Samuel Le Bihan Movies

This moving French drama chronicles the touching relationship between a French officer and a retarded soldier. It is set during the Algerian War, circa 1961. Sergeant Dallers has just been stationed in a remote and primitive Algerian outpost. A highly educated man, he is at first distressed that his assigned partner, Lagrange, is mentally retarded and should never been drafted. Lagrange has had to put up with the bored pranks of the other soldiers for a while now because he wants them to like and accept him. He is so retarded that he cannot be trusted with a real gun and therefore carries a wooden one. In time Dallers comes to care about Lagrange and to become more understanding of his plight. Simple Lagrange becomes a hero toward the end of the film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bertrand Tavernier directed this hard-hitting anti-war drama. In November of 1918, just as World War I had come to a close, Capt. Conan (Phillippe Torreton) and his men await new assignments in Bucharest. Conan regards himself as a warrior, not a soldier: while a soldier will fight in a war, it takes a warrior -- unafraid to take risks, confront death, and spill blood -- to win one. Conan is convinced that it was the bloodthirsty valor of himself and those under his command that won the war against Germany. However, while Conan's dark nature was a boon to the Army during the war, it's a distinct disadvantage in peacetime, as Conan and his friends Norbert (Samuel LeBihan) and De Sceve (Bernard LeCoq) are instructed to patrol the now peaceful border. Conan and his compatriots have become too acclimated to battle to leave it behind and begin staging raids in the mountains of the Balkans. The situation comes to a head when two women are killed in a combination robbery and attack on a nightclub; Conan and his men are to be court martialed for their actions, driving a wedge between him and his close friend Norbert, who respects Conan but lacks his reckless enthusiasm for battle. Capitaine Conan earned Cesar awards for Torreton's performance and Tavernier's direction. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Fernando Colomo directed this fact-based Spanish comedy-drama about leftist philosophy students Tomas (Jordi Molla) and Jaime (Ernesto Alterio), arrested in 1947 by Francoists and sent away to a Madrid prison for eight years. After their friend Velasco (Pepon Nieto) goes to Paris to enlist the aid of Michel (Samuel Le Bihan), noted for his ability to free political prisoners, Michel's girlfriend Kathy (Hedy Buress) and her actress friend Susan (Allison Smith) are enlisted to assist. Tomas and Jaime mount mules to make their escape and meet up with Kathy and Susan at a monastery, where romance takes flight, followed by darker events once the group moves on to Barcelona. Filmed in northwest Spain. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A visually stylish comedy with dramatic overtones from director Tonie Marshall, Vénus Beauté (Institut) looks at the lives of three women who work at a small but successful beauty salon. Angele Nathalie Baye is an attractive woman just edging into middle age who is looking for companionship without commitment, even when it comes knocking. Her co-worker Samantha (Mathilde Seigner) has more boyfriends than she knows what to do with, and Marie (Audrey Tautou), the youngest of the group, is still learning the ropes of both love and beauty treatment. Fans of classic French cinema will want to keep an eye peeled for guest appearances from Emmanuelle Riva, Micheline Presle and Edith Scob. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this tribute to the Spaghetti Western, amiable ex-con Gerard (Samuel Le Bihan) agrees to help his boss' nephew infiltrate an urban fortress to carry off a drug deal with representatives of mob boss Ludo Daes (Jean-Pierre Kalfon). Unfortunately, the nephew goes a bit nuts and causes a shoot-out, and Gerard is the only one to emerge from the fracas alive. Armed with a duffel bag full of several million of Daes' francs, he flees Paris for the countryside and finds work at an isolated cheese-producing farm, where his co-workers are six inner-city toughs being given a chance to reform their lives outside of prison. Gerard starts to eke out an agreeable existence with the delinquents, but Daes wants his cash back, and, in the company of some Central European thugs, pays Gerard a visit. Together with the kids, Gerard attempts to outsmart the mobster. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

When diminutive soccer player Tibor (Lorant Deutsch) is placed in a prison cell with dimwitted giant Manu (Samuel Le Bihan) the duo soon begin to forge a friendship based on their mutual love of soccer. Agreeing that upon their release Manu will serve as Tibor's manager, Manu attempts to use his newfound position to reap revenge on those who wronged him in the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker Manuel Boursinhac directs the action thriller La Mentale. Samuel Le Bihan plays Dris, a criminal who wants to go straight. Major mob boss Yanis (Samy Naceri) is an old friend who desperately needs Dris' help. However, Dris has already spent enough time in jail and only wants to settle down with his old girlfriend Lise (Marie Guillard). When Dris finally agrees to go along with the plan, he finds his little brother Mel (David Saracino) kidnapped by the villainous Fèche (Michel Duchaussoy). La Mentale received a theatrical release in France in 2002 before going straight-to-video in the rest of Europe. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Two people brought together by fate are torn apart by their cultural and familial differences in this romantic drama. Raphael Ramirez (Samuel Le Bihan) is a first generation Frenchman whose parents emigrated there from Spain. Formerly a boxer, Raphael turned his back on pugilism and has gone into auto repair, though both Raphael and his brother, Manu (Yann Tregouet), both have a keen interest in the local Thai boxing scene. Raphael was once close friends with Tony Tran (Bounsy Luang Phinith), the son of a successful local businessman (Thomas Larget) who settled in France after leaving his home in Vietnam. However, Tony and Raphael have become wary of one another, and the tension between the two increases when Tony announces he wants to buy Raphael's garage. The simmering anger becomes explosive when Raphael meets Chinh (Yu Nan), a shy but beautiful girl of Cambodian heritage who is pledged to marry Tony. Raphael falls head over heels in love with Chinh, and is determined to wed her, whatever the cost. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this supernatural thriller, Kathy (Andie MacDowell) is still coming to terms with the death of her husband, Jeremy (Tim Roth), several years after his passing, though the event filled her with mixed feelings -- while she was devastated by his death, he was also an alcoholic with an uncertain temper, and she hardly misses the violence he brought into her life. Wanting to bring in some extra money, Kathy decides to rent out a room in her house to a boarder. Her new tenant is a handsome engineer from France (Samuel Le Bihan), and she soon finds herself deeply infatuated with him. However, while Kathy may be a widow, she finds that Jeremy's spirit still walks the halls of their home, and he's been sent into a jealous rage by Kathy's new romance. The Last Sign was the first English-language feature from French filmmaker Douglas Law. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The banlieues of Paris are burning, and as a young girl from the slums attempts to elude police by hiding out at a sprawling inn near the Luxembourg border she becomes locked in a vicious battle for survival against a group of Neo-Nazi fanatics intent on using her to start a new Aryan brotherhood. As the votes cast in the latest election are tallied, it quickly becomes apparent that an extreme right-wing party has been elected into power by a wide margin. In the aftermath of the announcement, the streets fill with protestors and riots erupt all throughout the country. Yasmina is a poor girl who has never known a life outside of the ghetto, and she sees the riots as an opportunity to stage a series of smash-and-grab robberies that could provide her with the money needed to improve her lot in life. After rounding up a few pals and robbing a few businesses under the cover of the chaos, Yasmina and her friends are pursued by the police and forced to split up. Before they part ways, however, they all agree to regroup at an inn just outside of Luxembourg. The proprietors of the inn are the Von Geisler clan. Led by a tyrannical, jackbooted patriarch, the Von Geisler's are a curious lot who at first appear to be stuck in the past. But the Von Geisler's aren't just eccentric, they are devoted Neo-Nazis with a twisted fantasy of starting a new master race -- and they have chosen Yasmina as their Aryan Eve. Now, in order for Yasmina to escape a grim fate as a fascistic breeding machine, she and her friends must fight for their lives against the brutish Von Geisler boys and their savage sisters in a vicious battle that will transform this once peaceful inn into a blood soaked abattoir. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The true story of one of Europe's most infamous and charismatic criminals comes to a close in this drama based on the life and crimes of Jacques Mesrine. Picking up where L'Instinct de Mort left off, L'Ennemi Public No. 1 begins as Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) returns to France after an exile in Canada. Teaming up with gunman Michel Ardouin (Samuel Le Bihan), Mesrine masterminds a series of armed robberies, and while he's able to stay one step ahead of the law most of the time, eventually he finds himself back in prison, where he makes friends with the clever François (Mathieu Amalric). With François' help, Mesrine breaks out of prison and becomes something of a celebrity, penning an autobiography, hob-nobbing with the wealthy and trying to paint himself as a political radical with the help of leftist spokesman Charlie (Gérard Lanvin). Mesrine also renews his relationship with his girlfriend, Sylvia (Ludivine Sagnier), but he also turns his back on some of his old friends and underestimates the determination of the French police to stop him once and for all. L'Ennemi Public No. 1 (aka Public Enemy No. 1, Part 2) went into release in late 2008, while the wildly successful L'Instinct de Mort was still playing in French theaters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide