Aurelien Wiik Movies

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

Internationally recognized French actress Sophie Marceau makes her feature directing debut with the intimate divorce drama Speak to Me of Love, which earned her the Best Director award from the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival. Justine (Judith Godrèche) and Richard's (Niels Arestrup) 15-year relationship comes to a sputtering end as both decide to separate due to irreconcilable differences. They go about their daily existences as best they can; Justine maintains custody of the couple's three boys, as well as the apartment. As she deals with the effects the separation has on her life as well as her boys' lives, she also manages to come terms with her own parents' divorce and finds a common bond with her long-suffering mother. Richard, on the other hand, attempts to bury himself in his work -- as a famous author -- but finds little solace as a planned project falls through. Both are forced to confront their uncertain futures, as well as reflect on the past choices they've made that put them in the positions they are in now. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

In this satirical comedy drama from France, white-collar workaholic Paul (Vincent Lindon) and his high-strung wife Helene (Catherine Frot) are driving to a party one evening when a young woman leaps into the path of their car, crying for help. Paul refuses to let her into the car, and soon several men catch up with the woman and begin beating her savagely. Paul insists on staying out of the matter, but Helene feels some sense of responsibility for what happened, and begins spending most of her time at the hospital where the woman remains unconscious. In time, it's determined that the woman's name is Noémie (Rachida Brakni), she's 22 years old, and works as a prostitute. By this time, Helene has become obsessed with protecting Noémie, and when a strange man (Wojtek Pszoniak) attempts to sign her out of the hospital, claiming he's her uncle, Helene sneaks Noémie out posing as a nurse and takes her to her mother-in-law's country house to recover. Eventually, Noémie is well enough to tell her harrowing story -- she was brought to France from Algeria by her father, along with her sister, and fell into life as a streetwalker shortly after learning that her family had sold her hand in marriage her to a man back in Algeria. Director Coline Serreau shot Chaos using digital video equipment -- and was impressed enough with the experience that she announced she had no interest in shooting on 35 mm film ever again. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A prominent French surgeon of Jewish heritage (Phillippe Noiret) suffers a massive heart attack in the film's prologue and as his life hangs in the balance, scenes from his life growing up in Algiers flash by. The resulting drama recalls his life and in so doing pays homage to the contributions of his Mamma Titine (Sophia Loren) in giving him the strength and skill to overcome poverty and the stigma of his religion in his homeland. The ailing Joseph Levy's reminiscence begins when he was a 13-year-old student during WW II. Though one of the brightest in his school, he is expelled following the enactment of new anti-Semitic laws. With somewhat of a struggle, he is able to be put back into school. At home, Levy seems to be Mamma Titine's favorite, even though he has four other siblings. She is a strong, supportive woman who without complaint raises her children alone while her husband works in the Paris civil service under a false name. Though an essentially honest woman, Titine will stop at nothing to ensure that she meets her children's emotional and physical needs. As the months pass into years, Joseph gradually comes of age and learns subtle ways of rebelling. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide