Sophie Grimaldi Movies

Based on a play by Arthur Schnitzer, this is a rather flat remake of the 1932 film Liebelei that featured Magda Schneider as Christine. Director Pierre Gaspard-Huit keeps it all in the family by putting Schneider's daughter Romy Schneider in the top female slot. Opposite her is newcomer Alain Delon in his first lead role, yet to reach his stride on the silver screens in France. The setting is 19th-century Vienna and Franz (Delon) is a young lieutenant who has fallen in love with Christine, a charming opera singer. But Franz' feelings are misunderstood -- a wealthy baron is certain that the lieutenant is after his wife and as a result, challenges him to a tragic duel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In spite of spending three hours developing the story of French peasant Charles Saganne (Gérard Depardieu), the sweep of this epic skims over the qualities that transformed Saganne from an ordinary officer to a great military leader. Saganne was first sent to a garrison town in North Africa before Colonel Dubreuilh (Philippe Noiret) assigned him to other missions, finally giving him a chance to exercise his innate ability to lead men. After a tragic hiatus in Paris where he fails to promote the colonialist cause, he returns to the Sahara and outshines his past accomplishments, leading a ragtag band of Arab dissidents in some brilliant military maneuvers -- for which he won the French Legion of Honor. His newfound recognition also attracted a society maven who became his wife, and after his tour of duty has ended Saganne moves with her to the village where he was born. But the year is 1914 and Saganne's peaceful village idyll was not meant to endure -- he is again called off to war, and to his destiny. Even though the costuming, landscape, battles, and charisma of Depardieu as Saganne and Noiret as Colonel Dubreuilh are outstanding, and several subsidiary characters deliver emotionally compelling vignettes, the protagonists as an ensemble have not been scripted with much depth of character -- making the three-hour epic seem a bit too long in the end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A generally destructive atmosphere settles over this New Wave drama about a trio of youths looking to debunk hypocrisy wherever they find it. One of the early films by Claude Chabrol, the tale looks at the relationship of Ronald (Jean-Claude Brialy), Ambroisine (Bernadette Lafont), and Arthur (Charles Belmont). Arthur and Ronald have their differences, but the three join up to knock the air out of the wind-bags of pomposity, puncture the veneer of the gallingly elitist art world, and do combat in other arenas where people are less than honest. But Ronald has not forgotten an early offense he suffered at Arthur's hands, and soon the relationships in the trio start to change. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Nothing more than a typical, formulaic comedy about a bumbling Boy Scout troop leader (director Gerard Jugnot), this story features the inept counselor facing off with a wild group of scouts in the middle of a camping trip. The Scoutmaster also has to parry a gay colleague who is out to question his sexual preferences, and there are even more disasters waiting to happen. It is enough to make anyone turn in their badge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi