Philippe Torreton
- 2006
Five-star German director Volker Schlondorff (The Tin Drum, Swann in Love) helms the deliberately-paced existential drama Ulzhat, from a script authored by the famed Jean-Claude Carriere (The Mahabharata). As the film opens, world-weary Parisian schoolteacher Charles Simon (Philippe Torreton) leaves the City of Lights, hits the road and drives east, intentions and destination undeclared. Soon after Charles crosses the Kazakhstani border and his car runs out of gas, he climbs out of the vehicle and begins walking, refusing each driver who stops and offers a ride. In time, it becomes apparent that he is journeying to Khan Tengri, a mountain in Asia, regarded by many shamans as a holy ground - not for spiritual enlightenment, as might be expected, but to find a rumored cache of gold. Though the traveler practically insists on journeying alone (for obvious reasons), he is soon joined in his quest by two eccentrics: a Kazakhstani woman named Ulzhat, who teaches French at a local village school, and Shakuni (David Bennent of The Tin Drum), a hippie-turned-shaman from western Europe. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Bennent, Philippe Torreton, (more)
Antoine de Caunes' second feature, Monsieur N. is a historical mystery thriller about Napoleon. Sir Hudson Lowe (Richard E. Grant) is assigned to guard Napoleon (Philippe Torreton) while the latter is in exile in Saint Helena. A local girl, Betsy (Siobhan Hewlett), has a crush on the exiled leader. This, along with the fact that keeping Napoleon on the island is costing the British a great sum of money, leads Lowe to consider drastic action. Monsieur N. was screened at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, (more)
- 2000
Two musician are going to fall in love, but they don't know it yet in this romantic drama from France. Catherine (Amira Casar) is a woman trying to get a break as a singer in Paris; she also finds out that she's pregnant, which is not good news, since she's not having much luck getting gigs and doesn't have a husband. While Catherine's friend Consuelo (Laura Del Sol) tries to help her through a difficult time, Eric (Philippe Torreton) is trying to make ends meet as a construction worker in Prague, though his ambition is to play the cello. Eric is stuck in an unhappy marriage, and longs to get away to someplace where he can be free to focus on his music. Eric and Catherine's paths seem destined to cross, but when and where will it ever happen? Tot ou Tard is structured around a rather unusual storytelling device -- it's narrated by Catherine's unborn child. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Torreton, Amira Casar, (more)
Ça commence aujourd'hui, a social drama, is Bertrand Tavernier's first major film since winning a César (the Oscar of France) in 1996 for his epic Capitaine Conan. Set in a forlorn mining town near Valencienne in the north of France, the story is about one man's struggle to bring life to his once prosperous village and its inhabitants. Philippe Torreton, who won a César for Best Actor with his title role in Capitaine Conan, plays Daniel, the head teacher of a nursery school in a town demoralized by unemployment. Daniel is determined against all odds to bring life to the community. When a parent who has come to pick up her children collapses at the school grounds due to alcohol abuse, and social services turns a deaf ear to all pleas for help, Daniel decides to take the law into his own hands. Despite resistance from the townspeople, in the long run his efforts are not fruitless. Initially, he is assisted by his girlfriend Valéria, a young sculptor; gradually, the school nurse Samia joins forces with them. Ça commence aujourd'hui is a film committed to everyday heroism; it takes a multilayered approach to an array of problems. The visual force of the storytelling is especially powerful. Tavernier's Ça commence aujourd'hui received a Special Mention for its subject matter, the Ecumenical Jury award and FIPRESCI award (Federation of International Film Critics) at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. Tavernier was previously the 1995 Berlin Golden Bear winner. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Torreton, Maria Pitarresi, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Philippe Torreton
- 1996
After many years of service to her aged employer Ottavio, widowed servant Coraline leaves to take care of Ottavio's son Florindo whom Ottavio's second wife booted out to insure that her son Lelio would inherit Ottavio's fortune. As the story for this drama is set in 1700s, Coraline's moving in with Florindo causes scandal even though it is all innocent and their relationship is purely platonic. Ignoring the gossip, Coraline continues with her plan to insure that Florindo gets his just inheritance by marrying him off. She also secretly schemes to expose Ottavio's gold-digging wife. The story is based on a play by mid-18th century playwright Carlo Goldoni. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Pralon, Claire Vernet, (more)
This drama examines three amoral young people living in Paris. 18-year-old Nathalie (Marie Gillain) works in a clothing store and dreams of opening her own boutique in the United States. She shares an apartment with her boyfriend Eric (Olivier Sitruk) and his slow-witted pal Bruno (Bruno Putzulu); she pays the rent while they stay home and watch crime movies on television. All three are looking for a fast and easy way to make some money, so together they devise a plan. Nathalie will hang out in nightclubs, meet prosperous-looking men, and go home with them. Once she's inside their apartments, she'll let in Eric and Bruno, and they'll rob the place of cash and valuables. The plan works well at first, before things go wrong one night and Eric commands Bruno to kill their victim. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Gillain, Olivier Sitruk, (more)
- 1994
This film follows the exploits of a young middle-class girl obsessed with love. The viewer will either love or hate the protagonist as she struggles through her confusion to find true love. Neurotic Nathalie wants love, but cannot make up her mind. She throws her nice boyfriend Antoine out while simultaneously stalking Eric, the hospital orderly who rejected her. Nathalie then tries to sleep with her best friend Christine's boyfriend Fabrice. Fabrice almost gives in, but suddenly rejects Nat. Nathalie is broken hearted and subsequently becomes more depressed and morally bankrupt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Emmanuelle Devos, (more)
- 1994
In this stylish French drama fits well into the film noir genre. A visitor comes to the home of Stephane, the wife of an important magistrate. She, claiming attempted rape, calmly shoots him. The visitor is the legendary gangster Wadek Aslanian who was beloved as a latter day Robin Hood. Stephane's husband hires a lawyer, Paul, to defend her. Paul learns many disturbing things about Stephane's sordid past when he starts receiving anonymous letters describing her exploits which included prostitution, performing in porno-movies, and most interestingly having a liaison with Aslanian. The judge is ignorant of his wife's past. Despite her dark and mysterious past, Paul cannot help but fall in love with Stephane. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvie Vartan, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1993
Tina (Sophie Aubry) is an unpleasant young woman with an unpleasantly supine mother and an unpleasantly futureless boyfriend. Even for someone whose range of facial expressions consists of mild-to-moderate sulking, this is too much, and she decides to look up the father she has never known. Along the way, she discovers that she has a half sister whom she has never met, a girl involved in an intense, abusive relationship with a married man: her father's lawyer. Tina eventually meets up with her father and discovers, naturally enough, that he is not a particularly nice man and furthermore wants nothing whatever to do with her. Somehow all these new people in Tina's life continue to be involved with each other, despite the resounding lack of joy they seem to feel in each other's company. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophie Aubry, Judith Godrëche, (more)
- 1992
Bertrand Tavernier directed this gritty, unglamorous look at the grunge work police officers perform in attempting to uphold the law. Didier Bazace stars as Lucien Marguet, a drug squad cop who is dedicated to getting drugs off the street. Lucien is passionate about eradicating drugs, even though his small drug busts barely put a dent in the rampant drug use throughout the city. But still Lucien persists. He confronts HIV-positive prostitute Cecile (Lara Guirao) about her drug habit and criticizes his paper-shuffling boss Dodo (Jean-Paul Comart) for not making the big drug busts and concentrating, instead, on the small-timers. Tavernier takes his camera into the drab goings-on of a dedicated cop, and the fascination lies in the intensity of Lucien's appointed cause as he continues unappreciated and ignored. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart, (more)
