Blandine Pelissier Movies
- 2009
A young Kurdish refugee finds friendship from an unlikely source in Welcome, writer-director Philippe Lioret's dramatic chronicle of intersecting lives. The tale unfurls in Calais, a seaside community in the north of France where one can glimpse the white cliffs of Dover, England with the naked eye. Vincent Lindon stars as Simon, a local swimming instructor privately reeling in turmoil because he dreads an imminent divorce from his wife (Audrey Dana). Soon, his path unexpectedly criss-crosses with that of Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee with two aspirations: swim the English Channel, and join his girlfriend in England following a lengthy separation. Despite their differing ages, the two men discover that they have a fair amount in common, and soon forge a tight bond marked by similar goals. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Lindon, Firat Ayverdi, (more)
A woman who has never had much trouble choosing between love or money tries to teach a man the tricks of the trade in this sly romantic comedy. Irène (Audrey Tautou) is an attractive thirtysomething woman who lives a comfortable life by taking up with older and very wealthy men. Irène is serving as arm candy for Jacques (Vernon Dobtcheff), who is twice her age and quite rich; Jacques takes Irène on a vacation to a resort in the French Riviera for her birthday, where she meets Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a handsome bartender at the hotel who works a variety of odd jobs to keep himself afloat. While Jacques spends Irène's birthday sound asleep, she ends up enjoying a romantic evening with Jean, until she discovers he's broke. A year later, Jacques and Irène return to the resort, and Jean discovers he still carries a torch for her. Irène is not so interested until Jacques decides he's had enough of her and breaks off their relationship; suddenly forced to fend for herself, Irène turns to Jean for help. Jean, meanwhile, has learned that Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam), a handsome and very well-to-do widow in her sixties, has her eye on him and wishes to make Jean her kept man. Jean asks Irène to give him a crash course in the fine art of being a gigolo, while Irène tries to get back in the game by taking up with Gilles (Jacques Spiesser). Slowly but surely, Irène and Jean realize how much they care for one another, but can they get learn to live the good life without money? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, (more)
- 1997
His estranged wife is worth millions, but poor Paris resident Richard is homeless and jobless. He applied for unemployment benefits and now faces charges of fraud. To save himself from nine months in jail he must find his wife and force her to tell the courts the truth, that though she has married a politically-ambitious American governor and is filing U.S. tax returns, she is technically still married to Richard. But as she lives in America, how can he get to her? Opportunity knocks when Richard learns that she and her husband will be attending an international conference at an exclusive Paris hotel. To get in he will need a disguise. Meanwhile, at the hotel, the concierge and the director are panic stricken by the prospect of a surprise visit by an unknown auditor who is coming to check out allegations of a hotel-run prostitution ring. They immediately banish all their call girls from the premises, but one refuses to leave without a fight. She too is eventually ejected, and while in the middle of the street she has a charming encounter with Richard, who is disguised as a bum. When the seeming vagrant ambles into the hotel, the managers immediately mistake him for the auditor and instead of booting him out, the hoteliers roll out the red carpet and treat Richard like a king. While he continues his endeavors to see his wife, several other subplots add to the confusion, including one in which a naive couple from the country tries to reach the American governor in hopes of hashing out an international business deal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elsa Zylberstein, Jacques Gamblin, (more)
- 1995
Two losers find an especially bad way to beat the high cost of living in this off-beat comedy from France. Antoine (Francois Cluzet) aspires to write plays, but in the meantime he scrapes together a living writing articles for a martial arts magazine and creating crossword puzzles; he spends his spare time talking with his friend Sylvie (Judith Henry) about the sad state of his love life. His buddy Fred (Guillaume Depardieu), on the other hand, doesn't do much of anything; on those rare occasions when he rises from the couch, it's to plot new schemes to pick up women, which are usually doomed to failure. However, this routine is shattered when Antoine and Fred discover that their apartment is being sold and they need to come up with some money to get a new flat. With little cash on hand and few prospects, Antoine gets an idea: rob the offices of the magazine for which he's been writing. Co-star Guillaume Depardieu is the son of French superstar Gérard Depardieu. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Cluzet, Guillaume Depardieu, (more)
