Benoit Mariage Movies

A former leftwing activist sets in motion a chain of events that spin far outside of his control - and finds himself branded a hijacker - in this political comedy starring rubber-faced European funnyman Benoit Poelvoorde. For many years, Daniel Piron (Poelvoorde) has regretted taking the path that reduced him from a socially-conscious, muckraking journalist to an ineffectual television weather man. Through it all, he idolized a gentleman known as Sacchi - a revolutionary who staged a protest by hijacking a school bus, but failed to achieve the goal associated with that act by landing on television and protesting perceived social injustices. Now, years later, Daniel and Sacchi's paths cross, and Daniel cooks up the wild scheme of making a film on the social change that has unfurled over the preceding decades, starring Sacchi and the other school bus hostages. Unfortunately, Sacchi himself is now reactionary and unremarkable, and Daniel must manipulate the events of the film to achieve his desired result. Little can he foresee the tumult that will erupt when the tables are turned and he is tagged as a terrorist. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Benoit Mariage's psychological drama L'Autre (The Missing Half) concerns a pregnant woman whose marriage falls apart. The film opens with Clair (Dominique Baeyens) learning that she is expecting twins. Her husband Pierre (Philippe Grand'Henry), a successful optometrist, is thrilled by the news and begins planning accordingly. Clair becomes overwhelmed and decides to abort one of the embryos. Although Pierre is supportive of her decision, he leaves her after the procedure. Claire befriends Laurent (Laurent Kuenhen), one of Pierre's patients. Laurent lives in a home for the mentally challenged. Clair works through her depression and isolation with the help of Laurent, and her taking on the responsibility of directing him and his fellow patients in a Christmas play. This film was screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Man Bites Dog is a Belgian faux-documentary and high-concept satire of media violence which follows the lethal exploits of Benoit Benoit Poelvoorde, an affable, and very talkative, serial killer. He kills for money, and he kills for pleasure, and he talks all the while about philosophy and the proper technique for weighing a corpse down underwater. He is followed through his slaughter-fest by the filmmakers, Rémy and André (the actual filmmakers, Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel), and the line between reporter and subject becomes blurred pretty quickly. The filmmakers become more and more involved in Benoit's actions, starting with the relatively innocent act of holding a flashlight for him. Eventually, when their funding runs out, Benoit hires them to continue making the film, and soon they are accomplices in a gang rape. While this film has the subtlety of a sledgehammer, its message rings true: the media tend to become part of the stories they report upon as surely as a physicist changes a wave by looking at it. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide