Jean-Jacques Vanier Movies
- 2002
French filmmaker Manuel Poirier directs the comedy drama Femmes... ou les Enfants d'Abord... (Women or Children First). Middle-aged Tom (Sergi Lopez) lives in Brittany with his wife, Sylvie (Marilyne Canto), and their children. He leads a very tedious existence that may be headed toward a mid-life crisis or divorce. One day, his ex-girlfriend Virginie (Sylvie Testud) arrives with the news that he had fathered a child with her eight years ago. Needing a break to get herself together financially, she unloads the little girl on Tom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergi López, Marilyne Canto, (more)
- 2000
A woman finds her personality taking an abrupt about-face in this comedy-drama from France. Irene (Nathalie Richard) is a bank executive who enforces fiduciary regulations with a ruthless, to-the-letter strictness. Irene notices a homeless woman wandering around Paris in a yellow raincoat; one day, while walking home from a party, the same woman attacks Irene, and she falls unconscious for 48 hours. Once she's recovered a few days later, Irene learns that the woman who attacked her was stabbed to death in the park; curious about this turn of events, Irene goes to the morgue to see the body, where she bumps into Rosa (Valerie Mairesse), a bohemian who has a small apartment overlooking the park and who occasionally checks on unidentified bodies in hopes of finding her missing sister. Since the mugging, Irene hasn't been able to relate to her husband and children, and she decides to move in with Rosa, embracing her carefree lifestyle. Confort Moderne also stars Jean-Jacques Vanier as Irene's husband Alain and Jean-Michel Noirey as Murat. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nathalie Richard, Valérie Mairesse, (more)
- 1995
This French slice-of-life drama follows the laid-back exploits of a small group of people who leave Paris to experience the quiet country life. Lila, a recent ex-con in her twenties, decides to exchange Parisian life for live in the small village where her sister is living. There she meets Benoit, another Paris refugee in his late thirties. Though, not well suited, they fall in love. Both of them carry torches for former loves. Suddenly, Lila leaves; Benoit grieves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benoit Regent, Judith Henry, (more)
