André Falcon Movies

Bertrand Tavernier directed this hard-hitting anti-war drama. In November of 1918, just as World War I had come to a close, Capt. Conan (Phillippe Torreton) and his men await new assignments in Bucharest. Conan regards himself as a warrior, not a soldier: while a soldier will fight in a war, it takes a warrior -- unafraid to take risks, confront death, and spill blood -- to win one. Conan is convinced that it was the bloodthirsty valor of himself and those under his command that won the war against Germany. However, while Conan's dark nature was a boon to the Army during the war, it's a distinct disadvantage in peacetime, as Conan and his friends Norbert (Samuel LeBihan) and De Sceve (Bernard LeCoq) are instructed to patrol the now peaceful border. Conan and his compatriots have become too acclimated to battle to leave it behind and begin staging raids in the mountains of the Balkans. The situation comes to a head when two women are killed in a combination robbery and attack on a nightclub; Conan and his men are to be court martialed for their actions, driving a wedge between him and his close friend Norbert, who respects Conan but lacks his reckless enthusiasm for battle. Capitaine Conan earned Cesar awards for Torreton's performance and Tavernier's direction. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A hopeless, bleak mood hangs over this heavy drama about three teens in San Sebastian, a port city on the Bay of Biscay in the Basque country of Spain. Covert references are made to political issues like the miseries of shipyard workers and to the police as rather brusque and hard-nosed. Drugs are rampant in the lower orders of city life; one of the teens has dropped out of high school and is a user, as is his girlfriend. He survives by stealing and by handouts from his family, who nevertheless want nothing to do with him. No matter how much a third teen friend tries to get this couple to give up the habit, nothing works. The ultimate question, though not emphasized here, may be who is really responsible for what happens to this unfortunate young couple. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The source for the French detective drama Heads or Tails? was the American novel Baroni by Alfred Harris. Phillipe Noiret plays a weary Bordeaux detective, hot on the trail of Michael Serrault. Serrault's domineering wife has allegedly committed suicide, but Noiret suspects murder. As hunter and hunted get to know one another, an unusual bond forms between them. When Noiret is forced to retire by his corrupt superiors, he accepts a bribe from Serrault, and the two men retreat to the freedom and comfort of the South Seas. A you-can-see-it-a-mile-away "surprise ending" caps this minor escapade, which was originally released in France as Pile ou Face. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thomas (Sylvain Joubert) works on his grandfather's land, boxes in his spare time, and dreams of becoming a veterinarian. He is equally happy to beat up trespassing hippies or thieves when they come onto the land. When he is seriously injured during an anti-nuclear demonstration, he seeks death rather than live as a disabled man. This drama was first shown on French television before being released to movie theaters. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

During a summer vacation spent together, tensions in a large family surface. Joel, one of the family members, has Down's syndrome and has a happy and winning disposition. Unfortunately, his great-grandmother and grandmother and grandfather are cold to the boy. They feel that his presence in their midst shames them. This attitude infuriates the boy's parents and leads to recriminations and a split in the family. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The plot of William Friedkin's suspense thriller originated with the same Georges Arnaud novel that inspired Henri-Georges Clouzot's French suspense classic The Wages of Fear (1953). Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou play four men who, for various reasons, cannot return to their own countries. They end up in a dismal South American town where an American oil company is seeking out courageous drivers willing to haul nitroglycerin over 200 miles of treacherous terrain. The four stateless men have nothing to lose -- and, besides, they'll be paid 10,000 dollars apiece, and be granted legal citizenship, if they survive. The suspense is almost unbearable at times, even outdistancing the tension level of The Wages of Fear in certain scenes. Sorcerer had all the earmarks of a moneymaker, but this picture bombed for a rather odd and silly reason: its glaringly inappropriate title. Fans of Friedkin's The Exorcist may have gone home disappointed that not one sorcerer ever rears its ugly head. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michel Piccoli plays Simon, a French businessman reluctantly venturing into middle age. As he deals with his own midlife crisis, Simon becomes virtually oblivious to the social changes around him. The businessman tries to counter advancing age with an increased sex life, but finds that women aren't the same compliant creatures he remembers from his youth. Though the material is rife with opportunities for "radical" camerawork, director Claude Sautet chooses an austere, near-classic cinematic style, allowing us to concentrate more on the people in front of the camera rather than the person behind it. Featured in the cast of Mado is actress Romy Schneider, a Sautet favorite. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Claude Lelouch's romantic drama Toute une Vie chronicles three different love affairs over three generations during the 20th century. Marthe Keller and Charles Denner portray different members of the families in each of the generations. The stories involve a cameraman's son who suffers and survives internment in a concentration camp in World War II, and his daughter, who marries a man who begins adulthood as an ex-convict and a scoundrel but gradually matures and becomes a well-respected filmmaker living in New York. Each section of the film utilizes a style of filmmaking that is associated with the time period being portrayed. Lelouch earned an Academy Award nomination (along with co-screenwriter Pierre Uytterhoeven) for his screenplay in 1975. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Also known as Nada, The Nada Gang is a lesser effort from director Claude Chabrol. A group of European terrorists calling themselves the Nada kidnaps an American ambassador. Their hideout is besieged by a sadistic police official and his minions. Thanks to the official's eagerness to pull the trigger, everyone winds up dead, including the ambassador. The Nada Gang was based on a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This black comedy is the first film directed by the French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant. The story concerns a baker (Jacques Dufilho) who has carefully planned the execution of the nine jurors who sent his son to the gallows for murder. Before the police or anyone else can stop him, he calmly does away with each of the nine in a grim but methodical way. During his own trial for the murders, our attention is called to his parents as they carefully photograph those jurors. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this convoluted spy thriller, a Russian ambassador places his life on the line when he steals classified documents and defects to the U.S. The papers he carries could rock the free world. Unfortunately, the C.I.A. must first prove that they are real. The film is also known as The Serpent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An intelligent young man, an outspoken critic of military stupidity, is shown succumbing to the negative effects of officer's training in this Belgian/French tragedy. As he grows more and more affected by the military training he is receiving, his girlfriend leaves him. When he loses his head during a training exercise, it has fatal results for him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Like most of Costa-Gavras' political thrillers, the French State of Siege is based on a true story. The incident dramatized herein is the kidnapping of a U.S. official somewhere in Latin America. The director's sympathies clearly lie with the kidnappers, especially since the official (played by Yves Montand), ostensibly an expert in traffic control, has been assigned as special advisor to the government's secret police, training these worthies in the art of the torturing of political prisoners. Uruguay was the country where this story actually took place; though no names are given, there's little doubting the identity of Costa-Gavras' fictional locale. Despite its up-to-date radicalism, State of Siege adheres to time-honored Hollywood formula, with ugly, vulgar bad guys vs. handsome, articulate good guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide