Patrick Dewaere Movies
Short-lived Patrick Dewaere was one of the most promising and popular French actors of the '70s. In 1968, he joined Café de la Gare, the troupe of performers which also included such future stars as Gérard Depardieu and Miou-Miou. After initially appearing under the pseudonym Patrick Morin, he finally opted for Dewaere, which was his grandmother's maiden name. Onscreen from 1971 in various bit parts, Dewaere made the breakthrough with his first major role in Bertrand Blier's anarchic comedy Les Valseuses (1974) where he and Gerard Depardieu starred as two young delinquents. The actor would team up again with Depardieu in Blier's Oscar-winning comedy Preparez Vos Mouchoirs (1978). Despite Dewaere's obvious talent for comedy, he was often successfully cast as a fragile, neurotic individual. Shortly after the release of Paradis Pour Tous (1982), the black comedy where his character committed suicide, the actor shot himself in a hotel room. The Patrick Dewaere Award was established in France in 1983. The actor was the subject of the French documentary Patrick Dewaere, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- 1971
This film is a French period comic romance, set in the time just surrounding the French Revolution (1789). "Year Two," of the French title refers to the second year following the revolution. Those who guided the French Revolution renamed the days of the week, the months of the year, and much more. They also began their calendar from the time of the revolution. In this film, Jean-Paul Belmondo plays the husband of a vivacious, two-timing, and socially ambitious young woman (Marlene Jobert). After he kills one of her aristocratic lovers, the husband flees to the New World (the Americas). He returns to France after the revolution, finds that he has been divorced, and then works hard to woo his ex-wife away from all the important men and outlaw aristocrats she is spending time with. Happiness reigns anew as, remarried, they both attain aristocratic status in Napolean's regime. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marlène Jobert, (more)
- 1971
This English-language French production, directed by Rene Clement is a psychological/spy thriller, and features an excellent score by Gilbert Becaud. Faye Dunaway is Jill, the wife of a former industrial spy (played by Frank Langella). Her husband's employers are not perfectly reconciled to his retirement, however, even though he is firm in his refusal to rejoin them. As the film proceeds, we discover that Jill is a nervous sort, and the spymasters seek by various means to take advantage of her nervous temperament in order to induce her husband to work for them again. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, Frank Langella, (more)
