Antoine de Caunes Movies
- 2008
To the French, Michel "Coluche" Colucci (1944-86) was not merely a household name but a veritable institution. A stocky, goofy comic who often turned up in big screen farces such as L'Aile Ou la Cuisse (1976) and Inspecteur la Bavure (1980) , Colucci gained notoriety for his emotionally rocky and stormy personal life that witnessed him battling alcoholism and extreme drug addiction - making him something of a French equivalent to John Belushi or Chris Farley. Unlike Belushi or Farley, however, Coluche made the unusual decision (for one of his background) to briefly enter mainstream politics. In a bid for the French presidential nomination in 1981, he delighted many and shocked others by reeling in an impressive 15% of the French popular vote - reason enough to believe that this actor, with solid humanitarian values and a commitment to civil rights, might have actually stood a solid chance had he campaigned more aggressively and remained in the running for a longer period. Antoine de Caunes's biopic Coluche, l'Histoire d'un mec hones in exclusively on this intriguing period of the comic's life and career, with François-Xavier Demaison playing the famous actor. The tale begins with his impulsive and drug-fueled decision to run on the ticket, coaxing bums, drunks and social outcasts to band together and lay waste to mainstream politicians. When Coluche pulls in around 10% of the vote, he draws the ire of politicos François Mitterand and Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, who promptly send out an advisor to dissuade the funnyman from running. Director de Caunes spends the majority of the film cross-cutting between recreations of Coluche's popular stage acts, and a not uncritical look at the star's attempts to push himself to his very limits and beyond -- with a mainstream political run that began as a joke but quickly took on very real and frightening proportions. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François-Xavier Demaison, Léa Drucker, (more)
Mr. Bean -- the stick-legged goofball man-child created by Rowan Atkinson on television in the early '90s, and in the 1997 feature Bean -- undertakes his second cinematic adventure in the comic romp Mr. Bean's Holiday. Growing thoroughly sick of the wet, cold, and clammy London weather, Mr. Bean (Atkinson) finds just the right tonic when he wins a trip to sunny southern France, all expenses paid, with a new digital video camera to accompany him. However, he runs headfirst into a series of outrageous and unpleasant situations, such as winding up in a French restaurant where a maître d’ (Jean Rochefort) convinces him to eat bizarre varieties of seafood that he's never before encountered, and discovering that the "Very Fast Train" certainly lives up to its name. Eventually, Mr. Bean (accompanied by a Russian traveling companion whom he meets along his journey) stumbles onto the French Riviera and spoils the latest movie production of snobbish, egomaniacal filmmaker Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe) -- little realizing that his own klutzy video footage will accidentally end up in Clay's film and be screened at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Unlike the first big-screen incarnation of Atkinson's character, Mr. Bean's Holiday adheres more closely to the formula of the original series by rendering the character almost completely mute. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes, (more)
- 2006
An addition to the subgenre of neo-screwball comedies, à la Seems Like Old Times and Illegally Yours, Antoine de Caunes' French-language farce Twice Upon a Time (aka Désaccord Parfait) observes the long-delayed reunion between two former lovers. Alice (Charlotte Rampling) is a British stage actress, Louis (Jean Rochefort), a Gallic film director of cult movies. The two broke up in the late '70s, but now they experience a sudden and startling rekindling amid witty verbal duels. Throughout, the director takes satirical potshots at everything from Canadians to French cinema to gay Englishmen. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Jean Rochefort, (more)
Antoine de Caunes' second feature, Monsieur N. is a historical mystery thriller about Napoleon. Sir Hudson Lowe (Richard E. Grant) is assigned to guard Napoleon (Philippe Torreton) while the latter is in exile in Saint Helena. A local girl, Betsy (Siobhan Hewlett), has a crush on the exiled leader. This, along with the fact that keeping Napoleon on the island is costing the British a great sum of money, leads Lowe to consider drastic action. Monsieur N. was screened at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Torreton, Richard E. Grant, (more)
- 2002
A young woman bent on revenge becomes a legendary thief in the vein of Robin Hood in director Bernie Bonvoisin's 2002 comic swashbuckler Blanche. When she was 14, young Blanche de Perrone's family was massacred by the Cardinal Mazarin's (Jean Rochefort) right-hand man, Captain KKK (Antoine de Caunes), after her businessman father suspected the cleric of great evildoing. The lone survivor of the murder, Blanche vowed vengeance and eventually became a greatly feared robber of stagecoaches. Meanwhile, Mazarin has begun to set up his own little drug dealing operation without rousing the suspicion of the sexually-kinky reigning monarchs King Louis XIV (Jose Garcia) and Queen Anne of Austria (Carole Bouquet). As Blanche (Lou Doillon) begins to put into motion her plan to bring down Mazarin, she unexpectedly falls in love with royal spy Bonange (Roschdy Zem), who is not totally insensitive to Blanche's quest. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Doillon, Roschdy Zem, (more)
Former French television star Antoine de Caunes turns his sights on the horror genre in his first feature in this goth comedy about trendy nightlife and new-millennium vogue. Antoine (Guillaume Canet is a layabout slacker who lives in a lounge at a health club where a friend lets him stay. After outsmarting a bouncer at an exclusive club in town, he gets a tip from another friend, Etienne (Gerard Lanvin), about a new party in the know. When Antoine attempts getting into the swanky soiree, he claims his friend "Jordan" has invited him. Though he cannot describe his fake friend's features, the staff agrees to let him in. He is then hauled away to meet the party's wealthy host Von Bulow (played by Jean-Marie Winling), who is extremely enticed by the prospect of meeting "Jordan" as he hears he only lives by night. Von Bulow offers Antoine one million francs, half on the spot, if he can be led to Jordan. Antoine must then buy information with his new money, leading him on all-night, violent odyssey that goes further into dark territory. The film also features Asia Argento, Vincent Perez, and Gilbert Melki. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guillaume Canet, Gérard Lanvin, (more)
- 2001
One man's slow climb up the ladder to modest success is thwarted at every rung in this lightly downbeat comedy-drama. Ghislain Lambert (Benoit Poelvoorde) is a amateur bicycle racer who lives on a small farm in Belgium with his brother, Claude (Jose Garcia), and a hired hand who cannot speak, Denis (Sacha Bourdo). Lambert dreams of someday going pro, and a local coach, Focodel (Daniel Ceccaldi), agrees to help him train. With Focodel's help, Lambert is asked to join a team of pro cyclists and finds himself sharing a room on the road with Riccardo (Emmanuel Quatra), an outgoing Italian racer who urges him into a romance with cycling enthusiast Babette (Christelle Cornil) and introduces him to performance-enhancing drugs. Lambert soon butts heads with Fabrice (Jean-Baptiste Iera), the team's star rider, and while Lambert tries to show up the self-centered racer, his plan backfires when he's kicked off the team for drug use. With Claude's less-than-cordial assistance, Lambert gets back into the game and lands a lowly position with another racing team, essentially putting him back where he started. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benoît Poelvoorde, Antoine de Caunes, (more)
- 2000
The bitter legacy of the French/Algerian War set the stage of this drama from director Alexandre Arcady, himself a Frenchman of Algerian birth. Pierre Nivel (Antoine DeCaunes) is a noted French television journalist and network anchorman. One day, he receives an unexpected visitor, an Algerian man with a message from someone named Leila. Pierre was born in Algeria, and he lived there until he was 17, when the French were forced to leave after Algeria won its independence in 1962. He's kept his Algerian past a secret from most of his friends and colleagues, but the note from Leila, his teenage sweetheart, leads him back to the land of his birth. It turns out that Leila now has a grown daughter, Amina (Nozha Khouadra), and Leila needs Pierre's help to smuggle her and her daughter out of the country. A defiant woman, Amina's refusal to go through with an arranged marriage to a fundamentalist and removal of her veil in public has put both herself and her family in great danger. La Bas ... Mon Pays/Return to Algiers was the first French production to be shot on location in Algeria since the nation won its independence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antoine de Caunes, Nozha Khouadra, (more)
This thriller from veteran director Claude Chabrol is a tense suspense drama, leavened with sly humor, about the fallout from a shocking crime in a small town. Frederique Lesage (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), the new chief of police in a cozy and fashionable seaside community in Brittany, soon finds her job more eventful than she expected when a ten-year-old girl is found raped and murdered. The last person to see her alive was René Sterne (Jacques Gamblin), a cynical and once-famous artist who has fallen on hard times and gives drawing lessons to children to make ends meet. René, who is passionately devoted to his wife (Sandrine Bonnaire), a nurse whose perpetual good cheer is the polar opposite of his personality, quickly becomes the prime suspect in the absence of any real clues. Meanwhile, Frederique becomes better acquainted with the eccentric residents of the town, including a self-important TV journalist (Antoine de Caunes), a small-time crook who fences stolen goods (Pierre Marlot), and a curious pair of married shopkeepers (Bulle Ogier and Noel Simsolo). Chabrol's son Matthieu Chabrol composed the score for this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandrine Bonnaire, Jacques Gamblin, (more)
- 1998
British TV host Antoine de Caunes (Eurotrash) stars in this French comedy about gay clarinetist Simon. His mother and wealthy uncle know he's gay, so the uncle says he'll give him $2 million dollars and a house if he will get married. Simon, who can barely survive on his income as a piano-bar musician, turns down the offer -- but then he meets soprano songbird Rosalie (Else Zylberstein), who sings Yiddish favorites for senior citizens. After she takes Simon to meet her large family of Hassids, those wedding bells might yet chime. Filmed in Paris and New York with French, English, and Yiddish dialogue. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antoine de Caunes, Elsa Zylberstein, (more)
- 1997
Two very violent men have conspired to steal a valuable solid gold image of an African deity from the museum in Mali where it is being kept. They had it smuggled out with a number of well-made but very cheap replicas. The plan was to give each of the replicas to the members of a new squash club as a diversion, and profit from the original (worth $1 million) themselves. There is a slip-up, however, and the real statue goes to one of the players. The deliveryman now has to track down all the statues, and in this antic caper comedy, that's easier said than done. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antoine de Caunes, Emmanuelle Seigner, (more)
- 1997
When 12-year-old Tonin's teacher announces that he is looking for volunteers to house one of several orphan African refugees for a month during their visit to Paris, the exuberent, well-meaning youth immediately offers his own abode. His classmates cheer and he feels happy until he broaches the subject with his parents. Daniel, the boy's father is delighted by his son's humanitarianism, but still says no. Not wanting to lose face at school, Tonin decides to take the visitor anyway and just keep him hidden for the next few weeks. This family-oriented French comedy follows his efforts to keep his new African guest, Moussa, a secret. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antoine de Caunes, Dominique Blanc, (more)
- 1996
This hilarious French farce puts a whole new spin on the menage-a-trois as it tells the story of a sperm donor who develops patriarchal feelings for the unborn child of his best friend's wife. The tangled mess begins when Jerome and Delphine, his wife of five years, learn that Jerome is sterile. Though Jerome is willing to adopt, Delphine wants to experience the birthing process. They decide to use a donor to impregnate her and choose Jerome's womanizing best friend Salim, an Arab. This could cause problems in their bourgeoisie, white breaded families, but the husband and wife don't care. Salim agrees to do the job and so the three go to Switzerland (in France all sperm donors remain anonymous). It is successful and the return to France. A few months later trouble ensues when Delphine runs into Salim's girl friend Sophie in a department store. She accidentally hears that Delphine is carrying Salim's baby and goes over the edge thinking he cheated upon her. Salim ends up homeless and so moves in with his best pal. Now the three must somehow work out the jumble of conflicting emotions as both men feel quite fatherly towards poor Delphine's baby. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arielle Dombasle, Smain, (more)
