are just a few of the themes at work in this knowing and urbane dissection of modern love and relationships, which follows the romantic pursuits of four disparate couples. Gabrielle is a shy but attractive librarian who falls for Remy, a seductive rake. Vanessa is a beautician who decides to shack up with Gerard, a significantly older professor of literature who compounds his loftiness by smoking a pipe. Then there's Brigitte, a rather bodacious woman who charms the pants off the younger Claude at a gallery opening. Finally, there is Cyril, an average Joe who falls in love with the stunningly beautiful Anick, and can't quite believe his luck. Director Eric Assous uses the ins and outs of all four couples to examine the never-ending battle of the sexes with humor, drama, and a keen eye for the nuances of gender politics. Very Opposite Sexes had its North American premiere at the 2002 Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte de Turckheim, Patrick Chesnais, (more)
A young Jewish girl looking to escape the clutches of the Third Reich after seeing her parents and sister brutally slain while attempting to make their way to England is sheltered by an old friend whose status as a member of the "third" sex soon leads the Gestapo pounding on his door as well. Betrayed by a smuggler who sat idly by as her family was casually slaughtered by the SS, terrified Sara (Louise Monot) flees into the comforting care of childhood summer-vacation chum Jean (Jeremie Renier) and his faithful lover Philippe (Bruno Todeschini). Though safe for the moment thanks to Jean's quick-thinking plan to pass her off as a Gallic employee of his family's laundry business, Sara watches in horror as her homosexual protector is forced into a Nazi labor camp as a tragic result of a bad decision made by Jean's troublesome brother Jacques (Nicholas Gob). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jérémie Renier, Bruno Todeschini, (more)
- 2007
The comedy Times Have Been Better concerns a married couple whose preconceptions about their own open-mindedness are shattered when their oldest son announces he is homosexual. The family dynamic is complicated because the son's younger brother has always known the truth, but resents his older brother's status as the family favorite. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte de Turckheim, Bernard Le Coq, (more)
