Mathieu Amalric Movies

After spending some time with his diplomat father in Germany, a young French medical student returns by train to Paris to resume his studies. He is puzzled by the harsh treatment he receives from customs at the border but doesn't begin to understand why until he gets home and discovers a mummified head in his luggage. He suspects that someone at customs put it there, but is not sure. Instead of reporting the meandering body part, he decides to investigate it using the tools he has as a medical student. It appears to be the head of a Russian who died somewhere in Asia. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This gentle French comedy, takes an intellectualized look at the nature of a crush as it tells the tale of 20-year-old Claire, a young woman seemingly suffering a terminal case of ennui. She glumly goes through the minimal motions of living until she falls in love with handsome Gregoire, a highly intelligent philosophy student. He gives her an unusual translation of Le Journal d'un seducteur by Kierkegaard. This is no ordinary philosophical tome and anyone who opens it becomes strangely aroused and susceptible to love. Not only is Claire entranced by the book's magic, her psychoanalyst also finds himself ensnared. Meanwhile, mysterious Gregoire seems to hold the key to the mysterious book in his refrigerator, and if he doesn't, then the corpse therein just may. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedic slice-of-life, a young man who has been away for a long time comes back home to visit his mother, an egocentric literary critic consumed by the world of books. His sister is pretty much wrapped up in herself, his father is a journalist and somewhat of a dreamer, in short, no one in his family is prepared to help him confront the major trauma of his childhood: the suicide of his brother. As the story unfolds, the young man faces these personalities in a series of humorous interludes (i.e., "shut up and eat your soup," as the title suggests in French, seems to summarize the family's attitude to his queries). Director Mathieu Amalric has a good sense of natural, human interactions that carry this film beyond the limitations of its low budget and limited, four-week shooting schedule. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Arthur (Mathieu Amalric) is a history teacher who lives alone in Paris after having broken up with Claire (Jeanne Balibar). He is a sensitive man, full of existential doubts and questions. He has to go to Lisbon to meet an eminent historian whose work is the subject of his thesis. Having just made up with Claire, he decides to take her along. She's an ideal travel companion and it seems their relationship has not yet exhausted its potential. But moving from Lisbon to Oporto, their fantasy of a second honeymoon clashes with the reality of a world on the verge of a nightmare. Director Jean-Claude Biette uses the three cities -- Paris, Lisbon and Porto -- for stylistic purposes. There are also three bridges in the film -- Seine, Tejo and Douro. The choice of Porto, which has a bridge constructed by Gustave Eiffel, reminds the viewer of the veteran Portuguese director Manuel Oliveira, although the bridge filmed in Porto is a different one. The figure of the old professor is a variation of a dramatic element seen in all previous films of the director. Trois Ponts sur la Riviére was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Former Cahiers du Cinema editor Serge Le Peron writes and directs this screwball crime comedy chock full of ironic film references. The film opens with student radical-turned-magistrate Francois Marcorelle (Jean-Pierre Leaud) stumbling into an art house movie theater mid-film. The rather comely woman next to him first begins to caress Marcorelle's leg, then she drops over dead. Later in the film, Marcorelle and his wife Claudie (Dominique Reymond) and their children are supposed to go on a family vacation. Unfortunately, Marcolle is snowed under by a case and is forced to stay behind. A lonely dining excursion in a Turkish restaurant leads to Marcolle driving a beautiful Polish waitress Agneska (Irene Jacob) back to her apartment. After an enjoyable round of adultery, he is attacked by Agneska's father, and the altercation leads to Marcolle inadvertently braining the old man. Agneska claims that she knows people who can dispose of bodies quietly and asks him to leave. Though no body ever turns up and Marcolle tells no one of his encounter -- save his best friend George (Phillippe Khorsand) -- an ambitious lawyer sets out to make a name for himself by accusing the magistrate. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Jean-Henri Roger's Lulu stars Elli Medeiros as the title character. Lulu is a transsexual who lives with John (Gerard Meylan). One of the town drunks she serves at her bar accuses her of killing a local criminal. A detective (Bruno Putzulu) starts a quirky investigation into the charge. A journalist (Jean-Pierre Kalfon) with affectionate feelings for Lulu figures in the plot. Lulu was shot on Digital Video. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Directed by Mathieu Amalric, a well-respected actor who has starred in such acclaimed French exports as Olivier Assayas' Late August, Early September and Arnaud Desplechin's My Sex Life, Wimbledon Stadium is an adaptation of a novel by Italian author Daniele Del Giudice. Its narrative revolves around a young, nameless woman (Amalric's frequent co-star Jeanne Balibar), who is traveling through Italy on a mission to attempt to learn why one of the country's most illustrious intellectuals, a man who influenced the work of many writers, was not himself a writer. In the process, the protagonist learns a great deal about her own work as a writer. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker and professor of music Denis Dercourt directs the family drama Mes Enfants Ne Sont Pas Comme Les Autres (My Children Are Different). Widowed cellist Jean Debart (Richard Berry) is strict with his two children in regards to their musical education. Teenager Adele (Elodie Peudepiece) studies the cello but yearns for some rebellious independence while 11-year-old Alexandre (Frederic Roullier) is firmly committed to playing the piano and observing his father's wishes. Their stern grandfather Maître Erhardt (Maurice Garrel) is an orchestra conductor and their uncle Gerald (Mathieu Amalric) is a less-ambitious musician who finds work making background sounds. Soon Adele finds herself growing away from her father's harsh rules when she meets fellow musician Thomas (Malik Zidi). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Bruno (Grégoire Colin of Beau Travail) is a troubled art student fascinated with pristine white walls and empty space. A squalid, unhappy childhood has left him angry, reclusive, and obsessive. When his brutish uncle (Etienne Chicot), fed up with Bruno's eccentricities, threatens to kick him out, Bruno calmly murders him. Elise (Julie Ordon) is several years younger than Bruno, just entering adulthood. Her mother was murdered when Elise was a little girl, and Anne (Brigitte Catillon), the psychiatrist who used hypnosis to try to draw out her memory of the event, is now married to Elise's father, Richard (Laurent Grévill). Anne still worries that the mysterious man who murdered Elise's mother will return to harm Elise. She's overprotective to the point of paranoia, and Elise grows increasingly weary of her stepmother's constant meddling. When Bruno gets an interior design job at the upscale shoe store where Elise works, they are immediately drawn to each other. While Elise is quietly determined to draw out the odd, shy young man, Bruno seems to see Elise as some kind of ideal objet d'art. Anne, ever suspicious, suspects that Bruno is up to no good, and tries to keep Elise from seeing him. As Bruno plots to make Elise his, the twisted truth about her mother's murder is revealed. Inquiétudes, based on the novel A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell, was written and directed by Gilles Bourdos. It was shown at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendezvous With French Cinema in 2004. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Annick Raoul's ten-minute short feature A Little Bit Under the Weather concerns Serge (Mathieu Amalric), a man who wakes up in a dream state but cannot be sure that he is actually sleeping. He also discovers that he's playing in an orchestra, but does not know the music being played. All that he is certain of is his overwhelming desire to escape from this situation and go elsewhere. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

"What would you think if I shaved my moustache?" asks Marc (Vincent Lindon) of his wife, Agnès (Emmanuelle Devos), one fateful night as they prepare to visit friends for dinner. She's never seen him without it, but while she goes to do some last-minute shopping, he impulsively shaves the moustache off. Thus begins a tragic odyssey that leads Marc to question every relationship in his life, and even his own identity. Marc's journey into darkness begins when Agnès returns home. At first, he playfully tries to conceal what he's done. When he finally reveals his bare face to her, with a flourish, her reaction is...nonexistent. She baffles him by appearing not to notice the change. Confused, he says nothing, and they proceed with their plans for the evening. When the couple's friends Serge (Mathieu Amalric) and Nadia (Macha Polikarpova) also fail to make note of the change in Marc's appearance, he begins to get angry, believing that Agnès is playing an elaborate prank on him. In the car on the way home, he loses his temper, and it's her turn to be baffled. What moustache? How can she have noticed that he shaved his moustache when he's never had one? While Agnès begins to question her husband's sanity, Marc frantically searches for evidence of his former facial hair. Things only get worse for Marc, as no one at his job remembers him having a moustache either, and before long, he discovers that there are other details of his life that only he remembers. The Moustache marks the directorial debut of Emmanuel Carrère, who adapted his own novel with Jérôme Beaujour (She's One of Us). The film was shown as part of The Film Society of Lincoln Center's 2006 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide