Arielle Dombasle Movies

The revered and celebrated Alain Robbe-Grillet's supernatural drama C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle (AKA That is Gradiva Who Calls You) - a French-Belgian co-production - concerns John Locke, an art historian immersed in Asian research on the Marrakeshi casbah, accompanied by Belkis, his servant and mistress. Amid his studies of Eugene Delacroix, Locke repeatedly encounters a lithe, ethereal female presence in the city's medina (or Arabic quarter) who draws him seductively through the city's mazelike streets, again and again, but repeatedly vanishes. He then encounters Anatoli, a self-professed antique dealer and curator of Oriental artifacts for beginners itching for a challenge. Belkis persuades Locke to keep his distance from these individuals, but Locke blatantly ignores her admonitions and forges ahead - never quite realizing that the spirits are toying with him, and drawing him into a dead-end psychosexual black hole. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Eric Rohmer is one of the best-respected filmmakers in the history of the French cinema, as well as among the most elusive. Notoriously reluctant to talk about his own work, Rohmer rarely sits for filmed interviews, but documentary filmmaker Marie Binet has taken another route to gain a perspective on the director's working methods in this feature. Les Contes Secrets ou les Rohmeriens features interviews with 16 actors who have appeared in Rohmer's films, and they talk on camera about his unusual working methods, his personality, and his spare but evocative signature style. Among the thespians who share their memories are Jean-Louis Trinitignant, Marie-Christine Barrault, Zouzou, Jean-Claude Brialy, Béatrice Romand, Françoise Fabian, and Andre Dussolier; the film also includes rare footage of Rohmer himself at work on the set of his 1978 effort Perceval. Les Contes Secrets ou les Rohmeriens received its North American premiere at the 2005 New Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

French filmmaker Stephane Clavier directs the comedy Lovely Rita: Patron Saint of Lost Causes, based on the novel by Benjamin Legrand. The director's brother, French TV star Christian Clavier, is the comedic star. He plays accountant Edgar Lamarck, who gets unwittingly involved in criminal situations. After getting messed up in a financial scam with Thierry (Eddy Mitchell), he ends up disposing of a body with prostitute Rita (Julie Gayet). She also happens to be an art thief who has just stolen a priceless Botticelli from an art dealer (Jean-Claude Dreyfus). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

One woman's actions inspire a variety of reactions among those around her in this period drama. Therese (Laetitia Casta) and Firmin (Frédéric Diefenthal) are a young couple of modest means living in France in 1882. Firmin earns a living as a blacksmith, while Therese finds work at an inn. At the inn, Therese makes a point of making the acquaintance of Mme. Numance (Arielle Dombasle), a wealthy woman who is known for her compassion and eagerness to help those less fortunate. When Therese loses her job after getting pregnant, Mme. Numance takes pity on the young couple, and invites them to move into the estate she shares with her husband (John Malkovich). Therese and Mme. Numance become close friends, and before long the lady of the house has come to regard Therese more as a daughter than a guest. But some believe Therese might be using her friendship with Mme. Numance for her own gain, which in their eyes is confirmed when Therese borrows a large sum of money from her benefactors after Firmin develops legal trouble. Therese and Firmin are unable to pay back the Numances, and soon the wealthy couple falls on hard times; those watching these events unfold wonder if Therese deliberately brought the generous family to ruin, or if is it all a product of simple naïveté. Alexandre Astruc helped to adapt the screenplay for Les Ames Fortes, based on the novel by Jean Giono; Astruc was also set to direct the project at one point, but after his unexpected death, Raúl Ruiz stepped up to the director's chair. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Gabriel Aghion directs this bawdy period romp about a day in the life of 18th century philosopher and sensualist Denis Diderot (Vincent Perez), who produced the first ever encyclopedia while living a life of delicious decadence. Though the Church immediately banned Diderot's opus, which they deemed to be a compendium of forbidden knowledge, copies continued to circulate. Diderot, along with his wife (Francoise Lepine) and daughter, are staying in the country estate of the Baron and Baroness d'Holbach -- who put a pair of illegal printing presses and a legion of typesetters in a chamber beneath the family altar. At the same time that the Church sends a grumpy Cardinal (Michel Serrault) to ferret out the clandestine press, comely Madame Therbouche (Fanny Ardant) shows up to paint Diderot's portrait. While Diderot occupies himself with his artist friend, the Baroness keeps the Cardinal occupied with her laundry list of sordid confessions. Naughty fun soon ensues. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A bittersweet drama covering 30 years in the lives of group of friends and colleagues united by their devotion to the theatre, 30 Ans begins in Paris in 1974, when Aurelian (Laurent Lucas), his girlfriend Barbara (Nathalie Richard), and childhood friend Antoine (Gregori Derangere) form a theatre. Taking the plight of Pinochet's oppressed Chile as its cause, the theatre attracts the involvement of Jeanne (Anne Brochet), a young actress who immediately sparks the attentions of both Aurelian and Antoine, the latter of whom seduces her. When Chilean dissident actor Luis (Hector Noguera) is brought to the theatre by Barbara's diplomat father, Jeanne falls in love with him, and the two carry out an affair that ends when a sudden development causes Jeanne to disappear. Eight years later, Aurelian has a new girlfriend (Julie Depardieu) and is directing a travelling troupe, and Antoine is a high-priced image consultant who gets his old friend a gig at Dunkirk. Aurelian, deeply immersed in a mid-life crisis, still loves Jeanne, continuing to carry a picture of the enigmatic actress in his wallet and writing about her in his diary. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

This romantic comedy from France explores the misadventures of several friends looking for love and trying to define beauty. Daphne (Arielle Dombasle) is a lovely women who is nonetheless unsure about her looks, compounded by the fact that she's fallen in love with Vincent (Thibault de Montalembert), who has a policy of only dating models. Daphne's best friend Celine (Maria de Medeiros) comes up with an idea -- she'll get her pal Jacques (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey) to paint a nude portrait of Daphne. When Vincent sees the painting, he'll be more attracted to the woman who posed for it, leading him to her doorstep. But of course, it isn't quite that simple. Les Infortunes de la Beaute is dominated by Gilles Porte's largely hand-held camerawork, ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Arthur Joffe directed this French comic fantasy, in French and English dialogue, about God (voice of Pierre Arditi), invisible and spinning through Heavenly space on an asteroid, along with his sidekick angel Rene (Ticky Holgado). God observes Earthly events on His television set. After hacking out a screenplay on the Hebrew keyboard of a manual typewriter, the Deity needs a director, lands as a burning bush in back of the Hollywood sign, finds Hollywood hostile, jumps to Paris, and travels from one body to another, eventually settling on tekkie Jeanne (Helene de Fougerolles), an employee at Harper Audiovisual. Faxes in Hebrew begin arriving, and Jeanne hears voices. With God's screenplay translated to French, it finally goes up to the 127th floor for an okay by Mr. Harper himself (Tcheky Karyo). But there's a problem -- God is not very happy about Mr. Harper's alterations, as he explains, "I wrote the Bible, the best-selling book of all time! Where do they get off editing my script?" ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Karim Dridi, best known for Pigalle (1994) and Bye-Bye (1995), directed this French comedy-drama about actor Angelo Bastiani (Philippe Ambrosini) who installs satellite dishes when not auditioning for films. At one of these auditions he meets Concepcion Alibera (Rossy De Palma), and they go out drinking. After being told he's not convincing enough for a role in a gangster flick, Ange dons a mask and stages a parking-lot hold-up, terrifying the film's director and casting director to prove his point. This gives him an idea, and later he intrudes on a dinner party of actors, taking them all hostage. Bridging the gap between fantasy and reality, the film features several actors who portray themselves. Shown at 1998 Locarno and Montreal film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Ten years ago, distinguished French author Alexandre (Alain Delon) exchanged his stressful, hectic life in Paris for a more peaceful existence upon a Mexican hacienda with his wife Ariane (Marianne Denicourt). Lucien (Jean-Pierre Kalfon) also accompanies them. There, Alexandre meets the strange lady-oracle Sonia (Lauren Bacall). As the film opens, the melancholy Alexandre is visited by the sensuous actress Laure (Arielle Dombasle) and her producer Raoul Fillipi (Karl Zero) who is going to make a movie of one of Alexandre's best-loved books. Laure is determined to play the part of the heroine and is willing to resort to seduction to get it. At the same time, Ariane is involved in a passionate affair with French-Mexican seismologist Carlo (Xavier Beauvois). While all of these characters wrangle and tangle with their different agendas, the local residents prepare for a violent revolution. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Marcello Mastroianni plays several different roles in this off-beat, witty exploration of a man with multiple personalities from world-class filmmaker Raúl Ruiz. Mastroianni first appears as Parisian traveling salesman Mateo Strano who suddenly shows up at the home of Maria, the wife he abandoned twenty years before. She eventually remarried Andre. Mateo begins telling the skeptical Andre that he never really left Marie. Instead he was bewitched by fairies and has been living in the apartment across the street the entire time. He seems so serious, that he is able to lure Andre to the alleged apartment. There Mateo murders him with a hammer and then calmly returns to Maria who seems nonplused by the sudden turn. With pride she shows Mateo their adopted daughter. Mastroianni next appears as Sorbonne professor of negative anthropology Georges Vickers, a grown man who still lives with his cranky mother until he inexplicably leaves to become a vagrant. Living on the streets, he encounters Tania, a streetwalker with a passion for the philosophies of author Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan. The hooker and the tramp stay together until the day that Vickers returns and he leaves. It is soon afterward that he discovers that Tania is really the president of a major corporation. When he learns that she has been jailed for attempting to murder her creepy ex-husband, Vickers uses his clout to save her. The story then jumps to a newlywed couple happily struggling in a humble garret. Their lives change dramatically when a benefactor suddenly appears and provides them with a marvelous country house. They are also given a mute butler (Mastroianni) who answers their every beck and call. It doesn't take the couple long to figure out that the sinister valet (who actually owns the chateau) is quietly poisoning them. In terror they leave, but later he finds them and demands that they give him their baby daughter. He gives the child to Maria, Mateo's wife. Mastroianni's fourth persona, that of industrial magnate Luc Alamand then appears. He is in trouble when he learns that the wife, daughter, and sister he manufactured to impress potential clients are actually coming. The stress causes the sudden emergence of his other disparate personalities. Interestingly, though each live wildly different lives, they are clearly the same mild-mannered, self-effacing character. The comedy in the story works on wildly different levels with sight gags and puns running simultaneously with literary and cultural satire. Beneath it all runs a serious message about the destructiveness and confusion caused by trying to create a single European culture. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This homage to the cinema by venerated movie-maker Agnes Varda, often dubbed the "grandmother" of the French New Wave, features an all-star international cast. The story is based upon the memories and insights of the 100-year old Mr. Simon Cinema. He lives in a magnificent house filled with movie memorabilia. To help him remember the important details of his career he hires Camille, a film student to write down his remembrances and experiences which have involved all areas of movie-making. Camille comes once a day for 101 days. Film clips, photographs and actual visitors highlight his stories. As he continues to spin his yarns, the imagery in the film smoothly morph into other images. Camille, when not recording, is involved in other exploits including a romance with a production assistant, Mica who aspires to becoming a director. She also begins plotting a way to get to Mr. Cinema's fortune by having a friend pose as his long lost heir. Many other characters are peripherally involved including Death, an Italian seeking the rights to his film catalogue, and a memory specialist. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi