Clementine Amouroux Movies
- 1996
An all night party in a building on the outskirts of Paris provides the setting of this provocative French meditation on life and waiting. As the title states, the film centers on seven main characters at the party. Each of them is privately waiting for something and all of them engage in conversations about the fundamental concerns of life, including love, sex, truth and responsibility. Among the seven are a pregnant woman waiting for her baby, a playboy, a gay man, and a young woman with poor taste in men. To make the film, director Francoise Etchegaray gave the actors a sense of who they were supposed to be and what they should do, placed them in a room, and let them improvise their dialog. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clementine Amouroux, Richard Bean, (more)
- 1993
The mayor (Pascal Greggory) of this unpolished provincial town has plans for a beautiful field on the edge of town, and he's quite sure they will be put through the central government in time to help him with his political career. He intends to replace the field with a sports and "cultural" center, along with a large parking lot. The only overt opposition to this plan at the outset comes from an environmentally sensitive grammar school teacher (Fabrice Luchini), and he's hardly a threat, because he doesn't imagine he can successfully oppose the builders' designs. Meanwhile, the mayor has fallen in love with one of the local representatives of the intelligentsia, a woman novelist (Arielle Dombasle). Trouble begins to percolate into the mayor's life and thwart his plans when his daughter and the daughter of the schoolteacher become friends. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascal Greggory, Arielle Dombasle, (more)
- 1991
In the 19th century, children -- particularly the children of the poor -- were considered to be an exploitable resource of docile and cheap labor who were paid starvation (literally) wages. Anyone who had the effrontery to steal so much as a portion of a loaf of bread for any reason would (at the very least) go to prison, regardless of their age. As in much of the world, this was true in France in 1847, when this film is set. However, people of conscience were beginning to protest against this situation. The story takes place in a prison for children where conditions are particularly harsh. The warden is a thick-headed martinet who demands complete compliance with the rules, or the children will be brutally dealt with. The assistant warden is a more modern man, and is appalled by the whole institution, but seeks to begin by reforming it. To that end, he has invited a journalist to come and see the conditions that prevail there, in the hopes that she will rouse public opinion against at least this one form of injustice. However, the young prisoners have their own ideas, and when they take over the prison, it is with tragic consequences. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Aumont, André Wilms, (more)
This dignified and stylized film, set in the Middle Ages, follows the exploits of Sir Perceval, a legendary exemplar of knightly chivalry and one of the champions of King Arthur's Round Table. The story is based on the verse tale Perceval ou le Conte del Graal. as recounted by the 12th-century French novelist Chrétien de Troyes. While living with his widowed mother, the young Perceval (Fabrice Luchini) is much impressed by the grandeur of the knights he sees, and he undertakes to become one. In one respect his sense of honor is peculiar, because he rapes several virgins in accordance with an enigmatic command from his mother. Even in this, he practically quivers with a burning desire to do good. Though the story's language has been modernized to make it comprehensible to modern French speakers, Eric Rohmer's screenplay retains the verse forms of the original. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabrice Luchini, André Dussollier, (more)
- 1979
During the heyday of the French Revolution, the days of the week and the names of months and seasons were renamed in an attempt to deepen the effects of the rebellion through linguistic means. Messidor was the name given to the harvest season at that time. In this story, two contemporary Swiss girls are called the "Messidor sisters" by a policeman, indicating that they grew up in prosperity. Despite the comfortably banal outward appearance that the two have serene and secure lives, the girls experience many difficulties, including an attempted rape. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clementine Amouroux
