Rodolphe Pauly Movies
- 2007
- Add The Romance of Astrea and Celadon to Queue Add The Romance of Astrea and Celadon to top of Queue
Acclaimed French filmmaker Eric Rohmer adapts author Honoré d'Urfé's classic 17th century novel to craft this morally complex tale of romance concerning a young couple about to be betrothed, but driven apart by a tragic misunderstanding. Celadon (Andy Gillet) and Astrea (Stéphanie Crayencour) are deeply in love. Each has vowed that they want to spend the rest of their lives together, but their future union is suddenly thrown into question when one day on the riverbank Astrea sees Celadon kissing another woman. Subsequently banning Celadon from her sight forever, the inconsolable Astrea is horrified to discover that Celadon has attempted to take his own life by leaping into the river after learning of the decree; fortunately, he was saved at the last minute by an upper-crust young woman (Véronique Reymond) who wants to possess him. Desperate to win Astrea back, Celadon accepts the advice of a druid priest and his niece, who convince him to dress in drag, pose as a woman, and strike up a friendship with Astrea. Before long, the two are kissing, holding hands, and napping together -- with Astrea little recognizing her new "best friend"'s real gender or identity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andy Gillet, Stéphanie Crayencour, (more)
Audrey Tautou, who rose to international stardom with the title role in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's worldwide smash Amélie, reunites with the director for this drama, set during the darkest days of World War I and its immediate aftermath. Mathilde (Tautou) is a pretty but frail young women who was left with a bad leg after a childhood bout with polio. Mathilde lives in a small French village with her Aunt Bénédicte (Chantal Neuwirth) and Uncle Sylvain (Dominique Pinon), and is engaged to marry Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), the son of a lighthouse keeper who is fighting with the army near the German front. Manech is one of five soldiers who have been accused of injuring themselves in order to be sent home; in order to discourage similar behavior among their comrades, Manech and the other soldiers are sentenced to death, and the condemned men are marched into the no man's land between the French and German lines, where they are certain to be killed. Mathilde receives word of Manech's death, but in her heart she believes that if the man she loved had been killed, she would know it and feel it. Convinced he's still alive somewhere, Mathilde hires a private detective (Ticky Holgado) shortly after the end of the war, and together they set out to find the missing Manech. Jodie Foster appears in a supporting role as a Polish expatriate living in France. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, (more)
Richard Linklater directs the romantic drama Before Sunset, a sequel to Before Sunrise (1995). Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) were strangers who spent a loquacious night together in Vienna. Nine years later, Jesse has written a book about the encounter. During his accelerated European book tour, he reunites with Celine in Paris. Before Jesse's flight home, he joins Celine for a picturesque walk around Paris peppered with intimate conversation: at first, about the minutiae of their day-to-day lives and their relationships, and then about their lingering feelings for one another. Before Sunset was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, (more)
French filmmaker and playwright Christophe Honoré adapts his own novel for the family drama Close to Léo. In the coastal town of Brittany, twentysomething Léo (Pierre Mignard) lives with his supporting family: mom (Marie Bunel), dad (Dominic Gould), and his three younger brothers. Everyone is shocked to learn the truth when Léo reveals that he's HIV positive. Brothers Tristan (Rodolphe Pauly) and Pierrot (Jérémie Lippmann) are old enough to understand, but everyone agrees little Marcel (Yannis Lespert) shouldn't hear about it. However, Marcel overhears the family's discussion and ends up feeling left out. Léo eventually takes him on a trip to Paris in order to explain his situation. Close to Léo was shown at the 2003 San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yannis Lespert, Pierre Mignard, (more)
A middle-aged woman fears that her husband is cheating on her -- and chooses a very unlikely method for verifying her paranoia -- in this psychological drama from the writer of Une Liaison Pornographique. Catherine (Fanny Ardant) is a successful Parisian gynecologist whose long-term marriage to Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) has been passionless as of late. When she checks his cell phone messages one afternoon, she discovers a suggestive "thank you" from a young colleague of his, which creates an even wider chasm between the two. Desperate, Catherine goes to an upscale strip club nearby to solicit the services of Nathalie (Emmanuelle Béart), a matter-of-fact prostitute. It seems Catherine wants Nathalie to seduce Bernard and report back to her each week, an assignment that's initially off-putting to the young woman, but one she begins to relish as the weeks pass. Soon, Nathalie is using intimate details to fuel Catherine's rage toward her husband. Nathalie... had its gala North American premiere at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
Claude Chabrol directed this well-crafted thriller, which recalls the style and themes of his best-known work of the 1960s. Marie-Claire "Mika" Muller (Isabelle Huppert), who has inherited control of a large and successful Swiss chocolate company, remarries well-known musician André Polonski (Jacques Dutronc), to whom she was briefly wed 18 years ago. After their divorce, André married a woman named Lisabeth and they had a son, Guillaume (Rodolphe Pauly), whom André was left to raise alone after Lisabeth's death in an auto accident. One of André's favorite stories is how Guillaume was almost exchanged for another baby at the hospital shortly after he was born; one day André receives a visit from a young woman named Jeanne (Anna Mouglalis), who claims to be the other child. Jeanne and André soon find they have a remarkable amount in common, and that Jeanne bears a striking resemblance to the late Lisabeth. Jeanne is beginning to wonder if there's something no one has ever told her when Mika gives her a thermos of special hot chocolate as a nightcap, which she then spills all over Jeanne. Jeanne's boyfriend, Axel (Mathieu Simonet), facetiously suggests that the cocoa might be poisoned, and out of curiosity, he tests it, finding that it has indeed been laced with a sedative notorious for its use in cases of date rape. Merci Pour le Chocolat is based on a novel by American crime novelist Charlotte Armstrong. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, (more)
Richard Linklater's third feature -- set, like his other works, over the course of one 24-hour period -- Before Sunrise is a sweet, intelligent romantic comedy filmed primarily in Austria. It stars Ethan Hawke as Jesse, a young American travelling through Europe. On a train he meets Celine, a French student portrayed by Julie Delpy. Together they leave the train to begin exploring the city of Vienna, walking and talking into the wee hours of the night and slowly falling in love as the minutes before Jesse's return to the U.S. tick away. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, (more)
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