Roch Leibovici Movies

Gabriel Byrne and Marianne Basler star in this drama about the relationship between a British sergeant and a French woman during WW II. Once a Resistance member, the woman had an affair with a German officer and is a target for the group's execution. Coming to her rescue, the sergeant protects her, and they engage in an odd affair. Before long, however, he must choose between her and his military duties. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

The troubled life of French sculptor Camille Claudel and her long relationship with legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin are portrayed in this passionate biographical drama, featuring an acclaimed performance by Isabelle Adjani. Beginning in the 1880s with a young Claudel's first meeting with Rodin, the film traces the development of their intense romantic bond. The growth of this relationship coincides with the rise of Claudel's career, helping her overcome prejudices against female artists. However, their romance soon sours, due to the increasing pressures of Rodin's fame and his love for another woman. These difficulties combine with her increasing doubts about the value of her work to drive Claudel into an emotional tumult that threatens to become insanity. First-time director Bruno Nuytten had previously served as a cinematographer, and he brings this experience to bear in his loving presentation of Claudel's sculpture and the lavish period setting. The dramatic approach is in tune with the impressive visuals, which present Claudel's life as a grandiose melodrama, a transformation that irritated some critics. However, few questioned the film's value as a dramatic showcase for Adjani, whose fervent portrayal was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The American release version was cut to 159 minutes. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Baudin (Michel Serrault) and Tayar (Wadeck Stanczak) become trapped in a movie theater while trying to fend off a gang of marauding juvenile thugs. The two agree to settle their personal differences in their fight over a pretty female in order to halt the violent siege. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Memoire des Apparences is a highly unconventional, metafictional adaptation of Calderon de la Barca's play Life is a Dream. Director Raul Ruiz combines the 17th-century Spanish drama, about a man raised in a prison who discovers he is his country's rightful prince, with a modern-day story of Chilean political intrigue. During the violent, anti-Allende coup of the early 1970s, literature professor Ignaccio Vega is entrusted with memorizing a list of 15,000 resistance members. He does so, using the Calderon play -- which he had learned as a youth -- as a mnemonic device. Ten years later, he is asked to reconstruct the list. Frustrated at his initial inability to recall the play (and therefore the list), he seeks refuge in a movie theater. The film then proceeds to mix three different levels of reality: Vega's actual life, the films he watches, and the Calderon play he slowly remembers. As the deadline nears, these worlds begin to overlap, and Vega realizes all may not be as it seems. Ruiz juggles realities with his usual aplomb, handling serious political and theoretical subjects with a dry, surrealist wit and mixing a seriousness of purpose with playfully experimental film techniques. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi