Francois Marthouret Movies

An orthodox Jewish teen living with her family in France attempts to balance her religious upbringing with her increasingly complex view of the outside world in director Karin Albou's incisive meditation on religion, philosophy, and the weight of romance on the mind of a growing girl. Eighteen-year-old student Laura (Fanny Valette) lives with her widowed mother (Sonia Tahar), her sister (Elsa Zylberstein), and her brother-in-law (Bruno Todeschini) in the suburban Paris neighborhood of Sarcelles. Though her exposure to the world thus far has been culturally limited due to the fact that her family resides in a neighborhood is often referred to as "Little Jerusalem" due to its large Jewish population, Laura's studies have told her that the world is full of interesting and diverse people. An overly serious and self-disciplined girl whose outward maturity defies her youthful age, Laura vows to avoid romance before finding that fate doesn't always play by the rules. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Playing like a combination of Todd Solondz, John Waters, and a dysfunctional and incestuous generic television sitcom, director François Ozon's blacker than night psychological family comedy touches on many aspects that would frighten off most casual viewers on concept alone. From the opening scene of a father gunning down his family (albeit experienced audibly while the camera remains fixed on an external shot of the exceedingly proper and mundane suburban home) to mother/son sex, and even moments that border on bestiality, Sitcom gleefully and unapologetically attempts to dismantle the denial-prone status quo while constantly dwelling on self-conscious shock tactics and riffs on such nuclear family stereotypes as the indifferent father and the obsessively proper mother figure. And while Ozon's tactics hit the marks at times early on, as the film grows increasingly debaucherous it becomes more and more difficult to assess the method to the suburban nightmare madness the film portrays. By the time the surreal climax involving one of the human characters' literal transformation into the catalyst that set the opening scene's tragedy into motion rolls around, it feels uncharacteristically out of place and forced within the admittedly already absurd context of the previous 70 minutes. As repulsive as some of the more sordid details of the deteriorating family values may be, the majority of the film keeps the viewer involved and interested until the apparent lack of direction and outcome sends it careening out of control and spiraling into a nonsensical conclusion. Had Ozon anchored himself to reality, so to speak, he may have crafted a not altogether flawless, but effective comment on the banality of the sugar-coated denial that makes up the majority of television sitcoms and its disturbing transcendence into real life. As it stands however, the film is effective and entertaining for the most part, though its ambiguously confusing ending distills the jarring impact that this otherwise effective satire may have held. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Bo Derek stars as B.J. Cassidy, a Texas millionaire out to take over a French chocolate production company who instead finds romance with the factory's owner (Robert Hays). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

In this mildly explicit sexual drama, the lovely dancer Annabelle (Delphine Zingg) has a passionate relationship with an older man but eventually decides to devote her romantic energies to a younger man with whom she has more in common. Between sex scenes, and philosophical discussions between friends and lovers about love and relationships, the viewer is treated to shots of the lovely dancer mulling over her life at various scenic locations in Paris. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In cold-blooded, vigilante style, a mother exacts revenge for the deaths of her daughter and her daughter's lover in this run-of-the-mill thriller by Alain Bonnot. Jeanne Dufour (Annie Girardot) knows her daughter lives on the wrong side of the law, but when the daughter takes part in a bank robbery and is mercilessly shot down by her supposed cohorts -- who also kill her boyfriend -- the mother vows to avenge her death. Her resolve starts her off on a series of violent and calculated murders executed with no concern for possible consequences -- a dangerous attitude to assume. Within a tightly-paced story, Jeanne is remote in action and emotion, making it difficult to care about what she is doing, or why. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Though he is a homosexual, he has been completely circumspect in his behavior since he entered the French diplomatic corps. However, in this film, he is routinely being followed so that a dossier can be created on him by an undercover agency. They use the leverage they gain in this manner in a variety of ways, and it could even be that their investigation is fully sanctioned by the government. However, as the lad grows aware of the investigation, his carefully composed facade begins to crumble. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Françoise and Vincent have grown tired of the stuffy, constrained and overly commercial quality of life in Geneva. With the help of a friend, they hope to move to Algeria and do something really different in a different place. They sell practically everything they own in preparation for the journey. Then they get a telegram from their friend urging them to stay put for a little while: a letter explaining things further is on its way. While they wait, they begin to think that the problem may not be with Geneva itself, but with their own sense of what is possible there. They decide to stay and make changes in their own lives. This film is in the French language. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This Costa-Gavras thriller stars Yves Montand as an East European government functionary, inexplicably imprisoned by his Communist superiors. He is not told why he has been arrested, nor has his wife (Simone Signoret) been informed of his fate. Undergoing psychological torture, Montand is grilled about his wartime activities. At the end of his rope, Montand agrees to sign several papers that are thrust before him. He eventually discovers that he's to be a defendant in a "show trial" conducted by his government. He never knows the whys and wherefores of the whole affair -- nor does the audience. The Confession was based on the true story of loyal Communist Arthur London's unjustified purge trial of 1951. Despite the film's confusion, Costa-Gavras' Kafkaesque view of the world, in which the individual is overwhelmed by events that he can't possibly begin to understand, struck a responsive chord in the chaotic early '70s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi