Maxime Leroux

The French-filmed Baxter is based on the American novel Hell Hound. The title character is a bull terrier, who in the course of the film has many masters--and for good reason. Baxter has been instrumental in the deaths or serious injuries of most of the human beings who've come in contact with him. The dog's latest owner is a young neo-Nazi. nd Baxter makes it quite clear (to the audience at least) what he has in store for this fellow. Don't be misled by the title or the fact that the leading character is a dog with a full range of human emotions; Baxter is not a family film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Celine (Sophie Marceau) must choose between Tarquin (Lambert Wilson) and Aurele (Stephane Fries) in this historical drama set during the French Civil War of 1793. The Republican Army decimated Western France when an insurgence of peasants, clergy, and aristocrats loyal to the Royalists staged a counterrevolution. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

French pop singer Michel Sardou plays detective Thomas "Cross" Crosky in this uneven thriller. When Cross's ex-wife and daughter are kidnapped, he hires notorious hit man Eli Cantor (Roland Giraud) to help carry out his plan of vengeance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Long before America was mired in an unwinnable conflict in Vietnam, the French had spent decades in an attempt to hold onto their Indochinese colonies, which included Vietnam. By the early 1950s, several generations of dedicated, independence-minded Vietnamese had fought the French to a standstill. This long conflict culminated in a battle along the Laotian border near the town of Dien Bien Phu in March, 1954, which the French narrowly lost. That loss led to a negotiated settlement and the partition of Vietnam. Broken promises and French stubbornness resulted in continued conflict in South Vietnam and the eventual involvement of the Americans. In this film, the wider human face of that 1954 conflict is seen through the eyes of an American reporter, played by Donald Pleasence, as he travels through Vietnam researching the story. In particular, it follows the fate of one group of soldiers, members of the French Foreign Legion, whom the reporter meets at a bar in Hanoi. It is a remarkable testament to political changes in the world that this French movie was filmed in Vietnam with the cooperation of the Vietnamese government. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Mathilde (Dominique Blanc) has had a number of children, but is still an attractive woman. One day her husband simply picks up and leaves without any explanation whatever. At about the same time, she is involved at an accident at her workplace which makes her strongly aware of the passage of time. Can she once more know the love of a man? She has enough suitors: Charlie, though dull, has been in love with her since she could remember; Jacques is the father of one of her children; Mano has moved to the north of France from Spain, and wants to refurbish her house for her. Without rushing, she carefully considers each man (and her absent husband) in the context of her life, what she wants from it, and what is possible. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this 1987 film, director Bertrand Tavernier depicts French life in the Middle Ages as dreary, unromantic, and brutal. The story begins when a warrior leaves home to fight in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) between France and England. Before his departure, he gives his young son, François, a sword to safeguard his mother and her virtue. One day, after the boy opens a bedroom door to find his mother willingly submitting to a man, he uses the sword to kill the man and becomes traumatized with guilt and enmity toward his mother. Years later, François (Bernard Pierre Donnadieu) must go off to war as a chevalier, or knight. While he is away, his daughter, the gentle and loving Béatrice (Julie Delpy), sees to the needs of her little brother and her feckless mother. Although the castle in which they live is a sepulcher of shadows and stone, Béatrice maintains her spirits as she looks forward to the day when her father's voice will once again echo in the corridors. After four years of war in which he was held captive for a time by the English, he returns to the castle, a hardened warrior who has renounced God. Inside his twisted mind, he still carries the memory of that terrible day long ago, the day he discovered his mother was an adulteress. Giving the demons within him free rein, he begins to abuse everyone around him: He insults, bullies, and pillages the local village. He even forces his son Nils Tavernier to wear women's clothes and become the prey in a hunt. As he descends deeper into depravity, it is innocent Béatrice who suffers the most. Whether he has completely destroyed her, or whether she will rise up and destroy him, becomes the central focus of the film as it moves toward its conclusion. The dialogue is in French with English subtitles. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

The two brothers (Ludovic Vandendaele and Erick Da Silva) in this story are homeless and unsocialized; if they ever knew a loving family, it was from the outside looking in. They live by stealing, but they get their kicks from breaking things; at the beginning of the film they have stolen a bus and driven it over the edge of a cliff. They are fascinated by fish, especially the kind that are still trying to breathe even though they have been on ice for hours. In their imaginations, they are sharks and the rest of society is fish. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This easygoing French comedy -- originally and more wittily titled Romuald et Juliette -- is about conservative Parisian yogurt-company executive Romuald Blindet (Daniel Auteuil) who by circumstance finds himself drawing closer to his black cleaning woman Juliette Bonaventure (Firmine Richard). A romance develops, which the impoverished woman exploits to the advantage of her five out-of-wedlock children. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After raising her daughter to be a beautiful young woman and developing a lively career as a wallpaper designer, one would think that Julie's (Miou-Miou) life was rather full. However, she recently got an offer from the French consul to a mission in Pondicherry, India to teach her skills to Indians. She can only do this if she gets her high-school diploma, something she neglected to do earlier. The idea of this new post motivates her to rectify her youthful omission, and she goes back to school in Montparnasse. Just before classes are to start, her current boyfriend's (Maxime Leroux) condescending ways prove too much for her, and she breaks up with him, reacting to that by getting drunk. Thus, when she has to take the subway to school on the first day, being unfamiliar with the route and somewhat the worse for wear, she gets lost. Fortunately, she meets an elderly man (Yves Robert), a retired musician for the Paris Opera, who is headed for the very same destination. The two form a relationship of mutual encouragement and support, and Julie is then ready to cope with the mostly positive challenges of her new studies. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide