Olivier Gourmet Movies

An Albanian woman living in Belgium finds her dreams of opening a snack bar with her boyfriend leading to tragedy after she agrees to marry a Russian Mafioso in order to gain citizenship. All Lorna wanted was to start a small business with her loving boyfriend, but in order to make that happen she would first have to gain citizenship. Local mobster Fabio claims that he can make that happen if Lorna agrees to a sham marriage with a man named Claudy. After gaining Belgian citizenship, Lorna discovers that a high-profile Russian Mafioso is also seeking legal entry into Belgium, and soon. He's willing to pay a hearty sum in order to marry Lorna, but in order for that second marriage to be possible Fabio will have to have Claudy killed. Will Lorna be able to remain silent as Fabio's deadly plot unfolds, and what will become of her if Fabio finds out that she has warned Claudy of the impending danger he faces? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Recalling such prior efforts as Maurice Pialat's 1984 Police and Bob Swaim's 1982 La Balance, Gallic director Olivier van Hoofstadt's relentlessly tense and violent action thriller Go Fast plunges into the violent and dangerous world of French metropolitan police. Roschdy Zem stars as Marek, a cop involved in a risky sting operation against a drug trafficking ring. In the process, his best friend and partner dies, which prompts his transfer to an undercover division of the force. He soon learns that his new mission will involve infiltrating a gang involved in smuggling cannabis from southern Spain to small-town France. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An entire household is caught in traffic thanks to the opening of a new super-highway in this satiric comedy drama from Swiss filmmaker Ursula Meier. Marthe (Isabelle Huppert) and her husband (Olivier Gourmet) live in a small home in rural France with their three children. The family values their peace and quiet, except for oldest daughter Judith (Adélaïde Leroux), who has a fondness for cranking heavy metal music as she relaxes in her lawn chair. While construction on a highway near the house began years ago, the progress has been so slow that Marthe and her family have all but forgotten about it. But once the road is opened, they're suddenly subjected to a nonstop barrage of noise, exhaust, and all the stress that comes with it, and the relative calm of the household decays into chaos as Marthe is driven to a nervous breakdown. Home was screened as part of the Critics' Week program at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two men who live in different nations on different continents discover how closely their fates have followed the same path in this drama from filmmaker Philippe Falardeau. Belgian engineer Michel Roy (Olivier Gourmet) looks after his ailing father Herve (Jean-Pierre Cassel) with the help of his wife Alice (Claudia Tagbo) and son Jules (Arnaud Mouithys). One day, Herve decides to share a long-held secret with his son -- Michel was actually adopted, and he was born to a poor family in Canada. Hoping to learn the truth about his birth parents, Michel flies to Quebec and makes his way to Sainte-Cecile, a farming community where Herve says he might find the truth about his heritage. After visiting with a priest sympathetic to his dilemma, Michel meets Louis Legros (Paul Ahmarani), whose electric auto sparks a conversation which leads to a fast friendship between them. As the narrative turns back to examine Louis' life and his efforts to publicize the work and theories of his father, a brilliant but little-known scientist, we see that Michel and Louis have been following similar paths throughout their lives, from unconventional births in Canada to a shared connection with the Congo. Congorama received its world premier at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the Directors Fortnight series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man of principle is led down a sinister path in the name of patriotism in this drama co-written by the legendary political filmmaker Costa Gravas. Colonel DuPlan is a powerful but elderly officer in the French military who is found murdered in his flat after appearing on a television talk show in which he roundly criticizes the current French administration. Lt. Galois (Cecile de France) is a police detective who is part of the team investigating DuPlan's murder, and when a package of letters from one of DuPlan's former underlings arrives at the police station, Galois is ordered to read them and see if they contain any useful information. Lt. Guy Rossi (Robinson Stevenin) served under DuPlan (Olivier Gourmet) as France was at war with Algeria; while Rossi questions the wisdom of effectiveness of the conflict, DuPlan is a gung-ho officer who believes France must lead by any means necessary. Through a combination of intimidation and flattery, DuPlan wins Rossi over to his side and turns him into a valued aide who will do nearly anything to serve his leaders -- including torturing prisoners, killing adversaries, and violating the laws of war. Also starring Charles Aznavour, Mon Colonel (aka The Colonel) was the first feature-length directorial credit for Laurent Herbiet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As World War I looms ever closer on the horizon, an elite police task force organized by Minister of the Interior Georges Clemenceau (aka "The Tiger") mobilizes to apprehend the gang responsible for the first motorized hold-up in French history. The year is 1912, and despite operating in the shadow of the guillotine French gangsters continue to flourish. In order to ensure the safety of the public Minister of the Interior Clemenceau creates a dozen "mobile brigades" consisting of policemen with automobiles and fingerprinting equipment and deploys them nationwide. One such unit, fronted by straight-arrow cop Valentin (Clovis Cornillac, and consisting of sardonic brute Pujol (Edouard Baer), badge-toting pugilist Terrasson (Oliver Gourmet), and Italian immigrant Achille (Stefano Accorsi), is assigned the task of tracking down the gang led by notorious anarchist Jules Bonnot (Jacques Gamblin). An ambitious criminal mastermind whose recent heist involving a getaway car set a new standard in armed robbery, Bonnot has grown dangerously emboldened while establishing himself as France's most wanted. Meanwhile, as the Paris opera prepares to stage a new version of Ivan the Terrible and Russian princess Constance Bolkonski (Diane Kruger) embarks on an affair with Bonnot behind the back of her unsuspecting husband (Alexandre Medvedex) - who is furtively attempting to establish a self-serving three way alliance between Russia, England, and France - crack journalist Jean Jaures (Andre Marcon) struggles to bring it all together in the headlines as World War I and the Russian Revolution loom heavy on the horizon. Director Jerome Cornuau collaborates with screenwriters Xavier Dorison and Fabien Nury to resurrect the popular French television series of the 1970s with a multi-layered period thriller that is likely to evoke memories of the similarly themed Untouchables for stateside audiences. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

After learning he has a newborn son, a small-time thief attempts to go straight - but not until his amorality is pushed to its breaking point - in this social-problem drama from writer-directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Eighteen-year-old Sonia (Déborah Francois) has just given birth to a baby boy. The baby's father Bruno (Jérémie Renier) is panhandling in the street when Sonia tracks him down, and he shows little interest in fathering the child, or even providing a roof over the heads of the fledgling family. As the new and inexperienced mother navigates the bleak industrial landscape of the small Belgian town they live in, Bruno falls in with a clandestine group that buys and sells healthy children on the black market. He tragically learns that one avaricious decision, made in an instant, can affect the lives of everyone in his orbit. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When the Sea Rises... is the first film written and directed by actress Yolande Moreau (who also stars in the film) and cinematographer Gilles Porte (who also shot the film). Moreau stars as Irène, who is traveling the north of France performing her one-woman show. In the stage show, Irène plays a loud, obese, ugly (she wears a clownish mask) woman who comically confesses murder to the audience. At each performance, she pulls a random man out of the crowd and makes him her accomplice/lover in a mock robbery. One day on the road, Irène's car breaks down, and Dries (Wim Willaert) happens by on his scooter and rescues her. She gratefully gives him tickets to that night's performance. Spotting him with his friends in the audience, she pulls him up on stage, making him her "chicken" for that show. After the show, Dries and his friends invite her out for a drink. The next night, Dries shows up in the audience again, but gets thrown out when he gets into an argument with some rude latecomers. Irène catches him in her dressing room after the show, and gives him hell. But outside, she sees he's been in a fight and had his tires slashed, so she gives him a ride home. Dries is also a performer of sorts, building and operating giant costumes for parades throughout the region. Irène has a husband and child waiting for her back home, but she's caught off guard by Dries' attentions. When she leaves town, he impulsively follows, and the two fall into an unlikely romance. When the Sea Rises... was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of their 2005 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A budding misfit finds his troubles are just beginning when he's sent to a school run by his mom and dad in this comedy from France. Daniel (Damien Jouillerot) is the overweight and socially inept son of Pierre (Olivier Gourmet) and Genevieve (Carole Bouquet), a couple who run a boarding school for troubled kids. 15-year-old Daniel is having a hard time with the physical and emotional trials of adolescence, and things don't improve a bit for him when his folks enroll him in their school, especially since most of the students are convinced he's getting an easy ride. Daniel makes friends with Zygelman (Raphael Goldman), but when Zygelman is thrown out of school after an incident involving the undergarments of a female classmate, Daniel falls in with Jean-Claude (Franc Bruneau), a student with a criminal streak who brings Daniel in as an assistant in his latest illegal business venture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

On the heels of his award-winning, emotionally devastating 2001 drama The Piano Teacher, German filmmaker Michael Haneke weaves this disturbing tale of a family forced into a harrowing confrontation with a group of strangers set against the backdrop of a global apocalypse. In the aftermath of an unseen but catastrophic global disaster, a shaken family slowly makes their way to the presumed safety of a holiday home in the French countryside. Upon arrival, the family discovers their home inhabited by a woman and a horrified man. When a shot rings out, a life is taken, and time seems to stand still. In the aftermath of unspeakable violence, it appears that the only hope for a band of desperate refugees lies in a nearby train station and a locomotive that -- despite their most optimistic hopes and prayers -- may never actually arrive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide