Emmanuelle Béart Movies
Initially cast for her extraordinary beauty, Emmanuelle Béart has emerged over the years as one of France's preeminent actresses. The blonde, sapphire-eyed Béart first gained notice for her starring role in Manon des Sources, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress César, and went on to gain further respect with her roles in such films as La belle noiseuse, Un Coeur en Hiver, and Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud.The daughter of pop singer and poet Guy Béart, Béart was born on August 14, 1965 in the small southern town of Gassin, near St. Tropez. Following her parents' divorce when she was very young, Béart and her siblings were raised by her mother in a small mountain village in Provence. Béart began acting at a young age and had her first substantial role as one of a group of children struggling to survive after a nuclear holocaust in Demain les Momes (1976). A subsequent stint as an au pair in Montreal led to a chance meeting with director Robert Altman, who wanted the unknown actress to appear in one of his upcoming films and encouraged her to continue acting. The planned collaboration never came to fruition, and, after returning to France, where she began taking drama classes, Béart won her breakthrough role as the vengeful daughter of the late Jean de Florette in Manon des Sources (1986). Following the film's success and her César win, she sought to avoid typecasting, taking on a number of diverse roles in films of varying quality. In 1989, she played a drug addict in Les Enfants du Desordre, while two years later she gained some of her strongest notices as an artist's model in Jacques Rivette's La belle noiseuse.
The following year, Béart starred in what many felt was her strongest film since Manon, Un Coeur en Hiver. She portrayed a high-strung violinist, starring alongside Daniel Auteuil, with whom she starred in Manon and with whom she had been involved with since the mid-1980s; they had a daughter together in 1992 and separated after ten years together. It was her last highly acclaimed film until 1995, when she starred with Michel Serrault in Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud, playing a dissatisfied young woman who gets caught up in psychological turmoil when she begins working for an emotionally repressed businessman. That same year, she starred with Auteuil in Regis Wargnier's Une Femme Française, in a role written for her by Wargnier. The film, which cast Béart as a passionate woman caught up in a series of love affairs, was not the success it was expected to be, although Béart did win a Best Actress award at the Moscow International Film Festival. Following a window-dressing role in Mission Impossible (1996), her second English language feature, Béart again dedicated herself to making French films. In 1999, she starred in Le Temps retrouvé, Raul Ruiz's acclaimed period drama inspired by the works of Marcel Proust. The film was screened in competition at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to her screen work, Béart is also known in France for her political and social involvement. Aside from being the ambassador for UNICEF, she has made news for her opposition to anti-immigration legislation, making headlines in August 1996 when she was forcibly removed from a siege in a Paris church. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Parents looking for a missing child are led into a strange and dangerous netherworld in this thriller. Jeanne (Emmanuelle Beart) and Paul (Rufus Sewell) are a wealthy couple who were in Thailand helping to establish an orphanage when the 2005 tsunami leveled the island. Jeanne and Paul had a young son who disappeared in the storm, and since his body has never been found, Jeanne holds out hope that he might still be alive, a hope that becomes a desperate concern when she sees a video of children being held by kidnappers in Burma which shows a child who looks like her boy. Eager to find out the truth, Paul pays a hefty fee to local outlaw Mr. Gao (Petch Osathanugrah) to escort him and Jeanne into a forbidden zone known only to Thailand's criminal underclass near the Burmese border. Jeanne and Paul soon find themselves out of their depth in a strange land they do not understand where dangerous men commune with the spirits of the dead. The first English language project from writer and director Fabrice du Welz, Vinyan was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Rufus Sewell, (more)
- 2007
A movie fan finds a way to make himself a presence in the lives of his favorite actresses in this comedy from French writer-director Laetitia Colombani. Robert Lepage (Kad Merad) is a janitor who is part of the cleaning crew at the offices of the biggest talent agency in Paris. Ordinarily, this job wouldn't offer many perks, but Robert is clever enough to know what to look for while he's vacuuming or emptying waste baskets, and he's able to swipe invitations to major events and pencil himself onto guest lists for show-biz soirees. Robert's longtime girlfriend (Maria de Medeiros) doesn't think much of his double life, but he's having enough fun that he starts adding his own thoughts to paperwork at the office, and begins using his skills to boost the careers of his favorite stars -- classy veteran actress Solange Duvivier (Catherine Deneuve), sultry siren Isabelle Serena (Emmanuelle Beart) and promising starlet Violette Duval (Melanie Bernier). Thanks to Robert's meddling, Solange, Isabelle and Violette are cast together in a big-budget costume epic, but when he becomes a regular visitor to the set, the actresses begin wondering among themselves who he is and how he became such a big shot. Mes Stars Et Moi (aka My Stars) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
The early days of the AIDS crisis in France provides the backdrop for this powerful, life-affirming drama from writer and director André Téchiné. It's 1984, and Mehdi (Sami Bouajila) is a police detective who, unbeknownst to his wife Sarah (Emmanuelle Béart), is a bisexual who has occasional trysts with men. Mehdi and Sarah are proud parents of a new baby, but to Mehdi's chagrin, Sarah doesn't seem the least bit concerned about her responsibilities as a mom. Manu (Johan Libereau) is a handsome young man who shares a flat with his sister Julie (Julie Depardieu), who is struggling to make a career as an opera singer. And Adrien (Michel Blanc) is a middle-aged doctor and close friend of Sarah who occasionally picks up younger men in the park, and nearly seduces Manu one evening. Adrien joins Sarah and Mehdi for an idyllic weekend at the beach, where Manu once again crosses his path; however, Manu also meets Mehdi when he saves the detective from drowning, and the two soon become lovers. Several months later, Manu has discovered he's contracted a strange and deadly new disease doctors are calling AIDS, which has a dramatic impact on many of the people he knows. Mehdi has confessed his infidelity to Sarah, and they wait to find out if they also have AIDS, while Adrien is devoting most of his days to treating Manu and other young men who are wasting away under the effects of the illness, and Julie helps to care for her dying brother. The Witnesses (aka Les Témoins) received its premiere at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Blanc, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
The devastated life of a man haunted by the unsolved murder of his beloved wife is strangely complicated by the mysterious neighbor who loves him from afar in a dark noir thriller directed by Manuel Pradal and starring Norman Reedus, Emmanuelle Béart and Harvey Keitel. Vincent (Reedus)' wife has suffered a most brutal fate, and these days the once happy New Yorker is but a frozen shell of his former self. Vincent is not a man unloved, however, because although he may currently be unaware of her feelings for him, his neighbor Alice (Béart) knows in her heart that she and Vincent were meant to be together. All that needs to happen to make Vincent recognize her love is for the grieving widower to finally be liberated from his tragic past; and Alice is willing to go to any lengths necessary in order to make this happen. If Vincent was finally to find the man responsible for his wife's death, he could finally be free to open his heart to Alice. When Alice hails a cab driven by lonely New York soul Roger (Keitel), the gears of the scheming woman's elaborate plan are slowly set into motion despite the ignorance of both the naïve cabbie, and the somber object of her delusional affections. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
- 2006
A down-and-out sleight-of-hand artist tries to pull off the trick of a lifetime by keeping a decaying cabaret in business in this comedy-drama with music from director Thierry Klifa. Gabriel Stern (Claude Brasseur) has spent over four decades running the Blue Parrot, a Parisian nightclub where he regularly appeared in a drag act as "Gabriella." One evening, a weary Gabriel asks his friend and confidante Nicky (Gerard Lanvin), a magician who regularly appears on the Blue Parrot's stage, to finish closing up the club so he can go home. Nicky agrees, and the next morning he gets the sad news that Gabriel died in his sleep. Gabriel's son and daughter, both in their thirties, come to Paris to handle the funeral details -- Nino (Michael Cohen), a gay accountant who brings along his younger lover (Pierrick Lilliu), and Marianne (Geraldine Pailhas), who edits a well-known magazine for women. Also on hand are Simone (Miou-Miou), Gabriel's ex-wife, Marianne's mother and Nicky's former co-star; Alice (Catherine Deneuve), another of Gabiriel's exes who's also Nino's mom; and a number of the regular performers at the club. When Gabriel's will is read, to the surprise of many the ownership of the Blue Parrot is handed over to Nino and Marianne; the two have no interest in running a nightspot and announce the place is up for sale. Nicky wants to keep the Blue Parrot open, but doesn't have the money to buy the club, even though Gabriel's ghost frequently visits him, imploring him to find a way to prevent it from closing. Le Heros de la Famille (aka Family Hero also stars Emmanuelle Beart and Valerie Lemercier as members of the club's stable of regular performers. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 2005
- R
Inspired by Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure The Three Musketeers, director Pierre Aknine's period swashbuckler that adds a supernatural twist to the familiar tale. When the legendary Three Musketeers meet up with reckless romantic D'Artagnan and malevolent mystical forces begin to emerge from the darkness, the stage is set for breathtaking adventure. Tcheky Karyo, Emmanuelle Beart, and Vincent Elbaz bring this timeless tale to life as never before. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vincent Elbaz, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
- 2005
Director Danis Tanovic picks up where the late-Krzysztof Kieslowski left off by taking on the second installment of Kieslowski's "Heaven," "Hell," and "Purgatory" trilogy (the first was adapted by Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer) with this tale of a family whose dark past returns with a vengeance. Loosely modeled by screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz on the second act of Dante's Inferno, Hell tells the story of sisters Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart), Céline (Karin Viard), and Anne (Marie Gillain), whose lives were turned upside down when their father was imprisoned and their mother was rendered a wheelchair-bound mute. As the estranged sisters are slowly brought back together by a mysterious and handsome stranger who is somehow involved with the tragic events of the past, the questions that had for years gone unanswered slowly begin to drift into focus. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Karin Viard, (more)
A middle-aged woman fears that her husband is cheating on her -- and chooses a very unlikely method for verifying her paranoia -- in this psychological drama from the writer of Une Liaison Pornographique. Catherine (Fanny Ardant) is a successful Parisian gynecologist whose long-term marriage to Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) has been passionless as of late. When she checks his cell phone messages one afternoon, she discovers a suggestive "thank you" from a young colleague of his, which creates an even wider chasm between the two. Desperate, Catherine goes to an upscale strip club nearby to solicit the services of Nathalie (Emmanuelle Béart), a matter-of-fact prostitute. It seems Catherine wants Nathalie to seduce Bernard and report back to her each week, an assignment that's initially off-putting to the young woman, but one she begins to relish as the weeks pass. Soon, Nathalie is using intimate details to fuel Catherine's rage toward her husband. Nathalie... had its gala North American premiere at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
A woman struggles to trust a man who has become her protector and benefactor in this French drama set during World War II. In 1940, as German troops invade France, Odile (Emmanuelle Béart), a woman who has recently lost her husband, is desperate to get her two children, Philippe (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) and Cathy (Clémence Meyer), away from the fighting by heading south, though the roads are choked with others eager to do the same. When the road Odile is traveling is strafed by German bombs, she and her children abandon their car and take to the woods, where they are soon joined by Yvan (Gaspard Ulliel), a headstrong teenager who is also fleeing the advancing Nazi forces. Odile isn't certain the hot-headed young man is such a good traveling companion, but Philippe wants him around to help protect the family from the Germans, and he gives him his late father's watch as an inducement to stick around. Late one night, in need of rest, Yvan finds a huge abandoned house, and he and Odile quickly take it over. The house seems to be a safe haven, and the four travelers decide to stay for a while. Philippe finds a role model in Yvan, and lonely Odile finds herself drawn to him, though, with the passage of time, she becomes eager to learn more about his past, which he hesitates to discuss. Strayed (aka Les Égarés) was adapted from the novel The Boy With Grey Eyes by Gilles Perrault. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Gaspard Ulliel, (more)
Jacques Rivette's Histoire de Marie et Julien (The Story of Marie and Julien) stars Emmanuelle Béart and Jerzy Radziwilowicz as a pair of ex-lovers who get back together after their lives change. Julien (Radziwilowicz) is a clock repairman whose girlfriend has left him. Marie (Béart) is a mysterious woman who does not bleed after being cut. Her boyfriend has died. Marie and Julien had once engaged in an affair when they were each involved with other people, and now that they have no emotional entanglements, they slowly begin a new relationship. This film started decades before as a project in Rivette's "Scenes From a Parallel Life" series and abandons the majority of the formal rules imposed by the filmmaker on the other films in the cycle. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Jerzy Radziwilowicz, (more)
Directed by actress Rosanna Arquette, this candid documentary is not only about the iconoclastic and somewhat reclusive film star Debra Winger (who does not even appear onscreen until an hour into the film), but also about the trials and tribulations of actresses in Hollywood who have reached "that certain age." In the course of her "search," Arquette interviews several of her colleagues, among them Whoopi Goldberg, Diane Lane, Teri Garr, Holly Hunter, Vanessa Redgrave, Charlotte Rampling, Meg Ryan, and Sharon Stone, all of whom have their own personal horror stories about insensitive producers and casting directors who tend to think of over-40 (and sometimes over-30) actresses as being suitable only for mother, "other woman," and "hero's girlfriend" roles -- when they bother to cast these actresses at all. The women also discuss the difficulties in balancing a successful career and a private life. Test-marketed on the film festival circuit throughout 2002, Searching for Debra Winger received its largest audience when it aired over the Showtime cable channel on August 18, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patricia Arquette, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
A gaggle of mothers, wives, daughters, maids, and mistresses gather for a holiday homecoming at their country mansion -- and end up having to solve a murder-mystery -- in this musical-comic homage to studio-era "women's pictures" from acclaimed French director François Ozon. Partly inspired by George Cukor's 1939 classic The Women, 8 Femmes stars Catherine Deneuve as Gaby, a high-society matron just returned to her country house to celebrate Christmas with her husband; mother Mamy (Danielle Darrieux); sister Augustine (Isabelle Huppert); and daughters Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) and Catharine (Ludivine Sagnier). Not long after they all arrive, however, do they find the man of the house with a knife in his back, whereupon everyone becomes a suspect -- including maids Chanel (Firmine Richard) and Louise (Emmanuelle Béart). The mysterious arrival of Augustine's sister-in-law Pierrette (Fanny Ardant) only complicates matters, as the titular eight women find themselves snowed in by a fierce blizzard, forced to confront the matter of the lifeless husband -- and their long-standing secrets and resentments -- without the aid of the police. Following its immensely successful release in France in early 2002, 8 Women enjoyed much acclaim at the Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, (more)
Friendship turns to love, and unrequited love leads to a dangerous obsession in this moody drama. Nathalie (Emmanuelle Beart) and Louise (Pascale Bussieres) grew up together and had been close friends since childhood, but while both were studying drama in their early twenties, their friendship went through an abrupt shift -- while beautiful Nathalie enjoyed flirting with the men in her classes, Louise's interest in her best friend turned into infatuation, and when Nathalie indulged herself in a brief fling with a young actor, Louise was overcome with anger and jealousy and tried to kill herself. Nathalie was told by Louise's family that she didn't want to see her any more, and a decade passed before their paths would cross again. Louise is now married to a man named Nicolas (Sami Bouajila), and one night they go to the theater to see a touring production of a new play. To her surprise, Louise discovers the female lead is played by Nathalie; after the show, she slips backstage to say hello, and soon finds that she's as strongly attracted to Nathalie as ever -- and that Nathalie is involved with Matthias (Dani Levy), the gifted but difficult playwright who wrote and directed the production. Leaving Nicolas behind, Louise follows Nathalie to Denmark, and is able to pull a few strings to get Nathalie an audition with Walter Amar (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), a well-known and well-respected theatrical director. Nathalie soon leaves Matthias' show to star in Amar's new production of Lulu, and Louise volunteers to help Nathalie as she prepares for the role. Nathalie appreciates Louise's support and friendship, but she soon begins to chafe under Louise's obsessive attention, and she wonders if history might be repeating itself. La Repetition was shown in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, with writer and director Catherine Corsini earning a nomination for the coveted Golden Palm award. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Pascale Bussières, (more)
Acclaimed French filmmaker Olivier Assayas follows up on the international success of Fin Août, Début Septembre and Irma Vep with this sweeping adaptation of the sprawling three-volume tome by Jacques Chardonne. Set in three chapters spanning from the beginning of the 1900s to after WWI, the first section takes place in the fictional village of Barbazac, located in the Cognac region. Protestant pastor Jean Barnery (Charles Berling) learns of his wife Nathalie's (Isabelle Huppert) infidelity from the village grapevine and sends his daughter away. At the same time, 20-year-old Pauline (Emmanuelle Beart) returns to the village after the death of her father. Pauline and Jean are almost immediately attracted to each other when they first meet at a ball. Soon Jean installs Nathalie and their daughter in an apartment, files for divorce, and resigns as minister. The second chapter opens with Pauline visiting Jean, who is bedridden in a Parisian hotel from tuberculosis. Upon his recovery, they marry and live for a spell in Switzerland, until Jean's family entreat him to return to Limoges and take over the floundering family porcelain business. The final chapter opens with bombs of WWI: Jean is sent to the front, while Pauline works as a nurse. When the war finally draws to a close, Jean struggles to keep the business afloat. He raises the ire of his workers and stockholders alike by freezing wages and slashing dividends, but his fastidious attention to detail soon makes his company the finest producer of porcelain in Europe. Yet as the economic climate of the continent slowly worsens, so does his business -- and his health. This film was first screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Charles Berling, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Four young couples attempt to navigate the twists and turns of modern romance in this romantic comedy drama. As Jules (Emmanuelle Beart) and Will (Daniel Lapaine) are toasted by their friends on announcing their engagement, the happy couple and six of their close acquaintances are trying to sort out their troubles with relationships. Jules is a successful businesswoman who is devoted to Will, but Will has no talent for fidelity and sees a certain prostitute on a regular basis. Billy (Sean Gallagher), a good friend of Will's, is a research scientist who is shy around women; when he finally does meet a woman who is interested in him, it turns out to be Dodie (Kimberly Williams), a single mother from America who espouses the virtues of tantric sex. Frank (Mark Strong) is an analyst in love with Daphne (Daniela Nardini), who loves making him mad. And George (Lee Williams) is a model whose relationship with Graham (Lennie James) is put to the test when George becomes a success and Graham has trouble dealing with his lover's new fame. Elephant Juice was written by Amy Jenkins and directed by Sam Miller, who previously worked together on the successful British TV series This Life. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Sean Gallagher, (more)
Noted French screenwriter Daniele Thompson makes her directorial debut with this lighthearted romantic comedy. After the December 21st funeral of Yvette's (Francoise Fabian) second husband, she is consoled by the three daughters from her first marriage to Stanislas (Claude Rich), a Russian-Jewish violinist. The oldest, Lorba (Sabine Azema), lives with her father and makes a living by singing ballads in a Russian cabaret, Sonia (Emmanuelle Beart) is a fastidious middle-class housewife, and Yvette's youngest, Milla (Charlotte Gainsbourg), is a go-getting businesswoman. As Christmas celebrations gather steam, Louba learns that at age 42, she is unexpectedly pregnant by Gilbert, her married lover of 12 years. Meanwhile, Sonia develops a habit of taking five-finger discounts while shopping, and Milla takes up with a mysterious drifter who lives as a boarder in Stanislas' house. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claude Rich, Françoise Fabian, (more)
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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marcelo Mazzarella, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
Actor Jacques Weber made his directorial debut with this film adaptation of Don Juan written in 1665 by Moliere (1622-1673). In early 17th-century Spain, two women (Penelope Cruz, Ariadne Gil) believe Don Juan (Weber) when he promises marriage to both, but they soon are left to ponder his whereabouts. However, the brothers of Elvire (Emmanuelle Beart), also abandoned by Don Juan, are out for revenge. Musical interludes (a cappella chorales, guitar) are by Bruno Coulais. After Moliere faced clerical opposition to Tartuffe (1664), it was banned, and he then wrote Don Juan, also subjected to continual attacks. For more on Moliere and Don Juan, go to the summary of Frederick Wiseman's La Comedie Francaise ou L'amour Joue (1996). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacques Weber, Michel Boujenah, (more)
- 1998
Yves Angelo directed this slow-paced French drama adapted from the novel by Steinunn Sigurdardottir about two sisters -- high school literature instructor Alda (Emmanuelle Beart) and her older sister Olga (Sandrine Bonnaire). On an island, the sisters and Olga's 17-year-old daughter Sigga (Vahina Giocante) live in a former rectory adjacent to a cemetery where an old woman (Bulle Ogier) talks to herself. After school, while Sigga does her homework, the enigmatic Alda engages in some extracurricular exercises with married men (with Olga sometimes eavesdropping just outside her door). Polite shopkeeper Jakob (Andre Dussollier) makes visits to collect the variety of straw animals made by Olga. Time passes slowly as long-buried secrets are unearthed, but the pace picks up during a fantasy sequence. The dialogue-sparse film features a clip from Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). Shown at 1998 film fests (Venice, Toronto). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Sandrine Bonnaire, (more)
After he is framed for the death of several colleagues and falsely branded a traitor, a secret agent embarks on a daring scheme to clear his name in this spy adventure. Though it drew its name from the familiar television series, director Brian DePalma's big-budget adaptation shares little more with the original show than the occasional self-destructing message and the name of team leader Jim Phelps (Jon Voight). The film focuses not on Phelps but his protégé, Ethan Hunt (a reserved Tom Cruise), who becomes a fugitive after taking the blame for a botched operation. He responds by banding together with a group of fellow renegades, and he is soon maneuvering his way through a twisted series of double crosses that mainly serve as excuses for spectacular high-tech action sequences. Much of the activity revolves around a missing computer disk, with the film's most famous scene depicting Hunt's delicate efforts to retrieve the disk from a secure, well-alarmed room in CIA headquarters. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, (more)
- 1995
One woman's conflicting emotions and the whims of fate prevent her from being faithful to the man she loves in this drama. In 1939, Jeanne (Emmanuelle Beart) marries Louis (Daniel Auteuil) shortly before he is called to duty during World War II. Jeanne does not deal well with loneliness, and she takes many lovers after Louis is declared Missing In Action. In 1944, Jeanne receives word that Louis is alive, incarcerated in a P.O.W. camp. When Louis is released and returns home, he learns of her scandalous behavior; he forgives her for her infidelities and offers to give her freedom, but Jeanne chooses to remain in the marriage. Several months later, Jeanne gives birth to twins; while Louis is not convinced that he's the father, he loyally accepts them as his own. Louis takes his wife and children to Berlin, where to his disappointment, Jeanne becomes smitten with Mathias (Gabriel Barylli), a successful businessman. Before long, Louis is once again sent into battle, this time in Indochina. Jeanne returns to France, and Mathias opts to go with her; both Louis and Mathias remain faithful to Jeanne, and when Louis is made a military attaché to Damascus, Mathias once again follows her. Une Femme Francaise) reunited Emmanuelle Beart and Daniel Auteuil, who previously co-starred in the acclaimed French drama Un Coeur en Hiver. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil, (more)
Almost a follow-up to director Claude Sautet's Un Coeur en Hiver (1992), Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud further explores repressed emotions and failed relationships. Nelly (Emmanuelle Béart), an attractive young woman, is six months behind in her rent and struggling with odd jobs, while her husband (Charles Berling) lies in bed reading newspapers and watching TV. Her friend Jacqueline introduces her to Pierre Arnaud (Michel Serrault), a retired judge and wealthy ex-businessman, who offers to settle Nelly's debt. She agrees and is later so disappointed by her husband's indifferent reaction that she leaves him. Arnaud asks her to be his secretary because he needs help in typing his memoirs. Though obviously attracted to her, he rarely expresses his emotions, and he suddenly erupts only when he finds out about Nelly's affair with his young publisher Vincent (Jean-Hugues Anglade). The film won Césars from the French Academy of Cinema for Best Director and Best Actor, although it lost Best Film to Mathieu Kassovitz's more innovative La haine. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, Michel Serrault, (more)
This French drama about the relationship between an insanely jealous man and his wife took 30 years to make. Since its inception by the late director Henri-Georges Clouzot the film was plagued with bad luck. He began filming it in 1964. There are only two characters in the film and on the third day of shooting the female lead became gravely ill. Later during rehearsals with a new actress, the director had a heart attack. Though he lived until 1977, he never got around to finishing it. The script was passed on to producer Marin Karmitz by Clouzot's widow. Paul wanted to buy the beautiful resort hotel he worked at for 15 years. His happy and spirited wife Nelly goes along with it. She is already a mother and contented with her life. Paul, who incurred tremendous debts to get the hotel, is not so happy. He is stressed to the breaking point. After he suspects his wife of philandering he slowly goes insane. He also begins increasing his consumption of alcohol and sleeping pills. Their lives become a living hell. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.