Gilbert Melki Movies
- 1999
Monsieur Naphtali (Elie Kakou) is a good-natured but somewhat feeble older man turned away from the rest home where he lives. In search of a place to stay, he finds his way to Paris, where a woman taking surveys takes pity on him and brings him home for a meal and a bed for the night. Naphtali finds himself spending the evening with the survey woman, her brother who works in publishing, his lovely but unhappy wife, an alcoholic doctor, and his wife, an ill-tempered judge. In a simple and unpretentious manner, Naphtali forces them all to open up about themselves and discuss elements of their lives that they usually prefer to avoid. Monsieur Naphtali was the final film for French comic Elie Kakou, who died two months before the film was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elie Kakou, Gilbert Melki, (more)
A visually stylish comedy with dramatic overtones from director Tonie Marshall, Vénus Beauté (Institut) looks at the lives of three women who work at a small but successful beauty salon. Angele Nathalie Baye is an attractive woman just edging into middle age who is looking for companionship without commitment, even when it comes knocking. Her co-worker Samantha (Mathilde Seigner) has more boyfriends than she knows what to do with, and Marie (Audrey Tautou), the youngest of the group, is still learning the ropes of both love and beauty treatment. Fans of classic French cinema will want to keep an eye peeled for guest appearances from Emmanuelle Riva, Micheline Presle and Edith Scob. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nathalie Baye, Bulle Ogier, (more)
In this French box-office smash, director Thomas Gilou once again trains his sights on working-class immigrants living in metropolitan Paris, as he did with Black Mic-Mac. This time the subjects are the Sephardic Jews working in the garment district of Sentier. Eddie Vuibert (Richard Anconina) is an unemployed man who gets a job working in the stock room of a wholesale fabric dealer because the owner, Victor Benzakem (Richard Bohringer), believes that Eddie is Jewish, just like him. The opportunistic Eddie owes his job to this mistaken identity, and he does his best to preserve it, comically navigating the dangerous waters of learning strange customs and behavior. Eddie is promoted to a salesman and tries to romance Victor's daughter Sandra (Amira Casar), but she is involved with another fabric dealer, a corrupt man. Eddie must prove himself worthy on his own terms. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Anconina, Amira Casar, (more)
