Rachida Brakni Movies
- 2009
Inspired by director Vittorio De Sica's 1952 neorealist classic Umberto D., Francis Huster's sentimental drama stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as an aged retiree who is forced out onto the street with his dog after his relationship with a wealthy widow falls apart. A cinematic comeback for Belmondo, who previously retired from acting after suffering a major stroke, un homme et son chien tells the story of Charles, an older man who was invited by his lover to stay in the maid's room in her sprawling home. When the woman decides to marry again, however, Charles and his faithful four-legged companion are promptly shown the door. With no place to call home and no means of earning a living, Charles wanders the streets of Paris with his dog as their pair drift towards an uncertain fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Hafsia Herzi, (more)
- 2009
The title represents an in-joke, and a word of explanation may help: early 21st century French president Nicolas Sarkozy originally hailed from the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, notorious for the allegedly pompous, haughty attitudes among its residents. The vernacular of the title translates, roughly, as "Neuilly yo mama!," or a light slap in the face to such people. As directed by Gabriel Julien Laferrière, this offbeat, occasionally sarcastic coming-of-age comedy from France predominantly unfolds in Neuilly. Raven-haired, 14-year-old Arab boy Sami Benboudaoud (Samy Seghir) enjoys growing up in the rough-natured but familiar town of Chalon-sur-Saône, where he spends his time palling around with several buddies. But when his mother (Farida Khelfa) takes a job on a cruise ship, Sami gets yanked out of the community against his will and dropped into the custody of his financially comfy aunt and uncle, who live in Neuilly. Sami instantly becomes a fish out of water, and must face a number of formidable nemeses, including his obnoxious cousin, Charles (Jeremy Denisty) whose chief ambition is to become one of Sarkozy's successors, and a bigoted WASP-y school that perceives all Arabs as "scum," mirroring a notoriously racist, well-publicized remark from Sarkozy himself. Sami also falls hard for his cute, blonde, super-intellectual classmate Marie (Josephine Japy), who doesn't exactly warm to the idea of dating someone with Sami's ethnic background. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Denis Podalydès, Rachida Brakni, (more)
- 2008
Two people find their lives taking unexpected turns dictated by the war on terror in this thriller from French writer and director Philippe Haim. Diane (Vahina Giocante) has turned her back on life as a streetwalker and is working towards a new career as an Arabic translator. However, when Diane does poorly on an important exam, she's approached by Alex (Gerard Lanvin), a French intelligence operative, who wants her to become an undercover agent. Once in the field, Diane is soon chasing the minions of terrorist leader Al-Barad (Simon Abkarian) after two fellow agents (Medhi Nebbou and Rachida Brakni) are unable to get to the bottom of a plot to smuggle a powerful bomb into France. Meanwhile, Pierre (Nicolas Duvauchelle) is a dope dealer who is suspected of having ties to terrorists; when he's thrown in jail, he's treated with such brutality that he turns against the French government and begins working with a violent band of Muslim extremists. Secret Defense (aka Secrets of State) also features Aurelien Wiik, Nicolas Marie and Katia Lewkowicz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Simon Abkarian, (more)
A group of women struggling with their sexuality speak openly with the female counselors who wonder if such a thing as "sexual freedom" is truly possible in this tale of the incredible hidden in mundane, everyday events. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Alvaro, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 2006
Algerian director Djamila Sahraoui's sobering drama Barakat! chronicles the plight of Amel, an emergency physician living and working in a small town hospital on the Algerian coast, during that nation's blood-soaked civil war in 1990. One evening, Amel returns home to discover that her husband has vanished without a trace. Inferring that he was abducted and taken underground by a group of militant Islamic terrorists, Amel confronts the authorities but is promptly snubbed and given the runaround. Refusing to be deterred, Amel vows to head for the war-torn surrounding foothills and locate the man herself. An older woman who lives nearby, Khadidja, once fought for Algerian independence against the French as a young girl; she insists on joining Amel. Though the women discover massive differences between themselves in outlook, politic, and breadth of experience, they quickly realize that they need to stick together and resolve minor disagreements if they are to confront the enemy successfully. The film thus becomes a testament to female camaraderie, resourcefulness and courage in the face of daunting odds. Zahir Bouzrar, Rachida Brakni and Fettouma Bouamari co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rachida Brakni, Fettouma Bouamari, (more)
- 2003
French filmmaker Thierry Binisti directs the mystery drama The Over-Eater, based on the graphic novel by Jacques Ferrandez and Tonino Benacquista. Soccer player Eric Cantona stars as Richard Selena, a lonely 350-pound police investigator in Marseilles. His doctors tell him that he has a year to live unless he loses weight, but he continues to eat and struggles to breathe. He and his partner Marc Brisset (Jocelyn Quivrin) are assigned to investigate the death of a powerful industry leader. Richard suspects the guilty party is the victim's niece Elsa (Rachida Brakni), a beautiful young artist who runs a cafe with her father Emile Lachaume (Richard Bohringer). Instead of turning her in, Richard makes her come to his house and watch him eat. Meanwhile, Marc believes someone else is responsible for the murder after receiving a tip from the victim's widow, Anne Lachaume (Caroline Silhol). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Cantona, Rachida Brakni, (more)
In this satirical comedy drama from France, white-collar workaholic Paul (Vincent Lindon) and his high-strung wife Helene (Catherine Frot) are driving to a party one evening when a young woman leaps into the path of their car, crying for help. Paul refuses to let her into the car, and soon several men catch up with the woman and begin beating her savagely. Paul insists on staying out of the matter, but Helene feels some sense of responsibility for what happened, and begins spending most of her time at the hospital where the woman remains unconscious. In time, it's determined that the woman's name is Noémie (Rachida Brakni), she's 22 years old, and works as a prostitute. By this time, Helene has become obsessed with protecting Noémie, and when a strange man (Wojtek Pszoniak) attempts to sign her out of the hospital, claiming he's her uncle, Helene sneaks Noémie out posing as a nurse and takes her to her mother-in-law's country house to recover. Eventually, Noémie is well enough to tell her harrowing story -- she was brought to France from Algeria by her father, along with her sister, and fell into life as a streetwalker shortly after learning that her family had sold her hand in marriage her to a man back in Algeria. Director Coline Serreau shot Chaos using digital video equipment -- and was impressed enough with the experience that she announced she had no interest in shooting on 35 mm film ever again. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Frot, Vincent Lindon, (more)
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