Jean-Damien Barbin Movies
- 1989
The year 1989 marked the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, and a number of filmmakers put together movies intended to celebrate that event. This historical action drama, based on the book Sous le vent de galerne by Andre Guilloteau looks at some of the less well-known and unappealing consequences of the republican takeover. In 1793, the entire region of Vendee rose up in revolt against the republican French government. Instead of bringing relief from the heavy taxation imposed under the monarchy, the republican government actually raised taxes in the region, and to add insult to injury, also imposed a heavy burden of military conscription ("the draft") on it. In the story, the inhabitants of one of the villages of the region organize under their blacksmith and a local nobleman to fight the government forces, but before they can prepare for a proper battle, they are massacred. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Laurier, Roger Jendly, (more)
Edmond Rostand's classic drama of inner and outer beauty is given a lavish treatment in this acclaimed French production. Gérard Depardieu portrays the title character, a brilliant, charismatic swordsman with a generous spirit and a genius for poetry. It would seem that such a man would have no trouble attracting women, but Cyrano considers himself doomed to loneliness by an unattractive face featuring an oversized nose. His feelings of inadequacy are emphasized when Roxane, the beautiful woman he adores, attracts the attention of Christian, a young cadet in Cyrano's service. Christian lacks the poetic gift, however, and he ironically turns to Cyrano for help in winning Roxane's love. What follows is a tale of deception, with Roxane falling in love with the ineloquent Christian thanks to Cyrano's words of love. The underlying narrative has become quite familiar to modern audiences through retellings and variations from the 1950 adaptation starring José Ferrer to Steve Martin's Roxanne. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's interpretation stresses the tragic majesty of the original, setting a vigorous performance by Depardieu against a beautifully designed reproduction of the period and an emphasis on the sound and poetry of Rostand's original language; the subtitles for the film's English release were penned by renowned British author Anthony Burgess. This attention to detail creates a particularly faithful cinematic rendering of the original work that met with positive critical responses. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, (more)
- 1990
Pierre Lacenaire is among the most notorious killers in French history. This well-wrought drama, tells his story. It begins in 1836 as the icy but somehow charming and intellectual Lacenaire awaits his execution and through a series of flashbacks chronicles the events and reasons why he has ended up on Death Row. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Jean Poiret, (more)
- 2008
With this high-concept, all-star French comedy (it features at least sixteen Gallic marquee names including Michel Blanc and Josiane Balasko), director Jean-Michel Ribes sets out to skewer the pretentiousness of the European art world. It's just a typical, ordinary day at a French art museum, but the cast of characters on display here finds the terrain anything but easy to navigate; they include a mother who literally becomes an art exhibit when her body is coated in plastic and put on display, a minister shocked to his core by artistic displays of sexual organs, a curator suffering from acute botanophobia, a stowaway who hides out in the principal art room, and many other idiosyncratic misfits. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Blanc, Simon Abkarian, (more)
