Mado Maurin Movies

Acclaimed Kurdish director Hiner Saleem (Vodka Lemon, Dol) takes the reins once again for his seventh feature outing, the offbeat drama Beneath the Rooftops of Paris (AKA Sous les toits de Paris, 2007 - not to be confused with the famous 1930 René Clair film of the same title). French screen legend Michel Piccoli (I'm Going Home) stars as Marcel, an octogenarian Parisian man who inhabits a decrepit and filthy top-tiered flat in the City of Lights, initially with his younger friend Amar (Maurice Benichou). The men experience their final months together as roommates one sticky, sweltering summer. Their days are littered with resolutely small, almost fleeting pleasures, such as consortions with a waitress, Therese (Mylene Demongeot) in a nearby café and temporary respites from the suffocating heat wave that is closing in on Paris via brief dips in the community swimming pool. As time roles on, however, Marcel's life grows unbearably difficult; Amar hearkens off to greener pastures, and as autumn spells an end to the summer, the elderly man's health deteriorates to the point of rendering his life utterly unbearable. Most problematic is the fact that no one seems to stay in his life for any length of time - friends come and go with alarming rapidity, leaving Marcel to fend for himself. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this light French comedy, Marie and Jerome (Marlene Jobert) and Patrick Chesnais) are a middle aged couple desperate to have a child. They have tried to deal with the official adoption agencies, but the bureaucracies are so hidebound that they'll likely reach their dotage before a child becomes available. Next they try to persuade a pregnant teen to give up her baby, but that doesn't work either. Marie and Jerome are left to resort to more desperate measures. Various well-known French funnymen have cameos, including Romain Bouteille and Christian Clavier. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Through a series of convoluted turns, like a tornado going through Kansas, director Claude Lelouch has managed to keep a vacuum at the center of his film. A corporate executive (Michel Piccoli and a young actress (Evelyne Bouix) suddenly disappear and reappear and disappear, almost as fast as blinking Christmas tree lights. Since neither can remember what is going on, it is likely that they are suffering from the classic "I was kidnapped by an extraterrestrial" syndrome. And in fact, that may be the case because it seems that some ETs wanted to speak through these two people to tell earthlings to quit gearing up their nuclear arsenals. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays an acting teacher and Charles Aznavour plays a restaurant owner in this complex story -- yet both stars cannot carry the film on their own merits. For many viewers the labyrinth that wends its way to the final credits is a bit difficult to follow, and at the center of the labyrinth is a woefully inadequate ending. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Director Jacques Richard tried to emulate a silent movie in all its aspects when he filmed Rebelote. Originally screened with a live string orchestra, the silent black-and-white film has inter-titles and tongue-in-cheek, melodramatic acting and a "soap opera" type plot. Unfortunately, the tale of a sad delinquent trying to overcome his miserable childhood to find success at love and life is not a cleverly acted or staged parody, and so the idea falls short of the standards of excellence of bygone, silent screen days. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi