Julianna Kovacs Movies
- 2002
Directed, written, and co-produced by Zoltan Kamondi), Kisertesek ("Temptations") illustrates the struggle between ancient traditions and the modern world of restless young Marci (Marcell Miklos), a fatherless young man who is considered somewhat of an outcast within the community. Though his mother Anna (Juli Basti, has managed to make a perfectly respectable life for herself without the aide of a husband, she refuses to give Marci (Miklos) any information about his father's identity. The resulting tension between Marci and his mother only grows when Marci brings his passionate relationship with his lover Elvira (Kati Budai) inside of their household. A heated argument eventually extracts some information from Anna--Marci's father, Tibor (Janos Derzsi), is a local farmer who can barely make ends meet. Careful not to reveal their true relationship, Marci approaches Tibor about farmwork in exchange for room and board. Tibor accepts, and Marci finds himself in another sticky situation when he meets Juli (Julianna Kovacs), a 10-year-old gypsy girl with magical powers. The strange pair teams up and hatches a plan to rob the local bank by using Juli's powers to hack into the automatic teller's computer system, but tensions soon rise again when Juli becomes fiercely jealous of Elvira.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcell Miklos, Julianna Kovacs, (more)
One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Her mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta) died in a freak accident when Amelie was eight, and her father Raphael (Rufus) had limited contact with her, since his presence seemed to throw her heart into high gear. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. When Princess Diana dies in a car wreck in the summer of 1997, Amelie is reminded that life can be fleeting and she decides it's time for her to intervene in the lives of those around her, hoping to bring a bit of happiness to her neighbors and the regulars at the cafe. Amelie starts by bringing together two lonely people -- Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), a tobacconist with a severe case of hypochondria, and Joseph (Dominique Pinon), an especially ill-tempered customer. When Amelie finds a box of old toys in her apartment, she returns them to their former owner, Mr. Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou), sending him on a reverie of childhood. Amelie befriends Dufayel (Serge Merlin), an elderly artist living nearby whose bones are so brittle, thanks to a rare disease, that everything in his flat must be padded for his protection. And Amelie decides someone has to step into the life of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a lonely adult video store clerk and part-time carnival spook-show ghost who collects pictures left behind at photo booths around Paris. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain received unusually enthusiastic advance reviews prior to its French premiere in the spring of 2001, and was well received at a special free screening at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, (more)
