Julien Cottereau Movies
- 2008
A writer with a day job that's not quite legal has trouble getting out of the business (and finding her way around town) in this comedy from writer and director Solveig Anspach. Anna Hallgrimsdottir (Didda Jonsdottir) is a poet who has received acclaim for her work both at home and around the world, but being a successful poet doesn't pay especially well and Anna covers the bills by selling marijuana, a product she enthusiastically endorses herself. Anna has lived most of her life in Reykjavik but she's sick and tired of living in Iceland and wants to move elsewhere. Anna has attracted a significant number of loyal customers, and another dealer is willing to pay her handsomely to take over her business and obtain her client list. Anna sets up a meeting with the dealer and she and her brother Tomas (Jorundur Ragnarsson) head out for the rendezvous, but they've been enjoying a bit too much of Anna's product and what should have been a short drive becomes an epic journey and a comedy of errors as they stumble upon an old friend, Siggi (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) who is attempting suicide, pick up a woman named Joy (Joy Doyle) who is trying to find the prison where her boyfriend is doing time, and try to get directions from Raphael (Julien Cottereau), a French literature student who is doing a project on Anna's verse. Skrapp Ut . . . (aka Back Soon) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didda Jonsdottir, Jorundur Ragnarsson, (more)
Mr. Bean -- the stick-legged goofball man-child created by Rowan Atkinson on television in the early '90s, and in the 1997 feature Bean -- undertakes his second cinematic adventure in the comic romp Mr. Bean's Holiday. Growing thoroughly sick of the wet, cold, and clammy London weather, Mr. Bean (Atkinson) finds just the right tonic when he wins a trip to sunny southern France, all expenses paid, with a new digital video camera to accompany him. However, he runs headfirst into a series of outrageous and unpleasant situations, such as winding up in a French restaurant where a maître d’ (Jean Rochefort) convinces him to eat bizarre varieties of seafood that he's never before encountered, and discovering that the "Very Fast Train" certainly lives up to its name. Eventually, Mr. Bean (accompanied by a Russian traveling companion whom he meets along his journey) stumbles onto the French Riviera and spoils the latest movie production of snobbish, egomaniacal filmmaker Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe) -- little realizing that his own klutzy video footage will accidentally end up in Clay's film and be screened at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Unlike the first big-screen incarnation of Atkinson's character, Mr. Bean's Holiday adheres more closely to the formula of the original series by rendering the character almost completely mute. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, Emma de Caunes, (more)
- 2003
French filmmaker Pierre Jolivet directs the offbeat comedy Filles Uniques (Sole Sisters). Upper-class attorney Carole (Sandrine Kiberlain) meets working-class Tina (Sylvie Testud), who has been arrested twice for shoplifting expensive shoes. The two women start up an unlikely friendship after Tina proves herself particularly valuable to a certain case. Carole then takes her on board for another case involving corrupt casino player Mermot (Francois Berleand) and local cop (Roschdy Zem). Filmed on-location in Paris and Annecy, Sole Sisters was screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandrine Kiberlain, Sylvie Testud, (more)
French filmmaker Anne-Sophie Birot makes her writing and directing debut with the coming-of-age drama Les Filles Ne Savent Pas Nager, given the unfortunate English title Girls Can't Swim. Every year, Gwen (Isild Le Besco) meets up with her best friend Lise (Karen Alyx) for a summer on the beach in Brittany. Since Gwen has grown into a reckless teenager and her parents are experiencing financial problems, this year is decidedly different. She develops an interest in sex, starts dating Frédo (Julien Cottereau), and looks for other boys to fool around with. Her dad, Alain (Pascal Elso), sells his boat, her mom, Céline (Pascale Bussières), starts working to support the family, and, worst of all, Lise doesn't come to the beach. Meanwhile, back in the city, Lise finds out her absent father has died, which causes much grief to her mother (Marie Rivière) and older sisters (Yelda Reynaud and Sandrine Blancke). Having never met her father and wanting to escape her family's trauma, she travels by herself to Brittany. Without telling anyone what's bothering her, Lise is pensive and brooding while Gwen is thirsty for adventure, leading to a major fight between the two girls. With Gwen running around on her own and Céline at work, Lise and Alain are left to form an unlikely friendship, which takes a dark turn and leads to a tragic conclusion. Girls Can't Swim premiered at the 2000 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isild Le Besco, Karen Alyx, (more)
- 1999
- NR
For Emma (Karin Viard), the good news is she's pregnant. A professional musician, Emma has wanted a child for some time, and even though her boyfriend Simon (Laurent Lucas) seems less than excited about fatherhood, Emma welcomes the prospect of becoming a mother. The bad news, however, is Emma soon finds out she also has breast cancer, and she is forced to weigh a complicated series of health options. The most effective treatment for her cancer would be hazardous for the fetus, while the course of action that would offer the least harm to her unborn child would not be especially helpful for keeping Emma alive. With the guidance of a pair of compassionate physicians, Emma begins chemotherapy treatments that will hopefully keep both her and the fetus safe until it can be safely extracted. Karin Viard received praise for her performance in this film, which was shown in the "Directors Fortnight" series at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karin Viard, Laurent Lucas, (more)
