Elisabeth Commelin Movies

Michel Blanc stars as Aymé, a grumpy recently widowed farmer, in writer/actress Isabelle Mergault's directorial debut, the romantic comedy You Are So Handsome. When Aymé's work partner and wife dies suddenly in an unfortunate accident, he quickly realizes that he needs someone around to help him with the womanly half of the chores. An unsentimental sort, within days he's contacted a service to find him a new wife. This brings him to Romania, where he's introduced to a lot of much younger women, most of whom take the wrong tack, dressing skimpily and telling Aymé how handsome he is. Elena (Medeea Marinescu), a single mother, is as eager to move to France and make some money as the next girl, but she takes the time to assess the situation, puts on a sweater, and tells Aymé, in her charmingly broken French, how much she's always wanted to live on a farm and work with animals. Her strategy works, and Aymé decides to bring her back to France, but, embarrassed about what he's done, he comes up with a lame cover story to fool his best friend, Roland (Wladimir Yordanoff), and the rest of his neighbors. He tells them she's a distant relative who's visiting the farm as an "intern," and has Elena pretend that she speaks no French at all. Elena expects them to have a real marriage, and is disappointed when she realizes that Aymé just wants her to work. Eventually, Aymé realizes his feelings for Elena go deeper than expected, but by then, her frustration and homesickness are becoming too much to bear. You Are So Handsome was shown as part of The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in 2006. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

French filmmaker Manuel Poirier directs the comedy drama Femmes... ou les Enfants d'Abord... (Women or Children First). Middle-aged Tom (Sergi Lopez) lives in Brittany with his wife, Sylvie (Marilyne Canto), and their children. He leads a very tedious existence that may be headed toward a mid-life crisis or divorce. One day, his ex-girlfriend Virginie (Sylvie Testud) arrives with the news that he had fathered a child with her eight years ago. Needing a break to get herself together financially, she unloads the little girl on Tom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The film is based on a true story of a young actor, Robert Hugues Lambert, who was hired to play the role of aviation hero Mermoz in occupied France during WW II. But his career came to a brutal end when his homosexuality was discovered and he was sent to a Nazi camp. The Vichy government's directive to bring to screen edifying films based on national myths, such as Charlemagne or Joan of Arc, led one producer to decide to make a film about Mermoz, an airmail pioneer who perished at the height of his fame, crashing in 1936. This symbolic figure was also an activist in an extreme rightwing party, the vice-president of a movement known as 'The Crosses of Fire.' Lambert, a relatively obscure theatre actor was hired for his physical resemblance. Another actor was hired to complete the film, but the sound crew managed to smuggle a microphone through the barbed wires to get a recording of Lambert's voice. The film had its premiere in Paris, but Lambert was shipped to Auschwitz, never to return. Based on this story, Jean Claude Grumberg wrote a fictional comedy about making a film during the Occupation. He decided that only a comedy could narrate the way most French people went about their business with their heads in the sand during the Occupation, seeking refuge in derivative comedy. The film's light tone, however, changes dramatically at the end when Lambert is taken away. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

A financially struggling mason, his wife and their 10-year-old daughter Marion, one of six children, find themselves faced with a difficult choice when a wealthy Parisian couple asks to adopt her. This moving drama is set in a quiet Normandy village. Marion and her family are new in town and the house they move into needs a lot of work. Unfortunately, money is very tight. and there is not much they can do. Still the family is happy and tightly knit. Audrey and her businessman husband live in Paris, but like to spend weekends and holidays in the village. Like other wealthy Parisians, they are greeted with mixed emotions by the generally impoverished locals. One day Audrey has an accident near Marion's home and afterward becomes friends with Marion's mother. The childless Audrey is captivated by Marion and offers her many tastes of life's finer things. Believing it to be in her best interest, Audrey asks if Marion can live with them in Paris. But Marion's family wonders if the material gains Audrey offers will be worth the emotional cost to the girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this French drama, an urban professional gives up his fast-track life in favor of the quiet of country life. Benoit now lives as a toymaker who sells games at his chic Paris art gallery. The film opens with young Lila as she is being released from prison. Immediately, she sets out to see her sister in Brionne, a tiny Normandy town. As soon as he sees her, the rather quiet Benoit falls in love. Eventually, the emotionally scarred young woman falls in love with him too. Soon they move in together, and Lila gets to meet his ne'er-do-well friends. The couple are very happy for a while, but when Benoit's gallery goes belly-up, he begins acting strangely, leaving Lila feeling very unsure. Eventually she leaves him. Benoit then struggles to cope with his depression; after many drunken nights, a lost dog helps him find the peace he has been searching for. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi