Dominique Barneaud Movies
- 2008
Horatiu Malaele helmed this Romanian-language nuptial comedy. A period film set in March 1953, at the exact moment of Josef Stalin's death, it tells of a couple, Fira (Luminita Gheorgiu) and Iancu (Alexandru Potoceanu) determinedly attempting to celebrate their wedding festivities despite repeated interruptions thanks to the dictator's passing. The title translates, literally, as Silent Wedding. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luminita Gheorghiu
- 2007
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Mylène Demongeot, (more)
- 2006
A boy is forced to witness the slow and painful collapse of his family in this drama from France. Martin (Julien Cochelin) is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his family in a rural community. Their large, shabby house has seen better days, but household repair is the least of the family's problems. Martin's mother Nadege (Dominique Reymond) is emotionally unstable and has begun to retreat into a world of her own, and her husband Jean (Jean-Yves Chatelais) has all but given up on trying to communicate with her. Rose (Annie Cordy), Jean's mother, has moved in with the intention of helping out while Nadege recovers, but it's clear she has little regard for her daughter-in-law and avoids interacting with her grandson. Didier (Pascal Cervo), Martin's older brother, helps look after the boy, as does Malika (Fettouma Bouamari), a Middle Eastern immigrant who helps keep house. However, Didier suffers a falling out with his parents when they discover he's fallen in love with a neighbor boy, and Didier is devastated to learn his new boyfriend has announced his upcoming marriage to a girl. Le Dernier des Fous (aka Demented) was adapted from the novel The Last of the Crazy People by Timothy Findley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julien Cochelin, Pascal Cervo, (more)
- 2004
A budding misfit finds his troubles are just beginning when he's sent to a school run by his mom and dad in this comedy from France. Daniel (Damien Jouillerot) is the overweight and socially inept son of Pierre (Olivier Gourmet) and Genevieve (Carole Bouquet), a couple who run a boarding school for troubled kids. 15-year-old Daniel is having a hard time with the physical and emotional trials of adolescence, and things don't improve a bit for him when his folks enroll him in their school, especially since most of the students are convinced he's getting an easy ride. Daniel makes friends with Zygelman (Raphael Goldman), but when Zygelman is thrown out of school after an incident involving the undergarments of a female classmate, Daniel falls in with Jean-Claude (Franc Bruneau), a student with a criminal streak who brings Daniel in as an assistant in his latest illegal business venture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Bouquet, Olivier Gourmet, (more)
