Sagamore Stévenin Movies
Raised in a Catholic orphanage in provincial France, young Coco Chanel never imagined that her life would one day become an epic story worthy of a Lifetime original movie, full of passionate romance, and trailblazing pioneering in the world of fashion. The movie opens on 1950's Paris, as a 70 year old Coco (Shirley MacClaine), now a household name, is embarking on the second wave of her career with her first new collection in over a decade. Soon, a series of flashbacks illustrate how she got to be where she is today, both personally and professionally. Young Coco (played by Barbora Babulova) is seen working tirelessly as a seamstress, showing a unique talent for making garments more flattering and convenient despite her lowly position. Pursued by a rich man named Étienne, she soon leaves the thankless job for the comfort of life as a kept woman, but class differences eventually tear them apart. The relationship gives Coco the chance to perfect her skill as a hatmaker, however, and she leaves Etienne to open her own shop. A new romance with an Englishman named Arthur (known affectionately as "Boy") soon blossoms, and proves to be the greatest happiness and greatest tragedy of her life - but will the effects of this epic tale of love, war, and betrayal eventually prevent the burgeoning fashion maverick from fulfilling her true potential? ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Barbora Bobulova, (more)
- 2006
With his Springtime in Paris, long-inactive French helmer Jacques Bral both resuscitates and pays homage to the classic European caper film, crafting a small, occasionally humorous crime thriller in the mold of Rififi and Bob le flambeur, that focuses almost entirely on the aftermath of a crime in lieu of the heist itself. The film opens with thief-turned-convict Georges (Eddy Mitchell) released from prison after a five year stint, and dragged immediately back into the underworld by several nefarious pals. He teams up with fellow thief Pierrot (Sagamore Stevenin) to lift a bejeweled necklace from a safe in a private residence. The operation progresses smoothly; the aftermath turns deadly. Several in-the-know parties make the foolish decision to open their traps, which inadvertently pulls the cops in; soon after, events begin to spiral rapidly out of control. From there, Bral packs in a series of unforeseeable twists, turns, and double-crosses to keep the viewer in a permanent state of suspense. Pascale Arbillot and Pierre Santini co-star; Bral authored the original script. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddy Mitchell, Sagamore Stévenin, (more)
- 2003
A popular French comic strip of the 1950s becomes a candy-colored feature film in this race-car adventure. The Leaders and the Vaillants are rival families of Formula One car drivers, the former group devious and cutthroat, the latter benevolent and amiable. But when the hallowed Le Mans 24-hour race is at hand, both clans find that they'll resort to anything to win. With many of its scenes filmed at the real Le Mans race in the summer of 2002, Michel Vaillant was co-produced by international crossover success Luc Besson. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sagamore Stévenin, Peter Youngblood Hills, (more)
- 2002
Louis-Pascal Couvelaire's action thriller Sueurs (Sweat) stars Jean-Hugues Anglade as a man on a dangerous mission. Truck driver Harvey (Anglade), mechanic Victor (Cyrille Thouvenin), Noh (Joaquim De Almeida), and Simon (Sagamore Stevenin) are hired to drive stolen goods through the Moroccan desert. There is little loyalty between the members of the foursome. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Hugues Anglade, Joaquim de Almeida, (more)
- 2001
A young man's interest in film history leads to a revelation about his own past in this drama. Sam (Benoit Magimel) is a student and film fan who is fascinated by Sylvain Marceau (Sagamore Stevenin), an actor who had a brief career in the 1930s but seems to have vanished while working on "Princess Marushka," a historical epic that was never completed. Sam decides to make a documentary about Marceau's life and disappearance, and attempts to arrange an interview with Lisa Morain (Jeanne Moreau), a veteran actress who worked with Marceau on "Princess Marushka." Despite her initial reluctance, Sam is able to persuade Lisa to discuss her memories of Marceau, which turn out to be deeper and more personal than he imagined: when she was 22, Lisa met the young Sylvain when both were patients at a tuberculosis sanitarium in the French Alps. Lisa and Sylvain became quite close, and she learned that Sylvain was a Jew, which in Europe in the 1930s was hardly the ticket to a long and uneventful life. As Sam learns more about the story of Lisa and Sylvain, he finds himself increasingly curious about his own past, a subject his parents (Denise Chalem and Michel Jonasz) are not inclined to discuss. Lisa also features Marion Cotillard as the youthful Lisa. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benoît Magimel, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Like Nagisa Oshima's erotic masterpiece In the Realm of the Senses (1976), this film's shockingly graphic depiction of sex blurs the line between art and pornography. Marie (Caroline Ducey) is unfulfilled by her relationship with Paul (Sagamore Stévenin), her narcissistic male model boyfriend, who refuses to show her any kind of physical affection, much less make love to her. Frustrated, she decides to take matters into her own hands, and she finds one night of tenderness and passion in the arms of Paolo, a man she met in a bar, played by Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi. Later, she is seduced by an older man, Robert (François Berléand), who introduces her to bondage and sadomasochism. As she allows herself to be bound, gagged, and forced into bizarre contortions, her flirtation with the wild side pushes her into increasingly frightening and degrading situations. Yet, like Catherine Deneuve's Sévérine in Belle de jour (1967), after each tryst she returns to her emotionally remote boyfriend as if nothing happened. One night, taken by Marie's renewed vitality, Paul holds her and begins to make love to her. Although he selfishly withdraws halfway through and casts her aside, he manages to impregnate her; after he proposes, Marie begins to feel society's constraints on her newly liberated sexuality, and she eventually decides to take violent action to salvage it. Unlike most sexually explicit works, the film is expressed from the female perspective. Director Catherine Breillat places the viewer inside Marie's mind through the camera's point-of-view, which in one scene lingers lovingly on Siffredi's camera-friendly anatomy, and through Marie's voice-overs, which provide access to her private thoughts. Brought to life by Ducey's tour-de-force performance, Romance is a confrontational yet emotional work that is not easy to forget. The film premiered at the 1999 Rotterdam Film Festival and was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Caroline Ducey, Sagamore Stévenin, (more)
A young French sailor falls in love with a Russian tourist during a passion-filled three-day furlough, but is whisked away for a months worth of submarine duty before he can learn her last name and Moscow address. When he is finally freed again, he embarks upon a search for his lost love. Unfortunately, while his aim is true, his timing is off. His first stop is the broadcast headquarters of a major television network. He arrives shortly before the place blasted apart by a bomb. Later, he goes to the apartment of a noted talk-show host in hopes of receiving air-time during which he will plead for information concerning his lost love. But things don't come out as planned for somehow, the sailor ends up considered the prime suspect in the bombing while the real-life terrorist and his cohort, who happen to be in the same apartment building in hopes of knocking off a crooked judge. A hostage situation quickly develops in which the sailor and the talk-show host are trapped in the apartment with a daffy lady neighbor and her child. Meanwhile the leader of a SWAT team tries to concentrate on his work and ignore the increasing pressure placed upon him by his mistress to leave his wife. Up until the story's bloody finale, the film contains plenty of humor mixed with the action. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Russo, Sagamore Stévenin, (more)
