Marie Mansart Movies
- 1980
A mix of characters and actions create only a semblance of a plot in this confusing tale of intrigue, undefined crimes, and incest. A newspaper reporter is working on a story about a criminal serving time in jail. He interviews the prisoner, has an affair with the criminal's daughter, and also spends some time in bed with his editor's wife. His amorous life is an adjunct to his searching out the details of the prisoner's case -- though tragedy strikes before the journalist can wrap everything up. In the meantime, it becomes clear that the daughter and imprisoned father had an incestuous relationship, raising more questions than answers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Luis Gómez, Luis Politti, (more)
- 1971
Among the great François Truffaut films, Two English Girls is likely the least known. Its story of a romantic triangle inevitably invites comparison to Truffaut's Jules and Jim, and not surprisingly, as both are based on novels by Henri-Pierre Roche (the only two novels Roche authored). Truffaut regular Jean-Pierre Leaud is Claude, the Frenchman who on a turn-of-the-century trip to Wales with his mother meets the Brown sisters, Anne (Kika Markham) and Muriel (Stacey Tendeter). Anne is a sculptress and more outgoing than Muriel, who is a teacher. Over the next 20 years, affections between Claude and the sisters shift, but consummation of any romantic feelings is often blocked by distance, a pair of very strong-willed mothers, and the conventions of the time. Claude becomes an art critic, and the trio each has to express blocked passions in his or her work. Disappointed by the mild reception that greeted the original version of the film, Truffaut determined to restore over 20 minutes of footage to the film, a project he completed just before he died in 1984. The posthumously released, full-length version rounds out the characters and their motives and makes Two English Girls worthy of comparison to The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, and Day for Night in the Truffaut filmography. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Léaud, Kika Markham, (more)
- 1954
Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles M'Etait Conte (If Versailles Were Told to Me) is best known by its American title Royal Affairs in Versailles. In addtion to writing and directed the film, Guitry reserves for himself the plum role of Louis XIV. Concentrating on the palace of Versailles over a period of 300 years, the storyline concentrates on the various amorous and political intrigues of three French kings. The plot manages to wend its way through the French revolution, coming to a halt in "the present". The star-studded supporting cast includes Jean Marais as Louis XV, Claudette Colbert as Mme. Montespan, Micheline Presle as Mme. Pompadour, and, best of all, Orson Welles as a gouty Ben Franklin. Most currently available prints of Si Versailles M'Etait Conte are severely edited, and fail to do justice to the rich Eastmancolor hues of the original version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1954
La Niege Etait Sale (The Snow Was Dirty) is based on a novel and play by the phenomenally prolific Georges Simenon. Upon learning that his mother was a prostitute, Frank (Daniel Gelin) dejectedly vows that he, too, will live a life of debauchery. Part of his self-degradation program is to kill someone, and since the story takes place during the Nazi occupation of France, he chooses a German officer as his victim. His steady descent into psychosis and depravity becomes his ultimate undoing.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Valentine Tessier, (more)
