Jean-Marc Barr Movies

Director Bruce Beresford has safely stayed within the domain of the Bible and not strayed into patches of Hollywood fiction in this routine version of the story of David (Richard Gere). For that reason, anyone unfamiliar with Biblical history might be puzzled by the episodic presentation of David's life. In the opening scenes, Samuel condemns Saul and anoints the young David as his heir, and in fairly quick succession David slays Goliath, incurs Saul's jealous wrath, leaves, and, much later, comes back to rule after Saul has died. Once David is on the throne, Bathsheba and then Absalom enter into the picture. Interspersed are brutal scenes of fighting, but not much in the way of motivation for David's complex behavior. Gaps in the narration or unclear motivation may be the result of trying to cover too many events in a 114-minute running time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel is an account of a novelist, still smarting from a failed relationship, who finds refuge at a Swiss lakefront resort. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy adventure. Jacques (Jean-Marc Barr) and Enzo (Jean Reno) are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men (he even considers a school of dolphins as his extended family). As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest - determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear - Jacques meets Johanna (Rosanna Arquette), a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea. Le Grand Bleu ran 132 minutes in its original French version, but it was trimmed to 118 for American release, with the original score by Eric Serra replaced by music from Bill Conti. While the film did middling business in the U.S., it was a huge success in Europe, and director Luc Besson released an expanded 168 minute version in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Europa (retitled Zentropa for the American release) is an hallucinatory Danish film set in postwar Germany. Jean-Marc Barr plays a young German who aspires for a job as a street conductor. But this is no mere "Joe Job;" Barr's adventures on the line are designed as a metaphor for the emergence of the "New Europe" following the war. Barbara Sukowa costars as the daughter of a railroad magnate--and possible Nazi sympathizer. Many of the special-effects sequences are computer enhanced, but even the "live" scenes have an unsettling, surreal quality to them (colors changing abruptly, backgrounds shifting without warning, etc.) This experimental film left some viewers confused, which may be why English-language prints of Zentropa are narrated by Max Von Sydow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy was shot in Tahiti. It focuses on the rocky relationship between Cohn, a local con man, and author Jack Baker who wants to profile Paul Gauguin in an upcoming book. Cohn, an obnoxious crook and pathological liar originally from Paris, has been the bane of the local population for years, yet despite his annoyances they will not arrest him. Hearing that Cohn owns an authentic Gauguin, Jack Baker makes his acquaintance. They do not get off to a great start, but eventually become friends after Cohn's secret is discovered. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This European film, shot entirely in rural Finland, parodies American biker movies from the 1960's. It tells the strange and convoluted story of acid-head, biker Bad Trip who belonged to a motorcycle gang known as the Cannibals. Trip is on the run from his former gang after he is caught stealing gang leader Candy's bike. As he tries to escape from the vicious gang he encounters many strange characters who either help or hinder him. When Trip takes LSD, he is visited by the Silver Rider, who helps him get away by creating a decapitation trap. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An aviation magnate takes desperate measures to regain custody of his kids after he is granted minimal visitation rights by a harsh female judge. It's true that Manu Barnes is free-spirited and for much of his twelve year marriage to Mathilde that he has been too centered on his career, but he does love his kids and believes he should see them more often than one weekend a month. The judge called him irresponsible and he decides to disprove her words by kidnapping Chloe, the judge's strong-willed adolescent daughter. He takes the girl to a remote, snow-bound mountain cabin. Unfortunately, she thinks Manu is sexually attracted to her. A disaster nearly occurs there, but Chloe manages to get back to Paris. Though he knows a private detective is trailing him, the determined Manu decides to abduct his kids and take them out of the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Few people realize that the great movie-character archetypes over time have become real people and walk among us. At least that is the premise the filmmakers of this off-beat and comical parody of old films would have viewers believe. With a nod towards film noir, the story centers on a missing television western sheriff who inexplicably disappears mid-season. This greatly upsets Monica "Mo" Fitzgerald who is in charge of the huge entertainment conglomerate that invented the sheriff, so she hires hard-boiled detective "Same Follow" to find him. In true Raymond Chandler fashion he begins his search and even gets entangled with a blond femme fatale who explains to him how Mo' has brainwashed all the actors working for her into becoming their characters or "sprites" as she calls them. In looking more closely, Follow discovers that it is increasingly difficult to tell the sprites from real people. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this erotic French-Italian-Spanish drama, Max (Georges Corraface), having spent a decade behind bars on a murder conviction, exits the prison a free man. Mysterious museum-worker Mila (Anna Galiena) is parked at the prison gate and speaks to him from her car. Mila is married to businessman Simon (Jean-Marc Barr), who doesn't satisfy her sexually. Later, when Max descends into a basement cafe to use the rest-room, he spots Mila at a pay phone, approaches her, and they have sex amid the rest-room urinals. Max gives her his phone number, and they rendezvous at an upscale hotel. When Max begins following Mila and spying on her, he makes a startling discovery -- her husband is his own brother. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Born in Dorsetshire, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) fictionalized the region as Wessex in his short stories and novels. In 1973, stories from Thomas Hardy's collection Wessex Tales (1888) were adapted to television for a BBC-2 series (also titled Wessex Tales) that included a memorable contribution ("A Tragedy of Two Ambitions") scripted by acclaimed British dramatist Dennis Potter, who later adapted Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge for the BBC2 in 1978. The Scarlet Tunic is based on another story from Wessex Tales, "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion," a 20-page tale of thwarted love, structured as a recollection by Phyllis as told to Hardy shortly before she died. For this $800,000-budgeted British period film, set in the early 19th century, the name Phyllis was changed to Frances (Emma Fielding), daughter of retired doctor Edward Groves (Jack Shepherd). Frances is engaged to her father's friend, dull Humphrey Gould (John Sessions), away on business. A German cavalry regiment is encamped on Groves' land, and one day, Frances meets handsome hussar Matthaus (Jean-Marc Barr), who's ready for action. He would like to either fight the French or return to Germany. The two have an immediate attraction. When the bored soldiers, including Matthaus, make plans to desert, Frances decides to leave with Matthaus. Unfortunately, Gould visits the Groves home on that very night, with resulting confrontations and conflicts. Former second-unit director and stunt coordinator Stuart St. Paul makes his feature directorial debut, with the screenplay (St. Paul, Mark Jenkins, Colin Clements) expanding on both the events and characters as penned by Hardy. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Lovers is a love story which focuses on the difficulties of opening up to another person. Dragan (Sergej Trifunovic), a young painter from the former Yugoslavia, walks into a bookshop, and Jeanne, the woman behind the counter (Elodie Bouchez), decides to fall in love with him. The rest of the film is about the identity of Dragan and the Jeanne's worries about the relationship. Director Jean-Marc Barr, known as an actor from such films as The Big Blue, got initiated into the Dogma 95 film movement while acting in Lars von Trier's Europa. Lovers is the fifth film to carry the seal of Von Trier's Dogma manifesto, which mandates that films be made in a naturalistic manner, with hand-held camera, natural light, and no background music, among other restrictions; and it was the first one which was not made in Denmark. Despite its strict adherence to the Dogma rules, it is a Paris story reminiscent of the French New Wave. Lovers was screened at the 1999 Munich Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

In this metaphoric drama from French writer, director, and actor Jean-Marc Barr, Lyle ($Barr) is a farmer who lives in the rural Midwest with his wife Amy (Rosanna Arquette). Lyle's marriage to Amy is not an especially happy one; they never have sex, partly because she can't bear to betray the memory of her first husband, who has passed on, and partly because she is frightened by Lyle's unusually large penis. Lyle pursues celibacy with a grim determination until the day his childhood friend Vernon (Ian Vogt) comes to town for a visit with his wife, a beautiful French woman named Juliette (Elodie Bouchez). Vernon has been unable to satisfy Juliette sexually, and when she hears about Lyle's unusually proportioned body, she decides to seduce him. All is happy for Lyle and Juliette until word of their affair spreads through town, angering a group of vengeful fundamentalist Christians. While Barr and most of his creative team are from France, Too Much Flesh was shot in English on location in Illinois. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide