Pascale Arbillot Movies
- 2008
Many regard the satirically inclined writer-director-star Agnès Jaoui (Le Goût des Autres) as a European equivalent of Woody Allen. The cerebral comedy Let It Rain represents Jaoui's third effort in the said capacities, and finds her juggling preoccupations with gender politics and class differences. Here, she plays Agathe Villanova, a feminist author with political plans who heads off to the summer residence of her early years to address some unfinished family business with her sister, Florence (Pascale Arbillot). Once there, her path crisscrosses with two documentarists shooting a film about powerful women -- Karim (Jamel Debbouze) and Michel (Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jaoui's off-camera husband and creative partner, who co-authored the script with her). She agrees to be interviewed for the film, leading to a series of arguments between Karim and Michel about how best to film her; meanwhile, Agnes offers to help Karim out by setting up a job for him, little recognizing the complications that this will yield. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, (more)
- 2008
Léa Fazer's workplace-oriented romantic comedy Notre univers impitoyable (Our Pitiless World) stars Jocelyn Quivrin and Alice Taglioni as Victor and Margot. A couple deeply entrenched in the throes of love, the two also happen to work in the same law consultancy firm - and find themselves placed in an extremely difficult position when the company announces that it plans to promote one employee to legal partner. This forces the lovers to go head to head with one another in a most unwelcome competition. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Taglioni, Jocelyn Quivrin, (more)
- 2006
With his Springtime in Paris, long-inactive French helmer Jacques Bral both resuscitates and pays homage to the classic European caper film, crafting a small, occasionally humorous crime thriller in the mold of Rififi and Bob le flambeur, that focuses almost entirely on the aftermath of a crime in lieu of the heist itself. The film opens with thief-turned-convict Georges (Eddy Mitchell) released from prison after a five year stint, and dragged immediately back into the underworld by several nefarious pals. He teams up with fellow thief Pierrot (Sagamore Stevenin) to lift a bejeweled necklace from a safe in a private residence. The operation progresses smoothly; the aftermath turns deadly. Several in-the-know parties make the foolish decision to open their traps, which inadvertently pulls the cops in; soon after, events begin to spiral rapidly out of control. From there, Bral packs in a series of unforeseeable twists, turns, and double-crosses to keep the viewer in a permanent state of suspense. Pascale Arbillot and Pierre Santini co-star; Bral authored the original script. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddy Mitchell, Sagamore Stévenin, (more)
Arnaud Viard's 2003 French-language feature Clara et Moi chronicles the eccentric romance between the 33-year-old struggling actor Antoine (Julien Boisselier of Le Convoyeur) and Clara (Julie Gayet Les Menteurs), a girl he happens to meet on the subway. Clara happens along at exactly the right time for Antoine, who - worn out from celibacy - has just avowed to his analyst that he'll find a wife within a set period. All is heaven at first, almost farcically so (and Viard, well aware of this, even defies the audience's formic expectations by playfully interjecting a musical number into the middle of the movie, in which the lovers "sing" their feelings to one another, ala Demy). But suddenly, a dark and unexpected twist emerges in the relationship, that strips bare Antoine's emotional immaturity and thus threatens to bring everything crashing down. Michel Aumont co-stars. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1999
A clown from Romania (Ticky Holgado) has more than amusing tricks for children on his mind -- he has in his possession a computer disc with information wanted by the police, several organized crime figures and the European Agency for Atomic Energy. After he's chased through Prague by a number of people who want this information for their own purposes, the clown is taken in and protected by a priest (Bruno Putzulu), who was once a clown himself in Russia. This unique crime drama, directed by Eric Besnard, offers equal parts action, philosophy and character study. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tiki Holgado, Vincent Elbaz, (more)
