Philippe Martin Movies

A young woman abandons her child out of love in this emotional drama from France. Nina (Judith Chemla) is a single mother who is deeply devoted to her son, five-year-old Enzo (Max Baissette de Malglaive). Nina is also homeless, and has grown weary of dealing with government service agencies that are supposed to help her regain control of her life but instead just make her jump through hoops. One day, Nina happens to meet Damien (Guillaume Depardieu), who lives in an isolated cottage in the forests of Versailles. Damien offers to let Nina and Enzo stay with him for the night, and before the dawn, Nina has run away. Nina's plan is to use some time on her own to put her life back on track and reclaim Enzo once she has a job and a place to stay. However, Damien is a former criminal with a short temper and little use for others, and while he feels genuine compassion for Nina and Enzo, he's convinced he's not cut out to be the child's guardian. The longer Damien is with Enzo, the more he comes to care for the boy, so he sets out to mend fences with his dad (Patrick Descamps), who he hasn't spoken with in years, in hopes of giving the boy the sort of father figure he deserves. Versailles was the first directorial project for veteran screenwriter Pierre Schoeller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The bittersweet story at the heart of this feature begins years prior to the film's outset, when two once-in-love Swiss parents decided to adopt a Vietnamese little boy, Vinh (Quoc Dung Nguyen), as a foster child for themselves and a foster sibling for their biological children. In time, issues split apart the husband and wife - and thus the family - and led to untold decades of estrangement. Now, the adult Vinh is getting married to a Swiss woman, and in attempt to reunite with his biological mom, he invites her to the celebration. She agrees, but because she has no knowledge of the schism in Vinh's adoptive family (and thanks in no small part to his own embarrassment of the situation), he asks them (father, mother, brothers, sisters, all) to feign harmony, happiness, mutual love and togetherness. Surprisingly, all agree, but before long, old conflicts and issues bubble beneath the surface, quelling up into a towering rage that threatens to bring the whole masquerade crashing down on the single most important day of Vinh's life. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Told in ten "chapters," each composed of a single tracking shot, Jean-Paul Civeyrac's Through the Forest opens on Armelle (Camille Berthomier), who blissfully awakens from a night of passion with her boyfriend, Renaud (Aurelien Wiik). She gets up, opens the curtains, lets the sunshine in, and sings a happy song to her man, trying to coax him out of bed. But a moment later, he's vanished and the room has gone dreary and gray. It turns out that Renaud died in a motorcycle accident some time ago, and Armelle remains tormented by these frequent encounters with what she can only believe is his ghost. One of her sisters, Bérénice (Alice Dubuisson), involved in a frustratingly noncommittal relationship herself, refuses to take Armelle's claims seriously, while her other sister, the flighty Roxanne (Morgane Hainaux) encourages Armelle to visit a medium (Mireille Roussel). The medium proves to be of no help, but while she's there, Armelle sees a young man, Hippolyte (also played by Wiik), who bears an uncanny resemblance to her lost love. Through the Forest features the music of Antonin Dvorák, Charles Ives, and John Cage. It was shown at the 2005 New York Film Festival, presented by the film society of Lincoln Center. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker Jean-Paul Civeyrac directs the drama Toutes Ces Belles Promesses (All the Fine Promises), loosely based on the novel Hymnes à l'amour by Anne Wiazemsky. Jeanne Balibar stars as Marianne, a young Paris cellist mourning the recent death of her mother. When she discovers that her late father had a mistress, she casts aside her boyfriend Étienne (Renaud Bécard) in order to find her. It turns out that the mistress is also a musician, a pianist named Béatrice Marquet (Bulle Ogier). Marianne and Béatrice strike up a strange and tender friendship while reminiscing about the past and playing Edith Piaf songs on the piano. Marianne also reconnects with her family's maid Ghislaine (Valérie Crunchant) before returning to her home in Paris. All the Fine Promises premiered at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Antoine (Daniel Auteuil of The Closet), the busy manager of a fancy restaurant, cuts through a park in his rush to meet his frustrated girlfriend, Christine (Marilyne Canto), when he stumbles across Louis (José Garcia) attempting to hang himself. Antoine foils his efforts and takes the intensely phobic, despondent klutz home, much to Christine's chagrin. Lovesick Louis recalls that he's sent his "suicide note" to his elderly grandparents, so Antoine goes with him to intercept the letter. Antoine finds himself taking responsibility for Louis' life, getting him a job as a sommelier at the restaurant (despite his total lack of knowledge about wine and his nervousness around strangers) and going to visit Louis' ex-girlfriend, Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain of Alias Betty), a florist, and the cause of his heartbreak. Antoine finds that Blanche has a new boyfriend, and cunningly arranges for her to discover his infidelity. But when he offers Blanche comfort, she begins to feel drawn to him. With Antoine's encouragement, Louis gradually develops a newfound confidence, dressing better and excelling at work, all with an eye toward winning Blanche back. Antoine, meanwhile, is falling apart as he gets more involved in trying to fix Louis' life. Christine breaks up with him, and he struggles to hold it together at work. Worse yet, he finds himself increasingly attracted to Blanche, and conflicted in his allegiance to Louis. Pierre Salvadori's romantic farce Après vous... was shown at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendezvous With French Cinema in 2004. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Friendship turns to love, and unrequited love leads to a dangerous obsession in this moody drama. Nathalie (Emmanuelle Beart) and Louise (Pascale Bussieres) grew up together and had been close friends since childhood, but while both were studying drama in their early twenties, their friendship went through an abrupt shift -- while beautiful Nathalie enjoyed flirting with the men in her classes, Louise's interest in her best friend turned into infatuation, and when Nathalie indulged herself in a brief fling with a young actor, Louise was overcome with anger and jealousy and tried to kill herself. Nathalie was told by Louise's family that she didn't want to see her any more, and a decade passed before their paths would cross again. Louise is now married to a man named Nicolas (Sami Bouajila), and one night they go to the theater to see a touring production of a new play. To her surprise, Louise discovers the female lead is played by Nathalie; after the show, she slips backstage to say hello, and soon finds that she's as strongly attracted to Nathalie as ever -- and that Nathalie is involved with Matthias (Dani Levy), the gifted but difficult playwright who wrote and directed the production. Leaving Nicolas behind, Louise follows Nathalie to Denmark, and is able to pull a few strings to get Nathalie an audition with Walter Amar (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), a well-known and well-respected theatrical director. Nathalie soon leaves Matthias' show to star in Amar's new production of Lulu, and Louise volunteers to help Nathalie as she prepares for the role. Nathalie appreciates Louise's support and friendship, but she soon begins to chafe under Louise's obsessive attention, and she wonders if history might be repeating itself. La Repetition was shown in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, with writer and director Catherine Corsini earning a nomination for the coveted Golden Palm award. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A woman and her new lover find themselves playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an obsessive lunatic in this impressionistic thriller. Juliette (Elina Lowensohn) is struck by a car after running onto a busy road one night; she's picked up and taken to the hospital by Gaspard (Jean-Henri Compere), an ambulance driver who discovers that Juliette was trying to escape Guido (Pascal Greggory), a relentlessly determined would-be suitor who has been stalking her. At the hospital, Juliette goes into a panic, convinced Guido will come after her; her suspicions prove correct, and when Juliette is told she's well enough to return home, Gaspard offers to give her a ride back, partly out of concern for her safety and partly because he's become infatuated with her. While driving Juliette home, Gaspard discovers Guido is following them; after losing the stalker, Gaspard takes her to a hideaway in the country, though Guido's obsession is too strong to prevent him from picking up their trail. Pourquoi Se Marier Le Jour De La Fin Du Monde received its North American premiere at the 2001 Cinequest San Jose Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man considers the fine line between friendship and family as he crosses France by foot in this comedy. Felix (Sami Bouajila) is a cheerful thirty-something from Normandy who is part-Arab by birth and 100 percent French by inclination; Felix is also gay and HIV-positive, though the ups and downs of the characters on his favorite soap opera trouble him more than his health, which he regards with a good-natured stoicism. Felix has never really known his father, who left his mother before Felix was born, and after he receives some old letters his dad wrote to his mother, Felix decides its time they talked before it's too late. Figuring his father's likely whereabouts in Marseilles from the letters, Felix packs up his knapsack and hits the road, planning on hiking cross country and meeting up with his boyfriend, Daniel (Pierre-Loup Rajot), in a couple of weeks. Along the way, Felix's open-hearted charm allows him to make several new friends, and before long he's bonded with a number of people he's embraced as a surrogate family: Mathilde (Patachou), an elderly woman with regrets about her life; Isabelle (Ariane Ascaride), a single mother who can't find a stable relationship; Daniel (Pierre-Loup Rajot), a teenager coming to terms with his sexuality; and a "cousin" (Philippe Garziano) interested in kites with whom Felix has a brief fling (while they practice safe sex, their al fresco encounter leads to a dreaded and painful malady -- poison ivy). As Felix moves onwards toward Marseilles, he and his new friends ponder the notion of family -- is it defined by blood, or by your heart and soul? Drôle de Félix was released in English-speaking territories under two different titles, Funny Felix and The Adventures of Felix. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this French Canadian drama, a man going through some difficult life experiences find things become even more complicated when his ex re-enters his life. Max (James Hyndman) is an artist who has lost the use of his legs and is confined to a wheelchair. Fortunately, he still has many close friends and his loft serves as a salon for a variety of like-minded bohemians, including a self-centered sculptor, Mortimer (Yves Jacques); the slightly dim Julius (Michel Charette); and Maggie (Jacynthe Rene), who has no qualms about posing for Max in the nude. However, Max's well-ordered existence is upset when he hears from Lucie (Pascale Bussieres), his former girlfriend before an ugly breakup. Lucie has taken it upon herself to punish Max for their acrimonious parting, and she bombards him with a variety of obscene or annoying phone calls, taunts him as a cripple, and has sex with another man in an apartment across the street, clearly visible to Max through his window. Meanwhile, Max's best friend Laurel (Pierre-Luc Brillant) has his own ghosts from the past to deal with; he's recently discovered the identity of his birth mother, who gave him up for adoption when he was still an infant. Laurel would like to meet her, but his adopted mother, Pauline (Louise Portal), would prefer that the biological mother stay in his past. Director Jean Beaudin collaborated with novelist Monique Proulx for this adaptation of Proulx's book Homme Invisible a la Fenetre. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this downbeat French drama, a relationship between a pair of outcast teens leads to tragedy. Gilles is a 14-year-old troublemaker unable to grasp the notion of socially acceptable behavior. He has a crush on Gabrielle but expresses it by robbing and humiliating her until she pushes him away. At home he torments his sister. One day he goes too far and ends up on the street where he barely survives. Seeing his pathetic state, Gabrielle takes pity upon him. The two get into a scrape with the cops and flee to an abandoned farmhouse in her mother's car. It is there that the twosome find their greatest joy and ultimately, their greatest sorrow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two losers find an especially bad way to beat the high cost of living in this off-beat comedy from France. Antoine (Francois Cluzet) aspires to write plays, but in the meantime he scrapes together a living writing articles for a martial arts magazine and creating crossword puzzles; he spends his spare time talking with his friend Sylvie (Judith Henry) about the sad state of his love life. His buddy Fred (Guillaume Depardieu), on the other hand, doesn't do much of anything; on those rare occasions when he rises from the couch, it's to plot new schemes to pick up women, which are usually doomed to failure. However, this routine is shattered when Antoine and Fred discover that their apartment is being sold and they need to come up with some money to get a new flat. With little cash on hand and few prospects, Antoine gets an idea: rob the offices of the magazine for which he's been writing. Co-star Guillaume Depardieu is the son of French superstar Gérard Depardieu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide