Yves Gabrielli
A brave and resourceful young woman keeps the spirit of the Three Musketeers alive in this historical adventure. Eloise (Sophie Marceau) is the daughter of the famed swordsman D'Artagnan (Philippe Noiret); while she has a remarkable gift with a blade herself, Eloise is devoting herself to her studies at a convent. However, when a slave escapes from the estate of the evil Duke of Crassac (Claude Rich) and seeks refuge in the convent, the Mother Superior (Pascale Roberts) is murdered in retaliation by the Duke's soldiers. In the midst of the attack, Eloise learns that the Duke and his men have even more dastardly plans in store; the murder of the Mother Superior is part on an ongoing scheme to throw the nation into disarray, making it easier for the Duke to overthrow the King and seize power. Joined by Quentin (Nils Tavernier), a poet, Eloise sets out to call her father and his old compatriots to action to stop the Duke; however, D'Artagan, who now lives a quiet life teaching fencing, isn't so sure he wants to wage a battle against the insurgent forces, no matter how awful they may be. La Fille de d'Artagnan (The Daughter of d'Artagnan) was released in the United States as Revenge of the Musketeers; leading lady Sophie Marceau does her own fencing on screen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophie Marceau, Philippe Noiret, (more)
Commissioner Stan Jalard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes in his godson after the boy's father, who is also Stan's police partner, is murdered in this routine action thriller. Stan chases the heavy until he catches up with him. He levies his gun on the killer as he decides whether to shoot him or let him spend life in prison. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Pierre Malo, (more)
In another typical Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicle, the French action hero plays a policeman prone to advancing the cause of justice by any means necessary. On his agenda is a powerful drug cartel working out of Paris and Marseilles, with a drug lord (Henry Silva) who is essentially inaccessible -- but not immortal. Stunts (performed by Belmondo) and chase scenes on land and water enliven the story, but the scenes with Belmondo's love interest are rather marginal themselves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henry Silva, (more)
Directed by TV-anthology veteran Jeannot Szwarc, Enigma has a certain small-screen "feel" to it. Adopting a musical-comedy foreign accent, Martin Sheen plays Alex Holbeck, an Iron Curtain defector who returns to East Germany at the behest of the CIA. His mission is to save five political "undesirables" from the communists. Holbeck runs up against some formidable opposition, namely ambitious KGB agent Dimitri Vasilkov (Sam Neill) and a quintet of highly trained Soviet assassins. Brigitte Fossey co-stars as Holbeck's former love, whom he involves in his escape plans by asking her to romance the susceptible Vasilkov. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Brigitte Fossey, (more)
- Starring:
- Patrick Laurent, Yves Gabrielli, (more)
Marie (Miou-Miou) is a young girl from a working-class family who falls for Gerard (Daniel Duval) before she discovers he is a vicious, sadistic pimp. She is degraded, abused, and beaten regularly by Gerard as she is forced into a life of prostitution. Marie later decides she must leave her pimp to regain control of her body, mind, and soul. Maria Schneider co-stars with Neil Arestrup in this voyeuristic and disturbing story. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Maria Schneider, (more)
After collaborating on a series of small-scale political films under the alias of the Dziga Vertov Group, pioneering French director Jean-Luc Godard and filmmaker and activist Jean-Pierre Gorin attempted to fuse their Maoist theories of revolutionary art with a more accessible structural framework in this leftist comedy drama. Susan (Jane Fonda) is an American journalist working as a French correspondent for a radio network; her husband, Jacques (Yves Montand), was once a major filmmaker during the French New Wave, but now supports himself directing television commercials as he tries to come to terms with his political responsibilities. Jacques tags along when Susan visits a sausage factory to interview the manager (Vittorio Caprioli); their visit unexpectedly coincides with a wildcat strike staged by the plant's employees, who hold the boss captive as they lash out against both their employers and their union in a bid for more money and greater dignity. Over the course of the day, many of the participants speak to the camera about their varying degrees of commitment to radical political and economic change, while we are also afforded an inside look at Susan and Jacques' splintered relationship. Shortly after Tout Va Bien was released, Jane Fonda made her famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) visit to Hanoi, an action which led Godard and Gorin to create a companion film, Letter to Jane, in which they dissected a photo of Fonda in Vietnam for its multiple levels of political meaning. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Yves Montand, (more)
The title Life Love Death (originally La Vie, L'amour, la Mort) pretty much runs the gamut of the subject matter which normally appeals to French filmmaker Claude Lelouch. Awaiting execution for murder, Souad Amidou reflects on the events leading up to this sorry contingency. It seems that Amidou can only cohabit with prostitutes, thus he seeks out satisfaction in all the side streets of Europe. Disturbed by a whore's insults when he was unable to perform, Amidou goes completely off the deep end and begins cutting a swath of death from one end of Spain to another. Lelouch's principal stylistic decision in Life Love and Death is to draw as many parallels as possible between sex and bullfighting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amidou, Caroline Cellier, (more)










