Julien Boisselier Movies
Sex, blood and rock 'n' roll are on the menu at one frantic bash in this over-the-top comedy from France. Alice (Frederique Bel), Prune (Julie Fournier) and Sam (Patrick Mille) are three close friends who are excited to learn they've been invited to La Nuit Medicis, a notoriously wild party held every year in a castle that's said to be haunted. The friends are expecting a big night of debauchery, but things turns out to be a great deal different when they meet their host, the mysterious Le Duc de Journiac (Tcheky Karyo). Journiac is actually a vampire, and the big to-do is held each year so he and his minions can feast on the blood of unsuspecting locals like Alice, Prune and Sam. Teaming up with several fellow party-goers, the three friends quickly organize an attack on the undead revelers, and when they run short on traditional weapons such as garlic, crosses and stakes, they're forced to improvise and vanquish the ghouls with MP3 players and exercise gear. Les Dents de la nuit (aka Vampire Party) also features Sam Karmann and Helene de Fougerolles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
An Alzheimer's-afflicted ex-policeman moves into a special needs residence - only to watch his life erupt into a waking nightmare - in Nicholas Boukhrief's tense psychological thriller Cortex (2008). During the golden years of his retirement, former police superintendent Charles Boyer (André Dussolier) opts to protect himself from the pitfalls of dementia by moving into The Residence, a facility designed to provide for elderly patients with neuro-degenerative disorders. Boyer isn't long in the new building, however, before ominous events begin to occur - including a high number of deaths among the patients. Eschewing the notion that this may be inevitable given the ages and illnesses of the populace, Charles smells a rat; he can never quite waive his sense that the others have been systematically rubbed out by an unknown party. As his investigation of the matter begins, questions linger about whether his suspicions are valid or merely a product of the ex-cop's Alzheimer-driven paranoia. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- André Dussollier, Marthe Keller, (more)
- 2008
A handful of women use their smarts and allure in the service of the French Resistance in this historical drama set during World War II. Louise (Sophie Marceau) is a beautiful woman recruited into the French underground by her brother Pierre (Julien Boisselier) while Nazi forces occupy their homeland. Maurice Buckmaster (Colin David Reese) is a British agent who smuggles Louise into London to give her a special assignment -- a British scientist working with weapons research has been captured by Axis forces and is being held in a French hospital. Louise is ordered to put together a team of female resistance fighters to find the scientist and smuggle him to safety before he can be forced to tell Nazi intelligence what he knows. Louise's band of heroines includes Gaelle (Deborah Francois), who knows about demolition; Jeanne (Julie Depardieu), a streetwalker more interested in her own survival than the future of France; Suzy (Marie Gillain), a nightclub entertainer who was romantically involved with a German officer; and Maria Luzzato (Maya Sansa), a Jewish noblewoman who is on hand to help the other women when they make their way back into France. Les Femmes de l'ombre (aka Female Agents was inspired by the true story of Lise Villameur, who served with French resistance forces during the Second World War. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, (more)
- 2006
The unexpected disappearance of her troubled brother causes a nineteen year-old girl intense emotional distress as French filmmaker Philippe Lioret collaborates with author Oliver Adam to adapt Adam's popular novel for the screen. Upon returning from Barcelona after spending the summer with new friends Lea (Aissa Maiga) and Thomas (Julien Boisselier), Lily (Melanie Laurent) discovers that her twin brother Loic (Mickael Trodoux) has fled the family home following a particularly intense confrontation with family patriarch Paul (Kad Merad). When Loic fails to return Lily's increasingly desperate calls and her parents continually fail to explain the reasoning behind her brother's flight, the troubled girl lapses into an alarming emotional malaise in which she is unable to eat or sleep. Her health rapidly failing, Lily is admitted into a local hospital where she languishes until a letter arrives from her brother condemning the pair's father for ruining their lives. Upon recovering from her malady Lily sets out to locate her brother. It is a quest that will not only provide Lily with a better understanding of her faltering family dynamics, but set her down the path to womanhood as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mélanie Laurent, Kad Merad, (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
- 2004
Fanny (Marina Foïs) is in her thirties, and single, and she's decided she's sick of being lonely. She's invited Paul (Julien Boisselier), a computer programmer she met at work, over for dinner, and she's determined to have her way with him. She dolls herself up and places a condom in a convenient location. Naturally, things don't go according to plan. Paul calls to say he'll be late, and Fanny suspects he's on a date with another woman. In a fit of pique, she decides to toss the meal she's made for them, and when Paul arrives, she tells him she wants to go out to eat. But Paul's just procured a rare CD and wants to listen to it, so she relents and invites him in. They start to talk, and after a bit of miscommunication, Fanny resumes her plot. But Paul gets a call from his sister, who is distraught because she thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her. He decides to go console her, but Fanny has other ideas. Eventually, Paul recognizes that he's being seduced, however clumsily, and decides to act, but by then Fanny has had another change of heart. J'me Sens Pas Belle marks the feature debut of writer/director Bernard Jeanjean. The film was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of their 2005 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2003
French filmmaker Benoit Cohen co-wrote and directed the ensemble comedy Nos Enfants Cheris (Our Precious Children), using many of the same actors from his previous films. Domesticated family man Martin (Mathieu Demy) spends a holiday at his vacation home with wife Ariane (Laurence Côte) and their newborn child. To Ariane's dismay, Martin's ex-girlfriend Constance (Romane Bohringer) shows up with her husband Arnaud (Mathias Mlekuz) and their children. Meanwhile, Ariane's friend Claire (Eleonore Pourriat) visits with her boyfriend Jean-Marc (Fabio Zenoni) and leaves her kid with singleton Simon (Julien Boisselier). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mathieu Demy, Romane Bohringer, (more)
- 2001
Four salesmen hit the open road, searching for adventure and hoping to unload some encyclopedias in this eccentric comedy from France. Jerome (Julien Boisselier) is a timid man who lands a job that doesn't seem immediately appropriate for his temperament -- he's become a door-to-door salesman hawking a five-volume encyclopedia. Jerome hits the road along with three other salesmen -- crafty Patrick (Etienne Chicot), polished Michel (Yvon Back), and good-natured long-timer Jacques (Michel Duchaussoy) -- as well as their supervisor, Regis (Benoit Poelvoorde), who appears to have adopted Alec Guinness' character in The Bridge on the River Kwai as his role model. With time, Jerome gets the hang of his job, and even grows to enjoy convincing people that they need his books. But life on the road poses more than its share of challenges, especially as Regis begins to veer farther and farther away from reality. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benoît Poelvoorde, Julien Boisselier, (more)
