Sara Forestier
- 2006
As the eighth animated Asterix feature in thirteen years, the Stefan Fjeldmark and Jesper Møller-directed Asterix and the Vikings opens in Ancient Europe, at the Vikings' mountain fortress. Timandahaf, the chief of the Vikings, hears the age-old maxim "Fear lends one wings," and interprets it literally - believing that the most craven person in the world can actually teach him to fly. As Timandahaf, his counselor Cryptograf, and Cryptograf's son Olaf set forth to locate this person (christened 'The Champion of Fear,') the action shifts to the territory of Gaul. In that locale, diminutive Viking warrior Asterix and the enormous, mustachioed strongman Obelix attempt to teach teenage layabout Justforkix (the nephew of village chief Vitalstatistix) to reinvent himself as a tireless, bellicose warrior. The Gallic men are hindered in their efforts by Justforkix's sheer lack of interest - it seems he'd rather shuffle off to the local discothèque or meet girls than fight Romans. It isn't long before Olaf overhears Justforkix's confession that he is the laziest person in the known world, and decides to kidnap the young man and throw him off a cliff to watch him fly. Justforkix is naturally terrified - but doesn't count on falling for the chief's daughter, Abba. Meanwhile, Asterix and Obelix discover these developments and set off to rescue Justforkix. In the English version of this film (the second Asterix vehicle where the animation is synchronized to the speech of the American actors), Paul Giamatti voices Asterix, Brad Garrett voices Obelix, Evan Rachel Wood voices Abba and Sean Astin voices Justforkix. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Carel, Lorant Deutsch, (more)
- 2006
- R
- AddPerfume: The Story of a Murdererto QueueAddPerfume: The Story of a Murdererto top of Queue
An obsessive French perfumer with a highly developed olfactory sense and an all-consuming drive to capture the essence of love eventually resorts to murder in his unrepentant quest to find the key ingredient for his recipe in director Tom Tykwer's adaptation of author Patrick Suskind's best-selling 1985 novel. Born in a fetid fish market and raised in a dilapidated orphanage, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) toiled his childhood away in a rank tannery run by the thuggish Grimal (Sam Douglas). Subsequently obsessed by smell, Grenouille's keen olfactory sense becomes so finely tuned that it eventually overpowers such human qualities as love and compassion. Though he has indeed discovered the unmistakable scent of a woman, Grenouille finds it impossible to connect with the fairer sex on any sort of meaningful level. Roaming the streets of Paris late one night, Grenouille catches the scent of a young girl selling plums and impulsively strangles her, later sniffing her nude corpse in a twisted attempt to preserve the distinctive scent in his memory. After persuading legendary perfumer Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) to take him on as an apprentice, Grenouille travels to the town of Grasse in Southern France in order to learn the art of enfleurage at a firm run by the highly respected Mme. Arnulfi (Corinna Harfouch). It is there that Grenouille becomes dangerously drawn to the vestal aroma of the young and beautiful Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood), the daughter of widower merchant Antione Richis (Alan Rickman). Soon driven to madness by such a pure scent, the spellbound Grenouille continues to claim the lives of the numerous young girls in a tragic attempt to bottle the impossibly elusive smell of virginal womanhood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, (more)
A spy discovers doing a favor for a friend leads her into unexpectedly dangerous circumstances in this dark comedy. It's been close a decade since French intelligence agent Irene (Juliette Binoche) has heard from her friend Elliot (Nick Nolte), an American CIA operative who left Europe and took up a new identity under mysterious circumstances. But one day out of the blue Irene gets a call from Elliot as he asks her to track down his daughter Orlando (Sara Forestier), currently living in the French countryside, and bring her to Paris so they can re-connect. Irene agrees, but she soon discovers Orlando has nothing good to say about her missing dad and only grudgingly agrees to pay him a visit. When they arrive in Paris, Irene and Orlando find the family reunion is bigger than they thought -- David (Tom Riley), Elliot's stepson, is also on hand, though David and Orlando mix like oil and water. As Elliot tries to juggle meetings with his two children and Irene tries to help by playing interference, Elliot is also visited by a deranged American intelligence representative, William Pound (John Turturro), who along with Elliot knows something about a possible attack on the United States, as well as a pair of shadowy moneymen (Mathieu Demy and Said Amadis) who want to know more about the plot and are willing to pay for the privilege. Quelques Jours En Septembre (aka A Few Days In September) was the first directorial credit for veteran screenwriter Santiago Amigorena. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, John Turturro, (more)
A young tough develops a taste for the classics when he falls for a girl who wants to be an actor in this drama from France. Krimo (Osman Elkharraz) is a streetwise teenager who doesn't have much to say to either his mother (Meriem Serbah) or his girlfriend, Magali (Aurelie Ganito), and plays tough guy with his friends. But Krimo has a creative side he doesn't share with everyone which he inherited from his father, and one day, after Magali has given him his walking papers, Krimo sees a pretty girl named Lydia (Sara Forestier) who is arguing with a shopkeeper over the price of a dress. Krimo impulsively lends Lydia the money to pay for it, and learns that she's going to wear it in a school play, a classic drama by the 18th century author Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux. Intrigued, Krimo tags along to Lydia's rehearsal, and finds himself becoming increasingly fascinated with both the girl and the play. Lydia proves to be something of a taskmaster to work with, and when the show's leading man makes noises about dropping out, Krimo takes his place. However, not everyone is convinced Krimo has what it takes to pull off the role, including Lydia's best friend, Frida (Sabrina Ouazani). A box-office success in France, L'esquive (shown in North America as Games of Love and Chance) was a multiple-award winner at the 2005 Cesar Awards, the Gallic Academy Awards. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Osman Elkharraz, Sara Forestier, (more)
