Gael Morel Movies
- 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)
Three French-Algerian brothers deal with their grief following the death of their mother in their own different ways in this drama. Marc (Nicolas Cazale) is a angry and confused young man obsessed with drugs, working out, and capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts discipline. The only friendship that makes Marc feel secure is his relationship with his dog, and when Marc falls behind in his payments to his drug connection Montana (Nicolas Paz), the dealer takes revenge in an especially painful manner. Christophe (Stephane Rideau), Marc's older brother, has just completed a stay in prison and is trying to put his life back together through hard work and capoeira while urging Marc to stay on the straight and narrow. However, Christophe is unable to convince his father (Bruno Lochet) to forgive him for falling to the wrong side of the law while his mother was dying. And Olivier (Thomas Dumerchez), the youngest of the three siblings, feels lost amidst the agony and mourning of his household until he becomes involved with Marc's friend Hicham (Salim Kechiouche), who teaches him the finer points of capoeira and allows him to accept his homosexual nature. Le Clan was released in the United States as Three Dancing Slaves, a reference to the dance-oriented art of capoeira. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cazalé, Stephane Rideau, (more)
- 2002
Gael Morel's drama Les Chemin de l'Oued (Under Another Sky) is about life in Algeria. When Sami (Nicolas Cazale) causes the death of a police officer, his family sends him to help his grandfather (Kheireddine Defdaf) work his farm. Sami is a fish out of water, but soon connects with two very different cousins. Mohammed Majd portrays a drug-dealing hedonist, while Amira Casar plays a widow whose guilt about her dead husband's terrorist activities causes her to do charity work. She touches Sami, but that may not be enough to help everyone out of their difficult lives. Under Another Sky was screened at the Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cazalé, Amira Casar, (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)
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
- NR
This is a nostalgic French coming-of-age drama from director Andre Techine set in a Provence deeply divided over the war for independence being waged against French colonialism in Algeria. In 1962, Francois (Gael Morel) and Maite (Elodie Bouchez) are best friends and students at a boarding school in southwestern France, where Maite's mother Madame Alvarez (Michele Moretti) is an instructor. Francois is realizing he's gay because of his attraction to his working class roommate Serge (Stephane Rideau). Although Serge seduces Francois one night, he is not gay and is actually attracted to Maite. So is Henri (Frederic Gorny), a radically-politicized Algerian-born Frenchman who supports France in the war, an unpopular position, particularly with Madame Alvarez, a communist. The classroom sparring between Henri and Alvarez galvanizes the school, but then word comes that Serge's older brother has been killed in the war. Madame Alvarez, who loved him but refused to help him desert the military, becomes so unhinged that she must be sent away for treatment. Wild Reeds (1994) won four Cesars (France's equivalent of the Oscar), including the award for that year's Best Picture, beating such other notable films as Red (1994) and Queen Margot (1994). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Élodie Bouchez, Gael Morel, (more)
