Chantal Banlier Movies
- 2009
- NR
A man tries to make sense of his relationship with the woman who gave birth to him in this drama co-directed by Claude Miller and his son Nathan Miller. When he was five years old, Thomas Jouvet (Vincent Rottiers) and his brother Patrick were abandoned by their mother, Julie (Sophie Cattani), without any clue of why she chose to walk away from them. While Thomas was adopted by a caring couple, Yves (Yves Verhoeven) and Annie (Christine Citti), young Thomas (Maxime Renard) became an angry and rebellious kid, and he found himself shipped off to a boarding school after too many fistfights with his classmates. Deciding he needs to confront his mother about what happened when he was five, teenage Thomas slips away from school and manages to obtain Julie's address, but when he sees her, he's too shaken to talk and simply walks away. It's not until Thomas is a grown man working in an auto repair shop that he works up the nerve to introduce himself to Julie in hopes of making his way back into her life, though by this time she has another young son whom she's looking after on her own. Je Suis Heureux Que Ma Mere Soit Vivante (aka I'm Glad My Mother Is Alive) received its world premiere at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Rottiers, Sophie Cattani, (more)
- 2007
A novelist, an actress, and a struggling young singer all attempt to make their mark in modern day Paris in director Marc Fitoussi's cynical entertainment industry satire. Bertrand (Denis Podalydes) is a French literary professor whose students all know that he is shacked up with pretty math teacher Solange (Valerie Benguigui) despite the couple's best efforts to keep their relationship under the radar. Though no one in the school much cares for Bertrand's prose, self-flagellating student Frederic (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) is the one notable exception. Meanwhile, as Bertrand struggles to deliver his second novel, recent big city arrival Cora (Emilie Dequenne) finds that her fondness for outmoded songwriters may be having an adverse effect on her career trajectory. While Cora struggles to make ends meet by working at a popular chain steakhouse, even this attempt to remain afloat ultimately proves disastrous. Somewhere in another part of town, embittered actress Alice (Sandrine Kiberlain) resents the fact that she is consistently passed over for "real" film roles after accepting work as an anime voiceover artist. Yet despite the fact that Alice resents her drama school classmate Annabella (Camille Japy) due to the latter's success on the legit stage, Annabella has her own problems as evidenced by her troubled relationships with her nephew and sister. Later, the engineer for Alice's dubbing session eventually works up the muster to speak her mind, and Cora begins to sense that her luck is finally turning after a chance encounter with veteran songwriter Joseph Costals (Jean-Pierre Kalfon). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandrine Kiberlain, Émilie Dequenne, (more)
Bernard Stora directs this coming-of-age drama about a single-minded soccer player sidetracked by love. Laurant (Jalil Lespert) lives in a crowded little abode with his mother, a pair of half-brothers, and an Arabic-speaking grandmother. Laurent's soccer-playing prowess has garnered the attention of scouts from a professional team in Nantes. Believing that sex only distracts an athlete's focus, he has never bothered much with girls until he meets Fabienne (Mireille Perrier), the sexy single mother of one of his mates. Soon, a May-December relationship blooms between the two. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chantal Banlier, Yasmine Belmadi, (more)
- 1999
French filmmaker Manuel Boursinhac directs this bleak, gritty film about addiction and redemption. Fledging writer Eric (Vincent Elbaz) and his girlfriend (Laurence Cote) consort with junkie thieves. After getting busted by the cops for drug possession, he chooses to enter rehab over going to prison. Helped by his sympathetic roommate and his writing muse, Eric finds temporary relief from the pain of withdrawal. Un pur moment de rock 'n' roll was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Elbaz, Nicolas Abraham, (more)
- 1994
The unbearable vanity of the human male facing death is one of the subtler themes of this French drama which tells the story of a dying man who finally finds and desires to conquer the perfect sex object. Poor Le Clainche is about ready to keel over from a heart attack. He's already had one and knows the second will be fatal. He is in his sixties, and though tired really wants to have sex with a beautiful woman one more time (for old time's sake). Odile, a tennis pro, is the sex object possessing a natural beauty that drives men crazy. She is a daring young thing. She first appears at a carnival where she has just finished a breathless roller coaster ride. She becomes intrigued by a striptease tent and is tempted to join them after the barker tries to coerce her. When La Clainche sees Odile in a railroad compartment she instantly becomes the object of his desire and he stands firm in his commitment to have her. His come-on is not subtle and she, the perfect woman, actually considers it. A strange relationship begins. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Marielle, Richard Bohringer, (more)
- 1992
Romane Bohringer plays a young pianist ekeing out a living in Nazi-occupied Paris. When her favorite coworker, singer (Yelena Safonova), relocates to London, Bohringer goes along, much to the discomfort of Safonova's possessive husband-manager. The latter role is played by Romane Bohringer's father, veteran character actor Richard Bohringer, a fact that adds several subliminal layers to the already multitextured storyline. Avoiding the cruder implications of its material, The Accompanist is a model of taste and decorum -- perhaps too much so. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Bohringer, Yelena Safonova, (more)
- 1988
- PG
From time to time a deceased novelist or artist is sufficiently revered that, as a form of homage, his disciples will take one of his unfinished projects and attempt to bring it to completion. The screenplay for La Petite voleuse was written by Claude Miller, Luc Beraud and Anne Miller based on a scenario co-authored by the late French cinema great Francois Truffaut. It brings a respectful, unsentimental, and unflinching eye to bear on the life of Janine Castang (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a 16-year-old girl beset with antisocial drives due in part to an unpleasant home life. After the Second World War, her mother was made an outcast for consorting with the Germans, and she entrusted Janine to the doubtful care of her milquetoast brother and his highly unsympathetic wife. Janine has a vivid fantasy life, and a problem with kleptomania. After she's caught stealing she's forced to go to work as a maid rather than continue in school. Soon afterward, her romantic nature flowers in a number of new relationships which place new obstacles before her. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Simon de la Brosse, (more)
