Sandrine Kiberlain Movies

In this Kafkaesque look at the injustices of modern life, Tres Bien, Merci follows an accountant named Alex who catches the eye of authorities for the minor infraction of lighting up his cigarette just a few feet shy of the smoking area near the subway. Guards force him to pay an exorbitant fine, but Alex's breaking of minor rules earns an even more disproportionately harsh punishment when police throw him in jail overnight simply for loitering to watch an I.D. check being performed on a young couple. As things become maddeningly more absurd, he's later imprisoned in a mental institution simply for rationally pleading his defense. Throughout Tres Bien, Merci, Alex's excruciatingly lucid state of mind contrasts with the increasingly insane reactions of authority figures, illustrating the indignities of society. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

A strange phone call sets in motion a series of traumatic events in writer/director Jeanne Labrune's self-described "fantasy," C'est le Bouquet! Catherine (Sandrine Kiberlain of Alias Betty) and Raphaël (Jean-Pierre Darroussin of The Town Is Quiet) seem a reasonably happy middle-class Parisian couple until early one morning, when an old acquaintance, Emmanuel Kirsch (co-writer and one-time Godard collaborator Richard Debuisne) calls Catherine out of the blue and asks how much she got for a piece of real estate she sold 15 years earlier. This lapse of etiquette leads to an argument between Catherine and Raphaël that causes Raphaël to question the way he lives his life. That day, he goes to work and insults his pugnacious, blindly acquisitive stock-trader boss, Stéphane (Mathieu Amalric), who promptly fires him. Raphaël goes out and discusses his self-loathing with a sympathetic and amorous co-worker, Edith (Dominique Blanc). Meanwhile, Emmanuel, by way of apology, sends a bouquet to Catherine, which is misinterpreted by the couple's nosy neighbors, Antoine (Maurice Bénichou) and Alice (Hélène Lapiower), as a romantic gesture. They decide to steal Emmanuel's card so that Raphaël won't know who the flowers are from. Naturally, this only complicates the situation further. When Catherine and Raphaël arrange to meet at a local Chinese restaurant, Catherine can't find the place, and asks Robert (Jean-Claude Brialy) for directions, which leads to an argument when Robert, a playwright who also happens to be Emmanuel's neighbor, makes what Catherine thinks is a racially insensitive comment. At the restaurant, Raphaël tells Catherine about the job, and the couple contemplate what it will be like to be poor. Blanc was nominated for a César for Best Supporting Actress. C'est le Bouquet! was shown at Lincoln Center in New York as part of their 2003 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

This droll comedy from France was based on a popular stage play by the 18th century author Marivaux. As a lark, an attractive young heiress (Sandrine Kiberlain) disguises herself as a man as she travels with a servant for a weekend getaway to the estate of her close friend the Countess (Isabelle Huppert). En route, the heiress, introducing herself as "The Chevalier," encounters Lelio (Mathieu Amalric), the Countess' fiancée. Talking "man to man," Lelio confides that he isn't really in love with the Countess, but he is eager to get his hands on her dowry. He'd prefer to marry another woman he's met, who has an even greater fortune -- the heiress. However, he has already agreed to pay the Countess a considerable fortune if he breaks off the engagement; he's hoping that someone else will take her off his hands so that he can woo the heiress and come out ahead. The heiress, now aware just how much of a louse Lelio is, agrees as the Chevalier to romance the Countess, knowing that if "he" can win her away from Lelio, he'll be out of an income on both sides. Director Benoit Jacquot filmed La Fausse Suivante in a theater, using vintage costumes and minimal props to help retain the flavor of the stage production. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Letitia Masson wrote and directed this tale told in flashbacks as a detective tracks a young woman. After France Robert (Sandrine Kiberlain) steals cash and then leaves Marseilles nightclub owner Pierre (Jean-Francois Stevenin) at the altar, he still yearns for her, so he puts private investigator Luigi Primo (Sergio Castellitto) on her trail. Luigi, who married a French lawyer (Mireille Perier) but is now divorced, sends regular progress bulletins on tape. He begins the quest by talking to France's small-town parents and former boyfriend, traveling about in Paris, Grenoble, and Marseilles as he assembles the jigsaw of her past life. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This sumptuous French drama offers episodes from the notorious life of 18th century socialite and playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. The story begins in the 1770s with a rehearsal of his "The Barber of Seville." Young friend of Voltaire, Philipp Gudin introduces himself to the great playwright and offers to become his personal secretary. He then becomes the adventurous Beaumarchais' keeper as the author gets involved in a variety of situations including a duel with an angry husband, his battle with the corrupt French government and a serious long-term affair with Marie-Theres de Willer. It all comes to a climax when King Louis XV assigns the playwright a secret mission to London. There he must find and retrieve a damning document from transvestite aristocrat Chevalier D'Eon. Unfortunately, Beaumarchais gets tangled up with supporting American rebels and ends up tossed in jail. Louis XVI sees that he is finally released and then the writer becomes an arms smuggler for American revolutionaries. All of his activities bankrupt him and so Beaumarchais must return to writing plays. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Irony abounds in this French comedy that tells the tale of an unsophisticated, rather dim-bulbed country lad who follows the advice of a former French freedom fighter and tries to change himself into a hero of the recently ended French Resistance. Poor Albert is no stranger to deceit. For his first 12-years, his mother led him to believe that his father was a war hero. He is devastated to learn that his father really died of alcoholism. During the war, Albert does all he can to avoid fighting for the Resistance, even though the Nazis control his village. He marries and moves in with his wife's family, innocent of the fact that the whole time he is there, they are concealing downed British fliers. The night their town is freed, Albert leaves for Paris where he meets Dionnet, "The Captain," a bona-fide Resistance hero. It is he, who teaches Albert how to successfully change his identity. After much practice and memorization, Albert finally has a new identity and goes to work as a secretary for Mr. Jo, a former double agent. Albert stays in a boarding house, where a resident prostitute teaches him about lovemaking. Meanwhile, Albert becomes recognized as a courageous patriot, a role he manages to sustain only a little while before it all falls apart and the painful truth is finally revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The sexploits of a nerd are chronicled in this French film. Francois is a thirty-five year old playwright working on his autobiographical play "The Indecisive Guy". He is not a terribly interesting man, but he does manage to have a series of great sexual liaisons with a variety of experienced and inexperienced women. Each of the women he seduces (or that seduce him) want a commitment from Francois. But the title of his play is apt and he remains indecisive. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Martine (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) hasn't been quite right in the head since she suffered a romantic reversal several years before, but she had been getting by in the regular world fairly well. However, when her current boyfriend tells her he's leaving, she promptly butts her head into a door so hard that she suffers from amnesia and is placed in a mental ward. There, she devotes her not inconsiderable energy and inventiveness to improving the romantic lives of her fellow patients. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Antoine (Daniel Auteuil of The Closet), the busy manager of a fancy restaurant, cuts through a park in his rush to meet his frustrated girlfriend, Christine (Marilyne Canto), when he stumbles across Louis (José Garcia) attempting to hang himself. Antoine foils his efforts and takes the intensely phobic, despondent klutz home, much to Christine's chagrin. Lovesick Louis recalls that he's sent his "suicide note" to his elderly grandparents, so Antoine goes with him to intercept the letter. Antoine finds himself taking responsibility for Louis' life, getting him a job as a sommelier at the restaurant (despite his total lack of knowledge about wine and his nervousness around strangers) and going to visit Louis' ex-girlfriend, Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain of Alias Betty), a florist, and the cause of his heartbreak. Antoine finds that Blanche has a new boyfriend, and cunningly arranges for her to discover his infidelity. But when he offers Blanche comfort, she begins to feel drawn to him. With Antoine's encouragement, Louis gradually develops a newfound confidence, dressing better and excelling at work, all with an eye toward winning Blanche back. Antoine, meanwhile, is falling apart as he gets more involved in trying to fix Louis' life. Christine breaks up with him, and he struggles to hold it together at work. Worse yet, he finds himself increasingly attracted to Blanche, and conflicted in his allegiance to Louis. Pierre Salvadori's romantic farce Après vous... was shown at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendezvous With French Cinema in 2004. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide