Charles Denner Movies

This black comedy is based on the dastardly deeds of French serial killer Henri-Desire Landru, who wined, dined, scammed, and dismembered over 10 women during WW I. He obtained his victims by placing ads in the Personals section of the paper. He then chose wealthy dowagers in their fifties. First he would woo them to his villa. Then he would con them into forking over their fortunes. Finally he would kill them, chop them up, and immolate the pieces. He is finally captured after he is recognized by the sister of one of the victims. Landru swears that he is not a psychotic killer, that he only did it so he could continue to support his family in the bourgeoisie style that they were accustomed to. During his trial, Landru refused to plead for himself one way or the other; he showed no remorse at all. He was guillotined on February 25, 1922. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This anthology helmed by four talented filmmakers, Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, Hiromichi Horikawa, and Roman Polanski, allows viewers to meet and observe four international con artists. Each story is set within a different city. "Amsterdam" follows the attempts of a seductive Dutch woman to entice an elderly man into buying her an expensive necklace in exchange for sex. He does, and she immediately runs away and uses the bauble, not realizing that it is worth a fortune, to purchase a parrot. In "Paris," a con man sells a tourist rube the Eiffel Tower. The entrepreneurial dolt ends up arrested after trying to charge an admission fee to visitors. "Naples" centers on a band of hookers who listen to their pimp and seek out old men in retirement villages. They convince the old fellows to marry them so they will not be forced to leave the city. Unfortunately for the pimp, the delighted geezers will not allow their brides to work. In the grim finale "Tokyo," a greedy Japanese barmaid serves her aged escort too many noodles. He promptly chokes to death and after he falls, she yanks out his teeth and runs them to a pawn shop. She is hoping they are platinum. They aren't and she is arrested for murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This French version of the notorious spy's life centers less on her romantic escapades, and more on those that reveal the person she actually was during WW I when her German superiors ordered her to seduce the French captain Trintignant so she can steal classified papers from him. Instead she falls in love with him, blows the cover, and ends up convicted of espionage and shot. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Life Upside Down was a French production (originally titled La Vie a l'Envers) which sneaked quietly into American art-movie houses and was greeted effusively by the critics. Charles Denner stars as a misfit who finds his dream world more preferable than the real world. As the film progresses, Denner retreats farther and farther into himself, until those around him, including his fiancee, are completely shut out. He locks himself in his barren apartment, sitting silently on the floor for hours. The final image is of an institutionalized Denner chuckling to himself that he's "won". While Life Upside Down became a critics' darling, it tended to bemuse general audiences who weren't certain if they were supposed to be laughing or weeping. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Louis Malle directed this light comedy about crime and class in the City of Light. Georges Randal (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a young man living in Paris at the turn of the century who is due to inherit a considerable fortune. However, his uncle, who is acting as his guardian, manages to spend Georges' money before he ever gets a chance to see it. Georges is also deeply in love with Charlotte (Geneviève Bujold), his cousin, and wants to marry her; however, the same uncle has promised her hand to another, a man Charlotte does not love. Understandably angry, Georges makes plans to steal the family's jewelry, intended for Charlotte, away from his dishonest uncle. Georges soon discovers that he enjoys being a thief, and begins robbing the wealthy as protest against the bourgeoisie. However, as Georges' ill-gotten nest egg grows, he finds himself becoming a member of the idle rich he professes to despise. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Having been forced into minor parts for several years by a debilitating illness, veteran film actor Michel Simon made a triumphant return to leading roles in the charming, poignant The Two of Us (Le Vieil Homme et L'Enfant). Simon plays a likeable old soak with one significant character flaw: he is a flagrant anti-Semite. During the Nazi occupation of Paris, 8-year-old Jewish lad Alain Cohen is sent to the country, there to live with the parents of his family's Catholic friends. One of those parents is, inevitably, Simon. Taking a liking to Alain, and unaware that the boy is Jewish, Simon attempts to introduce the lad to the doctrine of anti-Semitism. The boy plays along with the old man, teasing him about his prejudices. Despite their obvious philosophical differences, Simon and Alain form a strong and affectionate bond. Director Claude Berri, whose films have often touched upon the Jewish experience in France, once more draws from his own experiences to weave a sensitive, seriocomic scenario. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Z is one of the most politically insightful films ever made, exposing government hypocrisy and cover-up in the wake of a political assassination. Zei (Yves Montand) is a scientist who is scheduled to give a speech against the use of the atomic bomb. On the way to the event, he is attacked outside the auditorium by a group of right-wing extremists with political ties to the government as the police stand by and do nothing to intervene. He recovers long enough to make the speech but is later clubbed again and must undergo several surgeries, then dies during one of the procedures. A newspaper reporter finds a witness to the event and a judge willing to hear the case despite government protests. The ensuing trial reveals a government conspiracy, but the results of the trial are thrown out when a new government is formed by a military coup, which results in the intolerance that outlaws long hair, the Beatles, and any peaceful protests. Director Costa-Gavras used actual trial transcripts of the investigation into the May 22, 1963, assassination of Greek pacifist leader Gregoris Lambrakis, which proved a government conspiracy in his death. Yves Montand gives the best dramatic performance of his life, and Irene Papas stars as his wife, Helena. Z won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film of 1969, was 14th in terms of box-office success, and hit an international nerve in the age of social unrest, government cover-up, and political assassinations. All those involved worked on the film for a reduced rate with an option for royalties based on earnings at the theater window. The letter Z in the Greek alphabet means "he is alive." ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Simon (Jean-Claude Trintignant) gets out of prison and summons his old friend Charles (Charles Gerard) and Martine (Christine Lelouch), his one time lover now married to a wealthy man. The three kidnap a little boy and then blackmail the bank where the boy's father works to pay the ransom of one million dollars. The publicity-conscious bank pays the ransom but the rest doesn't go exactly as planned. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In France, the position of "magistrate" resembles that of the American district attorney; those in either post have broad investigatory and prosecutory powers. In this French language drama, Magistrate Level (Jacques Brel) is one of the rare few who will prosecute the police for abuse of power. He begins reluctantly, forced to make a pro forma investigation of three policemen who are implicated in the death of a suspect during questioning. After all, he is already late for his long-scheduled vacation. As he gets deeper into the investigation, he becomes more motivated. At the same time, he begins to receive threats from those who want him to stop. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Bernadette Lafont is as alluring as all get out in Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me (original title: Une Belle Fille Comme Moi). She plays a crafty murderess who uses her not inconsiderable charms to disarm her victims and trap unwitting males into helping her. Lafont relates her steamy past to an ingenious criminology student, and in the end, he is as "hooked" as any of the other men in the women's life. Based on the novel by Henry Farrell (and more than a little inspired by such Hollywood "black widow" films as The File on Thelma Jordon), Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me is one of the most consistently enjoyable of Francois Truffault's films of the 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The very modest lawyer (Jean-Louis Trintignant) in this case of murder finds much more than he is looking for and then must decide what to do with the unwelcome information. He is defending a woman who is accused of killing her lover. It turns out that the lover was actually killed during a holdup, and was a member of a gang which did bullying favors for local politicians; and the trail doesn't end there. This French film is directed by Trintignant's wife, Nadine. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Claude Lelouch's romantic drama Toute une Vie chronicles three different love affairs over three generations during the 20th century. Marthe Keller and Charles Denner portray different members of the families in each of the generations. The stories involve a cameraman's son who suffers and survives internment in a concentration camp in World War II, and his daughter, who marries a man who begins adulthood as an ex-convict and a scoundrel but gradually matures and becomes a well-respected filmmaker living in New York. Each section of the film utilizes a style of filmmaking that is associated with the time period being portrayed. Lelouch earned an Academy Award nomination (along with co-screenwriter Pierre Uytterhoeven) for his screenplay in 1975. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi