Élodie Bouchez Movies
A gifted actress of dark-eyed, gamine beauty, Élodie Bouchez is one of the new young French cinema's most celebrated and prolific performers. She has made her name playing a series of intelligent, often wayward young women, characters she imbues with equal parts soul and complexity.Born in Tunis, Tunisia on April 5, 1973, Bouchez became a child model at the age of 13. She made her film debut in Serge Gainsbourg's Stan the Flasher (1990) and went on to combine her acting pursuits with her school work; she also trained as a dancer, something she funded with baby-sitting money. Bouchez's acting career was floundering when, in 1994, she won the starring role of Maïté in André Téchiné's Les Roseaux Sauvages. A critically praised coming-of-age film, it allowed Bouchez to demonstrate her considerable talents as an actress, to the extent that she won the Most Promising Actress César for her work.
The acclaim surrounding her performance in Les Roseaux Sauvages brought Bouchez numerous offers to work with a variety of directors, but early on she demonstrated a preference for working with young filmmakers. In 1994, the same year she starred in Les Roseaux, Bouchez appeared in the ensemble drama Le Péril Jeune, directed by rising young director Cédric Klapisch. She also collaborated with new director Gael Morel, with whom she had starred in Les Roseaux, playing a university student in his drama À Toute Vitesse (1996).
In 1998, Bouchez earned great acclaim for her work with another up and coming director, Erik Zonca, in his directorial debut La via rêvée des anges. Starring alongside the equally remarkable Natacha Régnier, she played Isa, a wise, free-spirited young itinerant who enters into a tumultuous friendship with the unstable Marie (Régnier). Bouchez and Régnier shared that year's Cannes Best Actress Award for their performances; the honor was followed by a European Film Award (also shared with Régnier) and the 1999 Best Actress César for Bouchez.
The same year that she won the Best Actress César, Bouchez continued to collaborate with some of her country's most promising young talents, co-starring with Morel in Zonzon, a comedy-drama set in prison, and playing a bisexual thief in his made-for-TV Premières neiges. She also starred as a shop assistant in love with a Yugoslavian immigrant in Lovers, the directorial debut of actor Jean-Marc Barr. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 2007
Turkish directors The Taylan Brothers (Yagmar and Durul) co-helm The Little Apocalypse, a psychological thriller with a distinctly supernatural twinge. The Taylans weave the narrative around the August 17, 1999 earthquake that rocked Istanbul and massacred thousands. The story opens with an extended family - husband and wife Zeki (Cansel Elcin) and Bilge (Koklukaya), their infant son, their school-age daughter Eda (Serra Gurgunlu) and their nanny Filiz (Binnur Kaya) piling into the family car en route to a holiday in Fethive, southwestern Turkey, where they plan to connect with Bilge's niece and nephew. On the way, however, tragedy strikes in the form of the earthquake. Everyone seemingly emerges unscathed and uninjured, but upon arrival at the resort, a number of seemingly inexplicable catastrophes transpire: the "resort" is built on a mosquito infested swamp, next to a graveyard with the names of the family members on the gravestones; bloodthirsty wolves turn up at night to plague the area; and the locals act decidedly odd. Meanwhile, Bilge begins to suffer from recurrent, terror-stricken nightmares about her dead mother. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michaël Youn, Patrick Chesnais, (more)
- 2007
Screen legend Catherine Deneuve stars as a grieving mother who forms an unusual relationship with the former best friend of her recently departed son in director Gaël Morel's melancholy drama. When Camille (Denuve)'s son was killed in a car accident, the devastating loss proved too much for emotionally fragile mother to bear. Now desperately clinging to any reminder of the son she held so close to her heart, Camille becomes increasingly fixated on Frank (Thomas Dumerchez) - the young man who was not only her child's best friend, but the one who was responsible for the tragic accident that took his life as well. At first, Frank is receptive to Camille's advances. It's not long, however, before the pair's scandalous relationship prompts many of Camille's friends to distance themselves from the increasingly unstable woman. Later, as Camille's obsession with Frank turns menacing, the relationship between grief-stricken mother and her guilt-ridden lover begins to take on ominous undertones. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Thomas Dumerchez, (more)
An embittered television executive working for a hip-hop-oriented music channel finds her fate intricately tied with a New York City taxi driver after hailing his cab for questionable purposes in director Jeff Stanzler's intimate look at the tenuous relationship between Caucasians and Muslims in post-9/11 America. Phoebe (Robin Wright Penn) hates her job at Q Dog TV, and focuses the brunt of her disgruntled rage squarely on co-worker Phyllis MacIntyre (Sandra Oh). During the course of their extended journey to Phoebe's suburban destination, troubled Muslim cab driver Ashade (Abdel Kechiche) confides to his passenger that the arrest of his brother on charges of suspected terrorism has thrown his family into chaos. Though the increasingly unstable Phoebe listens diligently to Ashade's tragic confession -- even offering to help the distraught Syrian chemist-turned-cab driver's struggling family -- it's only after arriving at his fare's destination that Ashade truly begins to grasp Phoebe's true nature and realize that he has made a grave mistake in placing his trust in her. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Wright Penn, Abdel Kechiche, (more)
In this eccentric independent comedy, Neil (Guillermo Diaz) is a vegetarian who is into punk rock, skateboarding, and his girlfriend, Daisy (Reiko Aylesworth). However, working for a living isn't one of Neil's strong suits, and in time his father decides it's time Neil came into the family business. This is problematic for Neil, since his dad runs a butcher shop; after a few days, Neil can't handle the slaughter, and exacts a strange form of justice on his father. Meanwhile, both Neil and his close friend Austin (Neil Driscoll Jr.) find they've both become obsessed with the manager of their favorite coffee shop (Élodie Bouchez). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A young man leaves his home and family in search of himself in this independent drama. America Brown (Ryan Kwanten) -- called "Ricky" by most of his friends -- was born and raised in a West Texas town where football is treated more like a religion than a game. Raised by a single mother (Karen Black), America's primary male role model has been his older brother Daniel (Michael Rapaport), who has drilled it into Ricky's head that it's his destiny to be a football star. But America has come to hate football, and especially loathes Bo (Leo Burmester), the manipulative coach of his high-school team. Desperate to get away from it all, America runs away to New York City, where he seeks refuge with John Cross (Hill Harper), a one-time football legend from West Texas who gave up the game to become a Catholic priest. As America looks to find a new life, he finds in Cross a man who is still haunted by his past and smitten with a woman in his congregation, Rosie (Élodie Bouchez). America, meanwhile, develops an infatuation of his own with Vera (Natasha Lyonne), a pretty but streetwise girl who waits tables at a neighborhood diner. America Brown was the first feature film from writer and director Paul Black; it was screened at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Kwanten, Hill Harper, (more)
- 2002
Yolande Zauberman's World-War II drama The War in Paris tells a sad story of a teenager trapped in a terrible time. Jules (Jérémie Rénier) is a 19-year-old living in Nazi-occupied Paris. After Jules' brother takes a Nazi's weapon, local cop Grégoire Colin puts Jules in a difficult place. Either Jules must give up his brother, or their parents will be deported. This is the first of many crises of conscience that Jules faces. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2000
In this metaphoric drama from French writer, director, and actor Jean-Marc Barr, Lyle ($Barr) is a farmer who lives in the rural Midwest with his wife Amy (Rosanna Arquette). Lyle's marriage to Amy is not an especially happy one; they never have sex, partly because she can't bear to betray the memory of her first husband, who has passed on, and partly because she is frightened by Lyle's unusually large penis. Lyle pursues celibacy with a grim determination until the day his childhood friend Vernon (Ian Vogt) comes to town for a visit with his wife, a beautiful French woman named Juliette (Elodie Bouchez). Vernon has been unable to satisfy Juliette sexually, and when she hears about Lyle's unusually proportioned body, she decides to seduce him. All is happy for Lyle and Juliette until word of their affair spreads through town, angering a group of vengeful fundamentalist Christians. While Barr and most of his creative team are from France, Too Much Flesh was shot in English on location in Illinois. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Élodie Bouchez, (more)
- 1999
Director Laurent Bouhnik has crafted a tough-minded but visually impressive look at life in prison with his film Zonzon (French slang for jail). Three inmates sharing a cell in a French correctional facility deal with the physical and emotional rigors of life behind bars. France (Pascal Greggory) is a massive but emotionally distant prisoner who seethes with inner rage at the wife and child who have all but abandoned him. Arnaud (Gael Morel) is a student serving six months on a drug charge, trying to deal with his sudden change of circumstances. And Kader (Jamel Debbouze) is a petty thief relatively unconcerned with his return to jail -- he's been here before and will probably be back again. Zonzon won respectful notices for its unusual use of visual devices -- color, composition, focus, slow-motion photography -- to capture the grim fatalism of life in stir; the film made its American debut with a screening at the 1999 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascal Greggory, Gael Morel, (more)
- 1998
Siegfried made his directorial debut with this French drama. In addition to directing and scripting, the multi-talented twentysomething Siegfried composed the film's jazzy, uptempo music score and also shared the camerawork (with Vincent Buron and Herve Lode) that features handheld scenes tracking through the Paris Metro. The central role of Louise is portrayed by Elodie Bouchez, who won a 1998 Cannes "Best Actress" award for The Dreamlife of Angels. When Louise has an encounter with homeless Remi (Roschdy Zem), they have a magnetic attraction, but she is already attached to illiterate shoplifter and pickpocket punk Yaya (Gerald Thomassin). Although allied with Yaya in petty crimes, Louise lives with her widowed father (Lou Castel), a devoted writer of fiction. After a Metro bum (Bruce Myers) tells her of his desire to see his young son, she plucks the kid, Gaby (Antoine de Merle), right out of school, making him the newest rookie recruited into their subway gang. Shoplifting in a department store, the young toughs escape the store's security guards by hiding in the ballet rehearsal rooms of the nearby opera. But does Louise really belong with the subway toughs, or is she just pretending? When she's arrested, Louise is forced to reexamine her lifestyle. Some aspects of the plot parallel Leos Carax's haunting and memorable Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) -- as does the use of genuine homeless people in certain scenes. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival in the Certain Regard section. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Roschdy Zem, (more)
- 1998
A young woman dies of a drug overdose when she takes the ecstasy pill at a party. At the morgue, her corpse is raped by the attendant, who is overwhelmed by the youth and beauty of her body. The repressive act of necrophilia changes into something else when the girl returns from the other world and instead of pressing charges, tries to get to know her "savior" better. The film is a commentary on contemporary times where it seems to be easier to have sex than to make love. All characters have problems in their relationships with others. Despite its subject, J'aimerais Pas Crever un Dimanche avoids being voyeuristic. Instead of the bodies, the camera chooses to linger on faces as if trying to decipher what the characters are thinking at that precise moment. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Swiss director Markus Imhoof made this Swiss-German-French drama in which a love story, elaborate period details of the year 1912, and an ocean liner all combine to bring Titanic to mind. However, this storyline of switched identities steers a different course. A couple on their honeymoon travel the world of 1912 on a luxury liner. After Juliette (Elodie Bouchez) accuses Philipp (Bruno Todeschini) of marrying her for her father's fortune, she meets shy Esther (Sylvie Testud), due to marry missionary Gustav (Laurent Grevill), although she has yet to meet him. The two women agree to swap both clothing and identities. The adventurous Juliette, dressed simply, then travels to India, where widower Gustav disapproves of her free and open attitudes. Even so, the two develop a passionate attraction, marry, and are deeply involved in an intimate, sexual relationship when Philipp and Esther appear on the scene, triggering a tragic turn of events. Shown at the 1998 Gothenburg Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Laurent Grévill, (more)
- 1997
A young woman in her 20s spends a day visiting Paris. When she misses the last bus home, she finds herself stranded on the outskirts of Paris. While wandering about, she encounters a youth who suggests she hang out at a local club. He then gives her a little of the drug Ecstasy to help pep her up. She goes into the busy establishment and finds it filled with African and Arab immigrants. Eventually, the girl encounters a troubled drug addict. A former boxer suffering from impotence, he becomes attracted to the woman and a relationship begins. This displeases the boxer's girlfriend, a dancer at the club. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Béatrice Dalle, (more)
- 1997
This film is the directorial debut of 29-year-old Graham Guit, who co-scripted with Eric Neve. Young Frenchman Lenny (Melvil Poupaud) takes some cocaine from London to Paris where he makes a risky connection with dapper drug dealer Joel (Jean-Phillippe Ecoffey) and his violent henchman Sammy (Issac Sharry), splitting the scene to get a plane ticket before they discover he's cut the coke. Joel's girlfriend Juliette (Romane Bohringer) seduces Lenny and makes off with the cash. But then Juliette falls for Lenny, decides to double-cross Joel, and departs with a suitcase of cash -- so she thinks. Instead of money, the suitcase contains many valuable vials of the drug Special K. While Lenny and Juliette search for a buyer so they can unload the Special K, Joel and Sammy are in hot pursuit. Shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melvil Poupaud, Romane Bohringer, (more)
- 1997
Two very violent men have conspired to steal a valuable solid gold image of an African deity from the museum in Mali where it is being kept. They had it smuggled out with a number of well-made but very cheap replicas. The plan was to give each of the replicas to the members of a new squash club as a diversion, and profit from the original (worth $1 million) themselves. There is a slip-up, however, and the real statue goes to one of the players. The deliveryman now has to track down all the statues, and in this antic caper comedy, that's easier said than done. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antoine de Caunes, Emmanuelle Seigner, (more)
French auteur Gael Morel pays tribute to the rush associated with reaching the age of 20 in this fast-paced, sexually charged drama. During the prologue, teen Samir and his best friend Rick rub bloody fingers together as they make a blood-brother's pact. Suddenly a shot rings out and Rick dies of a bullet wound in Samir's arms. Time passes and Algeria-born Samir feels uncomfortable about his cultural background. Meanwhile, university student Julie is upset to hear that her boyfriend Quentin has just signed a contract to publish his first book and move to Paris. It doesn't help that his book is a barely disguised chronicle of his friends' activities. Quentin meets the blatantly homosexual Samir at a party one night. Interested in finding more fodder for a second book, he gets Samir to tell about his intimate relationship with the late Rick. It's difficult, but Samir complies even as he finds himself increasingly attracted to Quentin, who rejects him point blank. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Pascal Cervo, (more)
- 1995
The grueling, emotionally torturous world of French preparatory schools provides the framework for this mystery. The deliberately rigorous courses are designed to prepare students to take the brutal examinations for entry into the elite Grand Ecoles, where a select few will gain the skills and education needed to insure a bright, prosperous future for themselves. The story centers on Delphine, a girl from the lower classes, and the upper class Claude. Both young women aspire to attend the Ecole Normale Superieure on the Rue d'Ulm. Delphine lives in humble public housing with her dull mother and two young brothers while Claude, who considers herself a Communist, lives in luxury with her own servant; she is sexually involved with fellow- student, Axel, who thinks himself a fascist. Claude's younger brother Bertrand is trying to become a cadet in the national military academy, St. Cyr. He endures much abuse as he prepares himself. A few hours after Delphine meets Claude, the latter is seen diving to her death from a tall building, something the school officials attribute to academic pressure. Delphine later learns the bitter truth about Claude's death after she herself gets involved with Axel, and Bertrand. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Melvil Poupaud, (more)
- 1994
This French comedy-drama chronicles the reunion of five high school friends who come to witness the birth of a child whose father, a former friend, recently died. The boys graduated in 1975 and now, five years later they have come to a Parisian hospital to await the birth. As they wait, the try to understand the circumstances that caused their friend Tomasi, a formerly happy-go-lucky guy, to become a drug addict and die of an overdose. They also begin to reminisce about their senior year. They talk about everything from their experiences with girls and drugs, to their relationships with teachers and parents. Those times are depicted in detailed flashbacks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julien Lambroschini, Nicolas Koretzy, (more)
- 1993
If such a thing as gentle humor can be wrung from murderous misogyny, this all-star comedy is the embodiment of it. The basic point of the film seems to be this: unattached men long to live with women, and once they do, they long to live without them. In this story, Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) is upset about his wife's having left him. He can't stop thinking about her, and eventually decides that he'd be much happier if he knew she was dead. Then, he thinks, he could put an end to his obsessing. His uncle, a judge (Phillippe Noiret), knows of a man who killed his wife more or less on purpose, and got away with it. Paul and his uncle get together with the lucky killer, Vincent (Richard Bohringer), and, on their way to visit Paul's wife, discuss how Vincent managed to kill his wife and get away with it. Along the way, the aggravations women bring to men are pretty thoroughly (and humorously) hashed over. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Bohringer, Thierry Lhermitte, (more)
Sarah (Élodie Bouchez) a young Carmelite nun, collapses in pain, dazed and spouting a nonsense phrase. Concurrently, a great distance away, her identical twin sister, Gaëlle (also Bouchez), in prison, wakes up to find her cell in flames. While Gaëlle, the victim of an attack by her fellow prisoners, is transferred to a different prison, Joachim (Gérard Depardieu), a Cecilian (both a doctor and a priest) visits with Sarah. He's perplexed by her case because her tests all came back normal, and he deducts that her spells must have a psychological source. But Sarah isn't forthcoming about her past, and Mother Emmanuelle (Carmen Maura), who runs the convent, doesn't even want Joachim to treat the young woman. Through his investigations, Joachim learns that Sarah has a twin sister, to whom she may have some kind of psychic connection. Delving deeper into the past, he discovers that Gaëlle went to prison for a horrible crime at around the same time Sarah entered the convent. Joachim is dealing with the violence of his own past, and cannot let go of his prying, despite the advice of his colleagues. He finds Gaëlle after she is released on parole, and takes her in. Their relationship becomes more complicated, and they are threatened by others who would prefer that the past stay buried. The Pact of Silence was based on a novel by Marcelle Bernstein. It was adapted for the screen by Roselyne Bosch (1492: Conquest of Paradise) and directed by Graham Guit. The film had a theatrical release in France, but was released straight-to-video in the U.S. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Élodie Bouchez, (more)
The feature debut of Roman Coppola (son of Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola) centers around an international film crew making a low-budget, Barbarella-like feature in Paris in 1969. The film is called Dragonfly and is being directed by Andrzej (Gérard Depardieu), who wishes to make a revolutionary work rather than the tacky fluff it is becoming. He is soon fired by the film's Italian producer Enzo (Giancarlo Giannini) when he can't produce a satisfactory climactic scene. After briefly replacing Andrzej with an American horrormeister named Felix DeMarco (Jason Schwartzman), the film's editor and second-unit director, the job is finally handed to Paul (Jeremy Davies). Paul is pleased with the offer, but more devoted to his 16 mm filming of his diary of daily life. He eventually begins to fall for the leading lady (Angela Lindvall), but must retrieve footage of the feature stolen by Andrezej and try to keep the troubled production together. CQ features Billy Zane, Massimo Ghini, and Dean Stockwell in supporting roles. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Davies, Élodie Bouchez, (more)
