Gabriel Monnet Movies
Edmond Rostand's classic drama of inner and outer beauty is given a lavish treatment in this acclaimed French production. Gérard Depardieu portrays the title character, a brilliant, charismatic swordsman with a generous spirit and a genius for poetry. It would seem that such a man would have no trouble attracting women, but Cyrano considers himself doomed to loneliness by an unattractive face featuring an oversized nose. His feelings of inadequacy are emphasized when Roxane, the beautiful woman he adores, attracts the attention of Christian, a young cadet in Cyrano's service. Christian lacks the poetic gift, however, and he ironically turns to Cyrano for help in winning Roxane's love. What follows is a tale of deception, with Roxane falling in love with the ineloquent Christian thanks to Cyrano's words of love. The underlying narrative has become quite familiar to modern audiences through retellings and variations from the 1950 adaptation starring José Ferrer to Steve Martin's Roxanne. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's interpretation stresses the tragic majesty of the original, setting a vigorous performance by Depardieu against a beautifully designed reproduction of the period and an emphasis on the sound and poetry of Rostand's original language; the subtitles for the film's English release were penned by renowned British author Anthony Burgess. This attention to detail creates a particularly faithful cinematic rendering of the original work that met with positive critical responses. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet, (more)
In this French adventure, two Parisian street kids embark upon a strange journey to Grenoble in the back of a delivery truck. One of the lads is an adolescent Spanish graffiti artist while the other is an 11-year-old black rapper. Once there, the young boy is delighted to see his first snowfall. The two steal a car and discover an old man sleeping in the back. The boys then discover, that he is not a man at all, but an enigmatic forest spirit who teaches them important lessons about nature and life. This was the last film of classic French actor Yves Montand, who died of heart failure (as did his character in the film) during the shooting in 1991. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Olivier Martinez, (more)
- 1989
Isabelle Pasco and Gerard Sandoz play an impressionable young couple living in Marseilles. Both husband and wife are mesmerized by the lions in the city zoo, the wife in particular. The husband goes so far as to take a job at the zoo so as to be nearer the animals. Fired from his position, the husband takes the wife to another town, where they continue their vicarious love affair with lions in a circus. Roselyne et Les Lions is a typically out-of-mainstream effort by Jean-Jacques Beineix, the auteur of Diva and Betty Blue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Pasco, Gerard Sandoz, (more)
- 1983
Filmmaker Jean-Jacques Beineix followed up the surprise international success of his first feature, Diva, with this stylish but downbeat drama. Gerard (Gerard Depardieu) is a dock worker who becomes an emotional wreck following the rape and suicide of his sister. As his relationships with his girlfriend Bella (Victoria Abril), his drunken brother, and his depressive father begin to decay, Gerard becomes obsessed with finding the man who attacked his sister and spends most of his nights lurking about the scene of the crime. In time, Gerard makes the acquaintance of Loretta (Nastassja Kinski), who cruises by the waterfront every evening in a red sports car. Desperate to pull himself out of his emotional doldrums, Gerard becomes involved with Loretta. Bella, however, is not at all happy about this, and she convinces a pair of strong-arm men to teach him a lesson. Gerard must now decide if he wants to be with Loretta or Bella, just as he's discovered evidence that may reveal who raped his sister. La Lune Dans Le Caniveau received uneven reviews on its initial release and won a French Cesar Award for its production design. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
