Renée Faure Movies

Though he is near death, blind Rene, an elderly Italian-French intellectual, continues to make his annual conference abroad accompanied by his self-centered loyal, beautiful assistant Sibilla who may or may not be his lover. Rene's domineering mother strongly disapproves of Sibilla and his continual galavanting, but Rene disregards her and goes anyway. While in Spain, Sibilla falls for a handsome young toreador who also captures the interest of Rene, though it is hard to say whether his feelings for the bullfighter are fatherly or more romantic. It is also unclear as to whether Sibilla and the bullfighter are lovers either. Thus an enigmatic romantic triangle forms until Rene and Sibilla suddenly decide to wed. The character of Rene seems to be closely patterned after Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

From time to time a deceased novelist or artist is sufficiently revered that, as a form of homage, his disciples will take one of his unfinished projects and attempt to bring it to completion. The screenplay for La Petite voleuse was written by Claude Miller, Luc Beraud and Anne Miller based on a scenario co-authored by the late French cinema great Francois Truffaut. It brings a respectful, unsentimental, and unflinching eye to bear on the life of Janine Castang (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a 16-year-old girl beset with antisocial drives due in part to an unpleasant home life. After the Second World War, her mother was made an outcast for consorting with the Germans, and she entrusted Janine to the doubtful care of her milquetoast brother and his highly unsympathetic wife. Janine has a vivid fantasy life, and a problem with kleptomania. After she's caught stealing she's forced to go to work as a maid rather than continue in school. Soon afterward, her romantic nature flowers in a number of new relationships which place new obstacles before her. ~ 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

Jean Gabin carries this conventional political drama set in pre-World War II France. He is Emile, a retired politico with a long memory, a curmudgeon who is not yet prepared to stand on the sidelines and watch others wield power. Flashbacks fill in the details about his earlier career -- and why he wants to block the new cabinet proposed by a politician he knew in his former days of government service. A bit long at almost two hours, director Henri Verneuil worked often enough with Gabin in his films to elicit a strong portrayal. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Previously adapted for the screen in 1947 by writer-director Albert Lewin, the famous Guy de Maupassant fable Bel Ami was filmed a second time ten years later. This "story of a rogue" stars Jean Danet as Duroy, a journalist who coasts through life on his charms and the "kindnesses" of beautiful women. In this version, Duroy is shown to be the corrupt product of an even more corrupt society, rather than the self-made louse portrayed by George Sanders in the 1947 film. In his efforts to get ahead, Duroy denies himself true happiness in the arms of the only woman he has ever really loved. Bel Ami was heavily censored before its initial French release-not because of its sexual content, but because of its pointed references to the then-current Algerian situation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1953 French historical melodrama was the fourth film version of Pierre Benoit's novel Koenigsmark. Jean-Pierre Aumont stars as a court historian named Vignerte, who comes to the titular duchy to do research. Instead, Vignerte spends his time romancing the Duchess Aurora (Sylvana Pampanini), then saving her from the diabolical intrigues of her former husband, Duke Frederic (Roldano Lupi). Along the way, our hero discovers that the Duke is not a man to be trifled with, especially since he has a habit of walling up his enemies in the dungeon. Will the lovers escape, or will they meet a horrible doom? It takes 90 minutes to find out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Venerable French character actress Francoise Rosay heads the cast of On Aime Qu'une Fois. Rosay is cast as the self-sacrificing mother to end them all. Determined that her son (Jacques Berthier) will be able to attend medical school, she denies herself everything -- including her one and only opportunity for true romance. What could have been maudlin in the extreme is handled with subtlety and delicacy by the matchless Francoise Rosay. Providing some welcome avuncular comedy relief is Pierre Larquey as a small-town general practitioner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Italian melodrama, a young musical prodigy who wants to become a professional finds himself arguing with his wealthy grandfather who wants him to pursue other paths. The boy's dad, a composer with little talent, becomes a clown in Paris so that he can help the lad's mother get custody of the boy from the grandfather. The boy, has other plans. Enlisting the aid of a local priest, the boy organizes a full orchestra which he will conduct during their open-air concert. After the concert the mother and father get back together and the grandfather changes his mind. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Most film versions of the life and times of 15th-century Parisian "beggar poet" Francois Villon are derived from the old theatrical chestnut The Vagabond King. Not so the French Francois Villon, an original for the screen penned by director Andre Zwobada and scenarist Pierre MacOrlan. Serge Riannini plays the title character along more serious lines than such previous screen Villons as John Barrymore and Ronald Colman. Surprisingly, King Louis XVI, Villon's friendly enemy, is nowhere to be found: instead, the film dwells on the poet's many romantic entanglements. While American censors were surprisingly lenient when dealing with the amount of cleavage displayed by such zaftig actresses as Claudine Dupuis and Helene Sauvaneix, it was obvious that the love scenes in Francois Villon were heavily trimmed for U.S. consumption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Bresson's first feature film is the story of two novice nuns in a monastery that recruits sisters from a woman's prison. Anne-Marie (Renée Faure) comes to the convent from a middle-class family eager to take up her vocation, but other nuns begin to resent her earnestness, and they accuse her of pride. Anne-Marie makes it her mission to watch over Thérèse (Jany Holt), a novice who joined the order after her release from prison. Unbeknownst to the other nuns, between the time she left jail and when she arrived at the convent, Thérèse shot the man who sent her to prison. Bresson presents the relationship between these two women with maximum psychological intensity. The contrast between Anne-Marie and Thérèse's inner turmoil and their demure behavior heightens the film's dramatic tension as Bresson develops the themes of sin and grace that will preoccupy him throughout his career. Although it follows the rules of mainstream 1940s French cinema, Les Anges du péché introduces an elegant, pared-down style that forms the basis for the completely original minimalism of Bresson's later films. ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide

Originally released in 1941 as L'Assasinat du Pere Noel, this labyrinthine thriller was finally distributed in the U.S. in 1948, five years after its star, Harry Baur, died while in the custody of the Gestapo. Per the title, the film takes place at Christmastime in a small French village where the local children eagerly await the annual arrival of Santa Claus -- actually toymaker Cornuese (Harry Baur) in disguise. This year, however, a pall has been cast on the festivities: a valuable ring has been stolen from a reclusive baron, and another man dressed up like Santa has been found murdered. What, if anything, this has to do with the jovial Cornuese is a mystery that everyone is eager to solve. Meanwhile, a brace of subplots involving a gravely ill child and a mildly addled young girl are neatly woven into the continuity. Who Killed Santa Claus can be described as a "romantic mystery," a specialty of director Christian-Jaque. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide