Marilyne Canto Movies
- 2007
A novelist, an actress, and a struggling young singer all attempt to make their mark in modern day Paris in director Marc Fitoussi's cynical entertainment industry satire. Bertrand (Denis Podalydes) is a French literary professor whose students all know that he is shacked up with pretty math teacher Solange (Valerie Benguigui) despite the couple's best efforts to keep their relationship under the radar. Though no one in the school much cares for Bertrand's prose, self-flagellating student Frederic (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) is the one notable exception. Meanwhile, as Bertrand struggles to deliver his second novel, recent big city arrival Cora (Emilie Dequenne) finds that her fondness for outmoded songwriters may be having an adverse effect on her career trajectory. While Cora struggles to make ends meet by working at a popular chain steakhouse, even this attempt to remain afloat ultimately proves disastrous. Somewhere in another part of town, embittered actress Alice (Sandrine Kiberlain) resents the fact that she is consistently passed over for "real" film roles after accepting work as an anime voiceover artist. Yet despite the fact that Alice resents her drama school classmate Annabella (Camille Japy) due to the latter's success on the legit stage, Annabella has her own problems as evidenced by her troubled relationships with her nephew and sister. Later, the engineer for Alice's dubbing session eventually works up the muster to speak her mind, and Cora begins to sense that her luck is finally turning after a chance encounter with veteran songwriter Joseph Costals (Jean-Pierre Kalfon). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandrine Kiberlain, Émilie Dequenne, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, José Garcia, (more)
- 2002
French filmmaker Manuel Poirier directs the comedy drama Femmes... ou les Enfants d'Abord... (Women or Children First). Middle-aged Tom (Sergi Lopez) lives in Brittany with his wife, Sylvie (Marilyne Canto), and their children. He leads a very tedious existence that may be headed toward a mid-life crisis or divorce. One day, his ex-girlfriend Virginie (Sylvie Testud) arrives with the news that he had fathered a child with her eight years ago. Needing a break to get herself together financially, she unloads the little girl on Tom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergi López, Marilyne Canto, (more)
- 2001
A woman discovers that the joys of parenthood are not making her especially happy in this dark comedy/drama. Christelle (Marilyne Canto) is a new mother who isn't dealing well with the anxieties of caring for her child. One day, she suffers a severe panic attack while alone with the baby, and her neighbor, Claire (Dominique Blanc), takes her and her baby over to her apartment while trying to soothe her nerves. Christelle's husband, Laurent (Patrick Bruel), arrives home to discover both his wife and child missing and goes frantically searching for them, unaware they're in the apartment next door. Before he can find them, Laurent has to leave to have lunch with several members of the family, including his brother and his wife, who also happens to be Christelle's sister. Tempers begin to fray, and Laurent ends up in a shouting match with his family as he is forced to declare his own shortcomings as a husband and father. Meanwhile, as Claire tries to calm Christelle, she reveals that she's having her own problems -- Claire has been having an affair with a married man (Sergi Lopez). Le Lait de la Tendresse Humaine was written and directed by Dominique Cabrera, who previously explored her own problems with depression and anxiety following the birth of a child in the documentary Demain et Encore Demain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bruel, Marilyne Canto, (more)
- 2001
Infidelity makes for strange bedfellows in this spicy comedy from France. Fanfan (Maryse Cupaiolo) and Joss (Marie Matheron) are two close friends who are unhappy in their marriages; Fanfan decides to leave her husband, and having become attracted to Joss, decides to stop by and give her the news, only to discover that Joss has also given her spouse his walking papers. Neither of them knows what her next move will be, so they end up moving in together at the home of Fanfan's sister Manu (Marilyne Canto). With their new freedom at their disposal, Joss and Fanfan spend their days looking for a good time wherever and however they might find it, while Manu and her husband Mytch (Michel Bompoli) lend a sense of order to the house. But things aren't quite as orderly with Manu as others might think, since it turns out she's having an affair behind Mytch's back. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marilyne Canto, Marie Matheron, (more)
- 2000
A bittersweet drama covering 30 years in the lives of group of friends and colleagues united by their devotion to the theatre, 30 Ans begins in Paris in 1974, when Aurelian (Laurent Lucas), his girlfriend Barbara (Nathalie Richard), and childhood friend Antoine (Gregori Derangere) form a theatre. Taking the plight of Pinochet's oppressed Chile as its cause, the theatre attracts the involvement of Jeanne (Anne Brochet), a young actress who immediately sparks the attentions of both Aurelian and Antoine, the latter of whom seduces her. When Chilean dissident actor Luis (Hector Noguera) is brought to the theatre by Barbara's diplomat father, Jeanne falls in love with him, and the two carry out an affair that ends when a sudden development causes Jeanne to disappear. Eight years later, Aurelian has a new girlfriend (Julie Depardieu) and is directing a travelling troupe, and Antoine is a high-priced image consultant who gets his old friend a gig at Dunkirk. Aurelian, deeply immersed in a mid-life crisis, still loves Jeanne, continuing to carry a picture of the enigmatic actress in his wallet and writing about her in his diary. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Brochet, Laurent Lucas, (more)
- 1998
- NR
The third feature of former documentarist Dominique Cabrera, who is known for his 1997 feature L'autre coté de la mer, this film exposes the oppressive and stifling aspect of society. Single mother Nadia is surviving on welfare while transport strikes are paralyzing France in December 1995. While watching the news, she recognizes the father of her child among the strikers and decides to go and search for him. But she has nowhere to go. The film, shot almost entirely at night, carries documentary qualities, part of which is due to the appearances of actual railroad workers in several group scenes. Ariane Ascaride is remarkable as the often irritating single mother on welfare who can also elicit sympathy from the audience. 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ariane Ascaride, Marilyne Canto, (more)
- 1996
- R
When the Cat's Away is a gentle French comedy that explores the problems and anxieties of contemporary urbanites. When Chloe (Garance Clavel), a young Parisian, decides to take a long-overdue vacation, she has to find someone to look after Gris-Gris, her beloved cat. Everyone, including her gay male roommate, refuses to help her, but she finally makes an arrangement with the elderly Madame Renée (Renée Le Calm), who often watches over other peoples' cats and dogs. However, when Chloe comes back, Madame Renée tells her that unfortunately the cat has been lost, and the unlucky owner goes on a search for her dear animal friend. While looking for the cat, she meets many colorful characters who populate the neighborhood. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Garance Clavel, Zinedine Soualem, (more)
- 1996
- R
After fatally shooting a stalker, Parisian bar-maid Lea must live the life of the title reptile. At the time of the killing she was living with Francis, a much older American ex-con. After committing the murder, the fleeing and frightened Lea is saved by Paris paper boys Jean and Luc. Later she tells her sad story to hard-drinking Moskowitz, a middle-aged cop who secretly desires her. His unrequited love leads to tragedy. Meanwhile, Lea continues living with Francis, but also shacks up with Luc while trying to avoid the jealous cop. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chiara Mastroianni, Seymour Cassel, (more)
- 1994
What do you do if you are a reporter with a deadline and you are going blind? This French drama answers that question. Arnold is a crack television reporter assigned to cover an uprising in northern Sri Lanka. Recently he has suffered great headaches and his eyes have been tired. Before leaving he has a doctor check him and is appalled by the diagnosis that he is going blind. If he goes to Sri Lanka, the stress could hasten his loss of sight. If he does not go, he will lose the assignment to a rival reporter. Instead of going, he locks himself in his Paris apartment and creates the documentary from a combination of new and old video footage. He suffers through many emotional outbursts in the process. The highlight of his video is a scene in which he, using complex computer-work, "inserts" himself into Sri-Lankan street situation. Though the documentary is excellent, Arnold is crushed when his editor demands the scene be deleted from the film because it slows the film down. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Renucci, Marilyne Canto, (more)
- 1993
This affectionate little drama captures the last summer before graduation, when these assorted film students and drama students must leave the protected world of college and venture out into the chaotic currents of everyday life. All of them are working together to prepare a revue which spoofs and celebrates their work together. Each student has his own style and character - often chosen for maximum dramatic impact. For instance, Paul (Pierre Berriau) is permanently gloomy, and mopes around, invariably wearing a long coat. The others make fun of him, because he is so serious. Charly (Nathalie Richard) loyally helps a male friend of hers rid himself of the insistent attentions of a former girlfriend. Caroline (Charlotte Leo) is the romantic one of the bunch, and her adventures along those lines keep her fully occupied. Several of them insist that they will not compromise the purity of their cinematic and theatrical aspirations for mere monetary comfort, but when Luc (Lucas Belvaux) and Nanou (Christine Vouilloz) find that Nanou is pregnant, they reconsider their absolutist stance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Ballet, Lucas Belvaux, (more)
- 1985
In this award-winning, made-for-television movie, a Marxist and Jewish family living in Paris in the early 1950s finds that the two elements of their identity, the political and the cultural-religious, might just be at odds. Marcel Slivovitz (Wojtek Psoniak), his wife Dora (Anne Marev), and their two grown children Claire (Marilyne Canto) and Thomas (Thomas Gromb), go to Party meetings on Sundays where songs and good cheer extol the praises of fraternity and justice for all. Excitement energizes the Slivovitz family when they learn that Marcel's nephew, a dancer with a Soviet company, is arriving in Paris on a tour. Overjoyed, the family has the equivalent of an American block party where everyone around comes to meet the nephew and celebrates his arrival. In the midst of the merriment, the nephew sneaks out of a window and is never seen again. He leaves behind a note with allusions to Stalin's mistreatment of the Jews -- and sets off a minor catastrophe that just might end in the Slivovitz' loss of innocence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marilyne Canto
- 1983
Essentially a performance video, this is made at the French "Cafe Theatre Show," where fairy tales are updated and revised to fit modern themes. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thierry Lhermitte, Philippe Bruneau, (more)
