Charlotte Gainsbourg Movies
One of the more compelling French actresses of her generation, Charlotte Gainsbourg initially made her screen name parlaying wayward adolescence into an understated art form. Tall, long-necked, and elegantly gawky, Gainsbourg first impressed critics and audiences with her portrayal of the naive but rebellious protagonist of L'Effrontée (1985), earning a César for Most Promising Young Actress.The daughter of French singer/songwriter/occasional actor and director Serge Gainsbourg and English actress Jane Birkin, Gainsbourg was born into substantial celebrity in London on July 22, 1971. Initially keen on being either an artist or a surgeon, she made her film debut playing Catherine Deneuve's daughter in the 1984 Paroles et Musique. That same year, she courted notoriety when she starred alongside her ever-irascible father in his controversial "Lemon Incest" music video, which featured the two cuddling on a bed surrounded by feathers. More salubrious attention came the young actress' way the following year, when she earned a César for her performance in Claude Miller's L'Effrontée.
After another stint acting alongside her father in his poorly received Charlotte Forever (1986), Gainsbourg again collaborated with director Miller for La Petite Voleuse (1988), portraying a sullen teenager experimenting with sex and various illegal pursuits. She reprised her rebellious teen role for Merci La Vie (1991), a black comedy that cast her and Anouk Grinberg as two young women on a rampage against men and just about whomever else crosses their path. Gainsbourg got an opportunity to broaden her range with Jacques Doillon's Amoureuse (1992), an ensemble piece about a group of young women who come together to discuss life and love, and her uncle Andrew Birkin's The Cement Garden (1994), a drama about extreme familial dysfunction that was the actress' first English language outing.
Gainsbourg made her second English film in 1996, starring as the eponymous heroine of Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Although the film, which also starred William Hurt, received very mixed reviews, it did succeed in introducing Gainsbourg to a wider international audience. She further enhanced her good reputation when she won her second César -- this time for Best Supporting Actress -- in 2000 for her work in La Bûche (1999), a comedy that cast her as an ambitious businesswoman who takes up with a mysterious man lodging at her father's house. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- 1984
This routine French melodrama features Catherine Deneuve) as Margaux, an unhappily married recording-company executive with two children at home who starts an affair with Jeremy (Christophe Lambert), one of the singers she promotes through her company. Margaux's husband is away in New York working on a book, yet she still tries to hide her affair from her children, unwilling to let anyone know what is happening -- especially her husband. Jeremy's old singing partner Michel (Richard Anconina) misses his friend, who now spends most of his time with Margaux, and on one occasion Michel is forced to go to an important audition by himself. When the audition turns out to be a big success, Jeremy has to make up his mind about both his conflicting partnerships: one with Margaux and the other with Michel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Christopher Lambert, (more)
- 1985
In this argumentative, fractious drama about a warped sense of male-female love, Bruno (Jacques Bonnafe) who is clearly not playing with a full deck, devises a means to test the love of his girlfriend Isabelle (Ann Gisel Glass). Since Isabelle had been in love with Alain (Xavier Deluc) in the past, Bruno invites Alain to a surprise birthday party for her at a hotel -- what better way to judge her feelings than to get them together? Alain arrives with his current girlfriend Lio (Fanny Bastien) to find that the "party" is only a foursome. Soon after the two couples start the evening off, their polite exteriors deteriorate as they bicker on, and on, and on. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Gisele Glass, Fanny Bastien, (more)
The dreams and naivete of Charlotte, a young, working-class girl (Charlotte Gainsbourg in an award-winning performance) clash with reality as she meets the young pianist she admires (Clothilde Baudon), and a younger pest she would like to shed (Julie Glenn). Charlotte is surrounded by a drab life in her rundown neighborhood and is saddled with a crass brother and a father whose attention is elsewhere. Life picks up a little color when a new friend comes into the picture, a pianist from the other side of the tracks who is going to give a recital in town. The more sophisticated pianist jokes that maybe Charlotte should be her manager, and that sets off a series of misunderstandings that lead to some pretty wild moments. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bernadette Lafont, (more)
- 1986
- R
This drama with incestual nuances features singer-songwriter turned director Serge Gainsbourg as Stan, a screenwriter who has seen much better days. He is currently agonizing over his daughter, Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Charlotte blames him for the death of her mother in an accident. Stan vents his feelings on anyone who will listen -- a gay friend, a low-life movie producer, a repulsive prostitute, and two young women his daughter's age. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte Gainsbourg, (more)
- 1987
- R
Veteran French director Agnes Varda's Le Petit Amour is based on a short story by actress/songstress Jane Birkin. Birkin herself plays the main character, a loving but lonely 40-year-old divorcee. Her life is brightened a bit by the presence of a handsome 15-year-old, played by Mathieu Demy. Their romance forms the basis of this "petit" Varda effort, which is also known as Kung Fu Master (now you'll have to see it for yourself!). Shortly after the release of Le Petit Amour, Agnes Varda directed a documentary centering upon Jane Birkin, Jane B par Agnes V. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Mathieu Demy, (more)
- 1988
Jane B. is London-born actress and recording star Jane Birkin. Agnes V. is Belgian filmmaker and "grandmother of the New Wave" Agnes Varda. Jane B. Par Agnes V is a cinematic recounting of Birkin's career, from her breakthrough appearance as one of the nude models in Blow-Up to her pinnacle as star of such films as La Femme de Ma Vie (1986). It is also the story of Birkin and Varda's close relationship, made stronger by their mutual admiration and their lifelong fascination with feminist themes. Viewers who prefer straightforward, objective documentaries rather than radicalized film techniques, may not appreciate Jane B. par Agnes V. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Philippe Léotard, (more)
- 1988
- PG
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
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Simon de la Brosse, (more)
In this film, Tolsoy's classic story Father Sergius is translated from 19th century Russia to 19th century Italy. As in the original story, Sergio (Julian Sands) is a nobleman and a military cadet who is posted in a position close to the (in this case Neapolitan) throne. He is about go through with an arranged marriage linking him with a higher-ranking noblewoman (Natassja Kinski) when he discovers that she has been the King's mistress. Disgusted, he renounces the world and becomes a churchman and a hermit. At his hermitage, he encounters a woman who considers any priest, especially an ascetic one, fair game. She attempts to seduce him and he nearly succumbs, narrowly avoiding that fate by chopping off a finger, in a scene harking back directly to the 1918 Russian silent classic Otets Sergey. Soon after that, he begins to acquire a reputation as a miracle worker. However, by now he has succumbed to his ever-present demon of sexual temptation in the form of a conniving young girl, and he knows he is not worthy of the adulation he is receiving. Devastated by his lapse, he leaves the hermitage and wanders around Italy as a homeless beggar. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
- 1990
Bruno is bored and frustrated. His attempts to woo Juliette, an attractive hairdresser in the village next to his have fallen flat, and he just plain doesn't like his life. He decides to do something to spice things up and at the same time impress Juliette that he's really smitten with her. That is why he takes a gun and hijacks a school bus, demanding to be taken to Juliette's village. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvan Attal, Kristin Scott Thomas, (more)
- 1991
In this frequently surrealistic romp, a satire on sex, politics, and the business of filmmaking, two young women get together after discovering sufficient provocations in their lives to deliberately set out to wreak havoc in the world around them. Joelle (Anouk Grinberg) has just been thrown out of a moving car by her abusive man-friend, when Camille (Charlotte Gainsbourg) encounters her. Joelle's bitter exclamation Merci la Vie, or "thank you, life" echoes something of Camille's feelings, and the two decide to go on a rampage, picking up and seducing numerous men and then doing things like destroying their cars. Eventually, they set their sights on a "higher" goal and decide to do in an entire town. Meanwhile, it becomes evident that a sinister medical researcher, Dr. Worms (Gérard Depardieu), has infected promiscuous Joelle with a sexually transmitted disease he invented for the sole purpose of becoming the man who finds its cure, which he hopes will make him beloved, famous and rich. At some point, an elaborate series of flashbacks enter the story, and in one sequence, Camille attempts to persuade her feuding parents to get back together long enough to conceive her. Reviewers noted that logic is not a strong point in this film, but they found its fast pace and bright performances vastly entertaining. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anouk Grinberg, (more)
- 1991
Amnesty International produced this film, which features more than two dozen greats of French cinema making pleas for the lives of political prisoners around the world. Each filmmaker speaks passionately on behalf of an individual whose life has been warped by political intolerance, imprisonment, torture or murder, as the lives of those prisoners or sufferers are documented onscreen. A variety of directors contributed shorts with this theme, and the ways in which the appeals are dramatized differ markedly from one to the next. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 1992
Nine women gather in a seaside home to discuss life, love, and the search for men in this routine comedy. The hostess leaves after her boyfriend calls her up, and one of the others picks up an American tourist at a local bar. She confiscates his passport to keep him for her temporary boytoy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Yvan Attal, (more)
- 1993
- NR
- Add The Cement Garden to Queue
Ian McEwan's disturbing novel is given a chilly shimmer in this film adaptation by Andrew Birkin. The film takes place in a concrete slab of a house situated on the outskirts of an English town. The father (Hanns Zischer) is a consumptive creep, while the mother (Sinead Cusack) is a sweet and understanding matriarch. When the father dies of a heart attack after his garden is paved over, it is too much for the mother to bear, and after a few weeks she wastes away and also dies. This leaves the children to fend for themselves. The eldest sister and brother, Julie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Jack (Andrew Robertson), have to care for the younger children, Sue (Alice Coultard) and Tom (Ned Birkin). Without parental supervision, the four children give themselves up to their secret longings. Jack hides in corners to masturbate, but Julie uses her sexual attraction to lure Jack into an incestuous relationship. Even the younger children have their problems: Sue is mostly mute and spends all her time obsessively writing in her journal, while Tom feels that deep inside himself he is a girl trapped in a boy's body. The children hide the mother's remains in the basement and live off her bank account. The neighbors don't suspect a thing --that is until sleazy Derek (Jochen Horst) begins to come around in his red convertible, trying to get a date with Julie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew N. Robertson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, (more)
A burned out actor begins to question his sanity in this French comedy that stars the writer/director Michel Blanc in a dual role. In the first role Blanc plays himself as an exhausted actor. He has been doing too much TV and too many movies. Odd things begin to happen and Blanc becomes convinced his sanity is slipping away. He is seen going berserk at Cannes with a series of starlets. At Cannes, he meets festival head Gilles Jacob whom he persuades to give the room number of Gerard Depardieu. After Blanc is accused of attempted rape, he goes to a psychiatrist who prescribes peace and quiet in the country. He goes to the Provencial estate of his friend Carole Bouquet. It is there Bouquet and Blanc meet Blanc's devilish double Patrick Olivier. After a lengthy chase the two sit down and decide that Blanc will take only the high quality roles while Olivier will do the rest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Blanc, Carole Bouquet, (more)
- 1996
This taut psychological chiller tells the twisted story of Anna, a woman living in Paris, whose dreams of her Venetian counterpart, a secretive young woman who lives in a fine palace with her brother and an enigmatic older man, become frighteningly real. Anna's world begins coming apart after she is picked up by the police for witnessing an awful crime she cannot remember seeing. When she realizes that her dream alter-ego is trying to kill her, only her lover Marc's calming and supportive influence can save her from madness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gérard Lanvin, (more)
Though unemployed, Pierre is buoyant, outgoing, affable, and experienced with women. This last is a point he never fails to drive home to Benoit, his gentle, hapless best friend. In an effort to compensate for his romantic failures, Benoit turns to the newspaper personals ads, and meets Marie. Even though his courtship of her is uninspiring, Marie agrees to marry Benoit. Naturally, Pierre meets Marie often. As he gets to know her, he discovers that he is recklessly in love with her, and he arranges his life around seeing her and being near her. He is so overtaken with feeling that he even corners total strangers in order to speak of his love. Benoit -completely unaware of this- suggests that he keep Marie company while he is at work. When everything comes out into the open, the friendship of the two men governs the outcome. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Yvan Attal, (more)
Director Franco Zeffirelli stresses emotional realism over gothic chills in this restrained adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic. The screenplay, by Zeffirelli and Hugh Whitmore, remains relatively faithful to the original story, beginning with a condensed look at the troubled childhood of young Jane (Anna Paquin) and her mistreatment by a cruel aunt (Fiona Shaw). The bulk of the film centers on Jane as an adult (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a prim governess who accepts a position at Thornfield Hall caring for the young Adele (Josephine Serre). There Jane also must deal with the estate's head, Edward Rochester (William Hurt), a mysteriously brooding yet oddly alluring older man. She finds herself drawn to Rochester, but their potential romance is threatened by Jane's fears and Rochester's internal torment. Rather than the spooky visuals of earlier adaptations, Zeffirelli and cinematographer David Watkins opt for a subdued gloominess, placing emphasis on Gainsbourg's and Hurt's wounded portrayals. Fans of the gothic will likely find Zeffirelli's interpretation anemic in comparison to the passionate 1944 version with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles, though others may appreciate the more naturalistic and faithful approach. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, (more)
Noted French screenwriter Daniele Thompson makes her directorial debut with this lighthearted romantic comedy. After the December 21st funeral of Yvette's (Francoise Fabian) second husband, she is consoled by the three daughters from her first marriage to Stanislas (Claude Rich), a Russian-Jewish violinist. The oldest, Lorba (Sabine Azema), lives with her father and makes a living by singing ballads in a Russian cabaret, Sonia (Emmanuelle Beart) is a fastidious middle-class housewife, and Yvette's youngest, Milla (Charlotte Gainsbourg), is a go-getting businesswoman. As Christmas celebrations gather steam, Louba learns that at age 42, she is unexpectedly pregnant by Gilbert, her married lover of 12 years. Meanwhile, Sonia develops a habit of taking five-finger discounts while shopping, and Milla takes up with a mysterious drifter who lives as a boarder in Stanislas' house. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rich, Françoise Fabian, (more)
Charlotte Gainsbourg stars in this 1990s updating of George Cukor's Gaslight (1944). In an unnamed North American city, young Frenchwoman Catherine (Gainsbourg) stumbles into a police station and confesses to murdering her husband's ex-wife Stella. The cops remain unconvinced, as according to their records Stella was stabbed to death two years previously. The rest of the film is told in flashbacks. Soon after Catherine has left all she knew in Europe, she meets Nick (Charles Powell), a dashing film score composer. Not long afterwards, they marry, and she moves into his luxurious loft in an old apartment building. After learning about Nick's former wife's bloody demise, Catherine begins to notice weird things about the flat: a wine glass smudged with lipstick, crooked paintings, strands of another woman's hair, and a journal emblazoned with "SG." Her growing paranoia is only exaggerated by the odd assortment of people inhabiting the building, including a mysterious, ultra-fashionable German art broker, a wealthy math genius, and a wizened drunk who hobbles around with a cane. Soon Catherine finds herself fighting to maintain her sanity. The Intruder was screened at the 1999 Dinard Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charles Powell, (more)
- 2000
Camille Claudel director Bruno Nuytten brings us a tale of the kind of l'amour fou that only the French can do so persistently. A moody, intense drama that opens with a present day car crash, Passionnement is told partially as an extended flashback centering on events that took place around Bastille Day ten years earlier. On the island of Porquerolles, Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) spies on Bernard (Gerard Lanvin), a man who has returned to France after living in Brazil for some years. The two had once been lovers, and Alice's obsession with Bernard -- which apparently didn't wane during their time apart -- sets in motion a string of events culminating with the aforementioned car crash. Dysfunction abounds. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bérénice Bejo
- 2000
Victor Hugo's classic story of one man's struggle to redeem himself -- and another man's efforts to bring him down -- is brought to the screen again (there have been at least 18 previous screen adaptations) in this epic-scale television production with a distinguished international cast. Jean Valjean (Gerard Depardieu) is a man forced by circumstance into a life of crime when he steals bread to ease his hunger, ending up behind bars for 19 years. Upon his release, the destitute Valjean attempts to rob the home of a bishop, but the bishop takes pity on him, and Valjean turns over a new leaf, becoming an honest and upright businessman and civic leader. But Javert (John Malkovich), a former guard at the prison where Valjean served time, is now the Chief of Police, and he's determined not to let Valjean live down his criminal past. Les Miserables also features Jeanne Moreau, Virginie Ledoyen, Christian Clavier, and Asia Argento; the miniseries was produced in two versions, a French-language version for European television that ran eight hours, and a four-hour English-language adaptation that was broadcast in a pair of two-hour installments on January 7 and 8, 2001, on the Fox Family Channel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, John Malkovich, (more)
Actor Yvan Attal follows up on his 1997 directorial debut of I've Got a Woman with this wry romantic comedy about a regular guy dealing with his wife's fame and career. Yvan (Attal) is a youngish sports writer who, through some improbable luck, finds himself happily married to the beautiful Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a fantastically popular movie actress. All is going swimmingly for Yvan until a stranger plants the seeds of jealousy and doubt in his mind over his wife and her libertine profession. Meanwhile, Charlotte is in London, starring in a movie with a very seductive and sophisticated Terence Stamp. Soon misunderstandings pile upon misunderstanding until Yvan's marriage is on the verge of collapse. Can he keep his marriage together? This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Yvan Attal, (more)
Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu makes his first English-language feature with the downbeat drama 21 Grams. Set in an unnamed U.S. urban center, the film uses a nonlinear structure to piece together the intertwined lives of three very different people. Paul (Sean Penn) is a math teacher with a heart problem and a troubled marriage to British wife Mary (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Christine (Naomi Watts) is a former drug addict who lives with her husband, Michael (Danny Huston), and her daughters. Jack (Benicio del Toro) is a born-again Christian with a wife (Melissa Leo) who has stood by him since his days as a criminal. Following a tragic accident, the three main characters are thrown into each other's lives. 21 Grams was shown in competition at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, (more)
Writer, director, and actor Yvan Attal takes another look at the ups and downs of love and monogamy in this biting romantic comedy. Vincent (Yvan Attal), Fred (Alain Cohen), and Georges (Alain Chabat) are three Parisian men in their early forties who are coming to the unfortunate realization that their love lives are not what they dreamed of in their youth. Vincent is married to Gabrielle (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and while there's still some spark left in their marriage, it usually appears only after an argument. Vincent is having a furtive affair with a beautiful woman (Angie David), while Gabrielle is tempted to do the same when a handsome man in a record shop (Johnny Depp) begins silently flirting with her. Fred is the bachelor of the group, and seems to have an endless parade of women passing through his bedroom, but no one misses the fact that he longs for the sort of long-term relationship that has so far evaded him. And Georges is reaching the end of his rope with his wife, Nathalie (Emmanuelle Seigner), an abrasive feminist who insists on making every aspect of their lives a political matter, but lacking the courage to break up with her, Georges deals with his feelings in the traditional manner -- he buys a new car. Happily Ever After was Attal's first project as writer and director after his international hit Ma Femme Est une Actrice. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvan Attal
