Monique Melinand Movies

An ambitious project of Chile-born, Paris-based Raul Ruiz, this psychological drama brings to the screen the famous classic of Marcel Proust with fidelity to its interior monologues and streams of consciousness. Proust (Marcelo Mazzarella), on his deathbed in his small apartment on Rue Hamelin, is looking through old photos and remembering his life, as real characters intermingle with fictional ones from his novels. The period is 1914-18, when WWI is raging. Hidden in Paris, thanks to his asthma, Marcel Proust wanders into the night. He finds an aging courtesan in Café de la Paix, which is deserted by the curfew. Charlus, the seducer of young boys, is at the Palais des Felicites where he meets his lovers. Gilberte returns alone to Tansonville to evade the confiscation of her chateau by the Germans after the death of her husband at the front. Famous violinist Morel is hiding in a decrepit hotel. The demoralizing effects of war affect all the characters, hastening their decadence or transforming them into caricatures. In the whirlpool of the grotesque specter of war, Marcel finds refuge in his childhood memories to escape the atrocities around him. Death and decadence, the evanescence of human existence, and the relations between space and time are some of the main themes explored in this film, which reflects the works of Marcel Proust in every detail. Raul Ruiz has on his side a very good screenwriter, Gilles Taurand, and an impressive cast: Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich, who have collaborated with Ruiz before, Emanuelle Béart, Vincent Pérez, Pascal Greggory, and the Italian man of theatre, Marcello Mazzarella. Shown in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Soriba Samb (Oumar Diop Makena) is a Senegalese who has gotten a much-prized internship to study filmmaking in Paris. In this story, Soriba heads to Paris, accompanied by the five-year old son of a friend of his who is believed to be still living in Paris. In addition to coping with his new internship, Soriba has to track down the boy's father Issa, a childhood friend of his, and attempt to persuade him to return to Senegal. When he finds him, he discovers that he is successfully running a prostitution ring, and selling pornography, and is not at all inclined to leave Paris. Despite that, Soriba goes to the trouble of performing the spells and rituals he has promised Issa's mom he would do. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The year 1989 marked the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, and a number of filmmakers put together movies intended to celebrate that event. This historical action drama, based on the book Sous le vent de galerne by Andre Guilloteau looks at some of the less well-known and unappealing consequences of the republican takeover. In 1793, the entire region of Vendee rose up in revolt against the republican French government. Instead of bringing relief from the heavy taxation imposed under the monarchy, the republican government actually raised taxes in the region, and to add insult to injury, also imposed a heavy burden of military conscription ("the draft") on it. In the story, the inhabitants of one of the villages of the region organize under their blacksmith and a local nobleman to fight the government forces, but before they can prepare for a proper battle, they are massacred. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

An experimental film imbued with atmosphere and some puzzling moments, Cauchemars features a troubled young woman who lives alone in a rundown house. She meanders around and one day reveals a hidden talent when she goes into a bar, plays magnificently at the piano, and leaves as mysteriously as she came. Meanwhile, an unidentified man is on her trail and eventually tracks her down to the bar she had visited. As the dragnet around her closes in, it becomes apparent that the young woman's stepmother is behind the effort to locate her. But questions over why she is hiding out and what she is hiding from begin to take on more importance as the history of the young woman starts to surface. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Though his friendships with very young girls could very well be innocent in nature, a lonely man panics when the eight-year-old girl he is seeing gets scared, and he kills her. In this courtroom drama, after being subjected to every kind of psychiatric testimony about his arrested development and the court's belief that he has abused the girls he befriended, the accused man makes a compelling statement. In it he states that society bears no great affection for children, judged by its actions, but it does project its dark side onto those it names as criminals. This drama/docudrama is an impassioned plea against the French death penalty. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this complex chronicle of the evolution of a provincial family's life, the story follows three generations of at least two neighboring families from the 1890s to the 1970s. In one of many related tales, a man who was engaged to the older daughter of a farmer elopes with the younger one. After many years and the birth of five children, the man leaves his wife and family for the bright lights of the city but continues turning up from time to time, until he is finally taken into the home of one of his sons when he is a quite old man. The complex interactions of the legitimate and illegitimate children of a womanizing miner give rise to yet another set of related stories. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When cancer strikes the mother of the family in this French film, everyone in the family expresses a previously invisible caring and tolerance of the others. The father has always been a bit of a drunk, and is forever chasing younger women. Despite that, he and his wife care for each other, and he tends attentively to her in her last days while remaining unchanged in character. The son and daughter-in-law, whose marriage is somewhat sterile, have similarly penetrating interactions with the dying mother. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Originally Mourir D'Aimer, this 1970 French film is an "a clef" treatment of the once-notorious Gabrielle Russier case. Annie Girardot stars as a thirtyish schoolteacher, who falls in love with teenaged student Bruno Pradal. The boy's parents bring charges against the teacher, and the subsequent public scandal ruins the lives of both lovers. Director Andre Cayatte was a longtime opponent of the antiquated French legal system, so it's not surprising that the cards are stacked in favor of the teacher and student, with their accusers depicted in the foulest, ugliest terms. Adding to the film's partisan approach is the fact that the screenplay is based on a story written by the real Gabrielle Russier's attorney. To Die of Love is shameless in its manipulation of the audience; it also has the saving grace of being extremely well produced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A veteran police inspector (Lino Ventura) is reprimanded after killing a youth who goes on a murderous killing spree. He is sent to a provincial police station where he is helped by his assistant (Marlene Jobert) in solving local crimes. As the duo embarks on a witness search, they begin to develop feelings for one another. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Antonin (Jacques Perrin) is a young French soldier who returns home from World War I to recover from his wounds. When he falls in love with a young widow (Macha Meril), Antonin questions his role in battle and contemplates desertion as he recalls the horrors of war. He is pressured by his patriotic father (Rene Dary) to honor his military commitment even if it means he will die. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Transference of guilt, a theme near and dear to the heart of French author Georges Simenon, forms the basis of Passion of Slow Fire, adapted from Simenon's novel La Mort de Belle. American student Alexandra Stewart completing her education in France, turns up murdered. The prime suspect is professor Jean Desailly, inasmuch as Stewart was residing with Desailly and his wife Monique Melinard. While the professor is innocent, the impact of the tragedy causes him to kick over the traces, acquire a mistress, and ultimately kill her. Passion of Slow Fire was also released as The End of Belle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this routine drama, Vers l'Extase refers to the ecstasy of religious experience. In search of this elusive state, Catherine (Pascale Petit) is very devout, and for murky reasons, decides to marry a man -- perhaps to leave her niggling family behind -- and move to Morocco with him. But once in Morocco, Catherine does not consider her marriage on a par with her quest, and so she goes to live with a family as a maid in order to attain a properly humble state. The confusing journey does not end there, as she finally decides even that job is not meeting her expectations. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide