Mélanie Thierry Movies

Simultaneously recalling Richard Curtis's Love Actually (2003), and - on a more culturally proximate note - Cedric Klapisch's seriocomedy Paris (2008), this outing from writer-director Amanda Sthers observes the intersection of six French lonely hearts against a uniform backdrop. As the tale opens, three single men sit waiting in a French airport: psychiatrist Max (Michel Lonsdale), writer Marcel Henri (Pierre Arditi), and editor Olivier (Patrick Mille). As fate would have it, their paths just happen to intersect with three lonely, needy women of varying temperaments and backgrounds: distinguished widow Fanny (Monique Chaumette), man-hungry teacher Lila (Anne Marivin), and the desperately unhappy, suicide-prone cancer patient Julia (Carole Bouquet). As various couplings occur and various substories unfold within the confines of the airport, each of the characters finds his or her life changed in an irrevocable and unforeseeable way. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A romantic retreat to an isolated house in the countryside turns tragic for two former stepsiblings turned lovers. Marc (Vincent Martinez) and Leá (Melanie Thierry) grew up together under one roof. As adults they share the same living conditions, but as lovers rather than siblings. Their relationship defined by passionate cruelty, they shut themselves away from the world as they drift into a heighted state of emotion. When a violent windstorm blows in and a nosy boss shows up, madness takes hold and a sacrifice is made. But when murder is committed out of love, can it really be considered a crime? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Recalling François Girard's The Red Violin, Canone Inverso - Making Love is a multi-layered, multi-generational tale of music, fate, and passion. Based on the novel by Paolo Maurensig, the film opens in pre-WWII Europe, where Jeno, a half-Jewish boy, lives in relative poverty with his mother. His father, who abandoned his wife and son, left them with only a rare violin and a canone inverso, a traditional composition written for two instruments. During Jeno's (Hans Matheson) adolescence, his mother dies, and in the wake of her death, he is drawn to Sophie Levy (Melanie Thierry), a married, French Jewish pianist with whom he develops a close relationship. At Sophie's encouragement, Jeno applies for a scholarship to a music conservatory; there, he meets David Blau (Lee Williams), an aristocratic cad who becomes a great influence in Jeno's life. When Jeno is expelled from the school for being Jewish, David quits in protest and takes his friend back to his father's estate. It is at the estate that Jeno discovers a piece of music written by David's father that sparks a revelation about his family heritage -- and his connections to David and Sophie. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

On the 1st of January in 1900, Danny Boodmann (Bill Nunn), the mechanic of the transatlantic liner Virginian bound for America, finds an abandoned baby on board and decides to keep him. Nicknamed Novecento (1900), the boy grows up on the ship hidden from everyone. His presence is revealed when Danny dies in an accident. The young '1900' manages to hide again despite threats from the captain. Discovering a passion for music, he teaches himself to play the piano without being able to read the notes, and he soon becomes a virtuoso whose reputation spreads beyond the confines of the ship. Even the famous jazz piano player, Jelly Roll Morton (Clarence Williams III), gets on board for a challenge because he has heard rumors about the greatest piano player in the world living on a ship. The story is told by Max Tooney, Novocento's old trumpeter friend, who reminisces about the incredible pianist who never set foot on land. After two films about cinema, Giuseppe Tornatore comes up with the story of a highly imaginative artist who lives only for and through his art. Tornatore was inspired by a theatre monologue written in 1994 by Alessandro Baricco, and the film was shot partly in Odessa, on a sixty-year-old Russian freighter, and partly in the Cinecitta studios in Rome. Tim Roth's performance as the talented but reserved Novocento is remarkable, and the music of Ennio Morricone plays a vital role in the film. La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, which was retitled The Legend of 1900 for US distribution after forty-five minutes have been cut, was originally two hours and forty minutes when it was shown to great success in Italy in autumn of 1998. The US version had its world premiere at the 1999 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Film noir meets future shock in first-time feature filmmaker Julien Leclercq's ambitious sci fi thriller about a hard-boiled French police lieutenant investigating the mysterious death of an illegal immigrant. Years ago, wanted human trafficker Dimitry Nicolov (Alain Figlarz) murdered Police Lieutenant David Hoffman (Albert Dupontel)'s wife and partner to death as the horrified lawman watched helplessly nearby. In the aftermath of that killing, Nicolov disappeared without a trace. Flash forward to the year 2025, and the only thing that keeps Hoffman going is the thought of seeking revenge against Nicolov. When the body of a young illegal immigrant is discovered with mysterious scars around her eyes and her synapses completely fried, Lieutenant Hoffman's investigation eventually leads him to an ultra-modern plastic surgery clinic run by Professor Brügen (Marthe Keller). Much to Lieutenant Hoffman's surprise, Professor Brügen's clinic isn't simply concerned with issues of the flesh, but the valuable commodity of memory and identity as well. Currently, Professor Brügen has focused the majority of his research on a captive patient named Manon (Mélanie Thierry) - a teenage girl who had been horribly injured in an auto accident. As the investigation intensifies and Lieutenant Hoffman begins to make the connection between medical research and human smuggling, what was once a simple case of a wanted human trafficker gradually evolves into something infinitely more ominous. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide