Philippe Noiret Movies
Philippe Noiret qualifies as the ultimate European Renaissance actor. A burly, unconventionally handsome figure with a distinct countenance, Noiret established himself as a force on stage and screen, effortlessly straddled countless genres, and graced the casts of French, Italian, British, and occasional American films up through the end of his life.Born in Lille, France, on October 1, 1930, Noiret trained as a thespian at the Comedie de l'Ouest and subsequently joined Jean Vilar's TNP stage ensemble. He segued into film at the behest of Agnès Varda -- then a photographer assigned to snap pictures of the TNP -- in her 1955 directorial debut, La Pointe Courte. In that picture, Noiret and Sylvia Montfort play a Parisian couple who migrate to a rural village and attempt to sort out their relationship while the town organizes a workers' union.
In 1959, 27-year-old Louis Malle -- the youngest recipient of the Golden Palm in movie history and a cause célèbre for his scandalous 1958 picture Les Amants -- sought an actor to play Gabriel, the transvestite uncle of the foul-mouthed 11-year-old prankster Zazie, in his surrealistic adaptation of Raymond Queneau's absurdist novel Zazie dans le Metro (1960). By its very nature, Zazie required heavy-duty improvisation and grotesque, larger-than-life, cartoonish overacting. Almost everyone -- including Malle -- perceived Noiret as the ideal choice, because of the actor's ability to draw on extensive improvisational experience (and stage projection) from his days with the Comedie de l'Ouest and TNP. In addition, Noiret demonstrated unshakable, almost foolhardy bravery on the set, when he blithely heeded Malle's tongue-in-cheek request to "ad lib" by waltzing out, in a simulated drunken stupor, onto the very edge of a platform on one of the highest rungs of the Eiffel Tower. Unsurprisingly, that shot appears in the completed film. And just as unsurprisingly, it became one of Noiret's most infamous turns until his 1989 Cinema Paradiso.
Noiret debuted as an English-language film actor in 1969, as Henri Jarre, a member of a French spy ring, in Topaz, Alfred Hitchcock's lackluster (and generally suspense-free) adaptation of the Leon Uris novel of the same title. He followed it up with a supporting role in George Cukor's equally disappointing 1969 film Justine, starring Anouk Aimée.
Noiret starred in around 120 additional films over the next several decades, but he made his most enduring mark under the directorial gaze of film-critic-cum-director Bertrand Tavernier, with whom he made eight projects -- which led many to perceive Noiret as the director's onscreen alter ego and unveiled the full-fledged, graceful extent of the actor's dramatic range. Their collaborations include L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (aka The Watchmaker of St. Paul, 1974), with Noiret as a dismayed father grappling with his son's involvement in terrorist activities; Que la fête commence... (aka Let Joy Reign Supreme . . ., 1975), a costume drama with Noiret as Philippe d'Orleans, humanistic regent to Louis XV in early 18th century France; Le Juge et l'Assassin (aka The Judge and the Assassin, 1976), with Noiret as a magistrate who balances the life of an accused child killer in his hands; Une Semaine de vacances (aka A Week's Vacation, 1980) with Noiret as Michel Descombes, one of the many small-town characters encountered by schoolteacher Nathalie Baye during her week-long leave of absence (and recuperation) from teaching; Coup de Torchon (aka Clean Slate, 1981), with Noiret as a French policeman circa 1938, assigned to a segregated African colony; Noiret's fleeting role as Redon in the jazz elegy 'Round Midnight (1986), starring the legendary Dexter Gordon; La Vie et Rien d'Autre (aka Life and Nothing But, 1991), with Noiret as a post-WWI French Army officer assigned to tabulate the number of casualties two years after the armistice; and Fille de d'Artagnan (aka Revenge of the Musketeers, 1994), with Noiret as the legendary musketeer d'Artagnan, whose daughter (Sophie Marceau) vows to continue the legacy of her swashbuckling father.
Noiret made his deepest impression on the public, however, with two key international roles: that of the warm and sympathetic projectionist Alfredo in Giuseppe Tornatore's 1989 arthouse hit Cinema Paradiso (a role for which he won the BAFTA award for Best Actor), and that of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who strikes up an ongoing friendship with his mailman, in Michael Radford's 1994 Il Postino.
Noiret juggled a full spate of projects up through his final year; his last film, released posthumously, was Michel Boujenah's 2007 Trois Amis, co-starring Mathilde Seigner and Pascal Elbe. He died of cancer in a Parisian hospital on November 23, 2006, and was survived by his wife, the actress Monique Noiret (whom he married in 1962) and their daughter. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
A French music lover befriends a once-great American jazz artist and attempts to save him from self-destruction in this moody drama. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon portrays Dale Turner, a fictional musician inspired by a number of famed jazz figures, including Bud Powell and Lester Young. Largely forgotten in his home country, Turner has moved to Paris in search of a more appreciative audience. He finds it in the form of Francis Borler (Francois Cluzet), a bebop aficionado who befriends the expatriate player. Borler soon becomes familiar with Turner's darker side, including his struggles with alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression. Fearing for the musician's life, the fan becomes his caretaker, an arrangement that leads to a brief improvement in Turner's health and fortunes but places great emotional strain upon them both. Director Bertrand Tavernier pays great attention to the visual and aural details of the jazz world, with outstanding musical supervision provided by Herbie Hancock. 'Round Midnight's greatest asset, however, is Gordon's Academy Award-nominated performance, informed by his own life experiences. His naturally fascinating presence combines with the film's obvious love of the music and its milieu to provide what many have hailed as one of the more authentic and affectionate presentations of the jazz world on the silver screen. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, (more)
- 1971
A play by Jean Anouilh is the basis for A Time for Loving. In this Gallic blend of La Ronde and Plaza Suite, a single Paris flat is the scene for three separate romantic stories, bookended by a fourth. Star Mel Ferrar also functioned as producer; it must have taken some fast talking to keep him from directing as well. Filmed in 1970, A Time for Loving made the international rounds one year later, after some judicious editing. It has also been released as Paris Was Made For Lovers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Henri (Jean-Claude Dauphin) is a young filmmmaker who convinces a nobleman to let him use his sprawling chateau to film a movie. The governess to the nobleman's children is a Polish woman in her 30s. Henri successfully talks her into a role in the film, and the two are soon engaged in a passionate romantic affair. He joins the army, but the lovestruck governess follows him wherever he goes. When he tries to end the affair, she attempts suicide. The unfortunate woman continues to follow Henri, who may never escape from her amorous obsession for him. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Dauphin, Ulla Jacobsson, (more)
- 1951
Noel (Bernard Blier), a grown-up mama's boy, falls heir to a busy matrimonial bureau. Assuming command of the operation, Noel becomes fascinated with the various degrees of loneliness which prompt his clients to seek out his services. As a result, he begins to place his own loneliness and sense of inadequacy in perspective. The supporting characters are drawn in broad strokes, though they never lapse into ridiculous caricatures. Agence Matrimoniale would make a piquant double feature with the Hollywood comedy-drama The Model and the Marriage Broker (1952). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Blier, Michele Alfa, (more)
- 1967
This amiable French comedy stars Philipe Noiret as Alexander, an shiftless farmer who prefers sleep to work. After his nagging wife dies, Alexander becomes even lazier. The farmer becomes entranced by a beautiful young woman, and proposes marriage. But when his prospective wife gives evidence of being just as domineering as wife number one, Alexander balks at the altar and retreats to his previous life of ease. Originally titled Alexandre Le Bienhereaux, Very Happy Alexander was directed by Yves Robert, best known for his international success The Tall Blond Man with the One Black Shoe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Françoise Brion, (more)
- 1975
The famed Italian film director Pietro Germi (his sharply observant and satirical films include The Immoralist, and Divorce Italian Style) began work on this comedy, but died before he could do more than write the screenplay. However, he lived long enough to choose Mario Monicelli as his successor. In the story, four friends keep their friendship alive and their Tuscan town lively by means of an endless series of practical jokes and pranks of various sorts. Perozzi (Philippe Noiret) works on the night desk of a newspaper, reporting on crime. Mascetti (Ugo Tognazzi), an aristocrat, has seen better days. They are joined in mischief by Melandri (Gastone Moschin) and Necci (Duilio DelPrete), an architect and a cafe-owner by profession respectively. When the town doctor (Adolfo Celi) manages to outwit the collective efforts of the four, he is soon invited to join their little club. The rhythms of life in a cheerful provincial town are effectively unveiled in this zany and affectionate film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ugo Tognazzi, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 1982
In a series of vignettes that serve as a sequel to Amici Miei, director Mario Monicelli brings back several of his stars from the earlier movie to continue their antics in Florence, home of the friends of the title. All five are (or in some cases, were) close companions and have a penchant for practical jokes. Count Lello Mascetti (Ugo Tognazzi) may not have much money, but then he has an unattractive, pregnant, unmarried daughter to compensate. Prof. Sassaroli (Adolfo Celi) is a surgeon who decides to get back at a slightly senile loan shark, and the other friends range from a bar owner to a love-sick man. Together, they are sure to go from one unlikely situation to the next. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Ugo Tognazzi, (more)
- 1962
In his Ballade Pour un Voyou, first-time director Jean-Claude Bonnardot has put together an uneven, occasionally suspenseful crime drama that involves a mysterious suitcase -- and an unknown crime. The drama begins when an ex-convict agrees to deliver a suitcase according to the instructions that will be given him, step by step. As he is shunted from pillar to post trying to get the suitcase to its final, as yet unknown, destination, he notices that he is being followed by a gunman. His assignment becomes too much, and he attacks the gunman and runs off with the suitcase, only to find that both sides of the law are hot on his trail. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurent Terzieff, Hildegarde Neff, (more)
- 1988
Celine (Sophie Marceau) must choose between Tarquin (Lambert Wilson) and Aurele (Stephane Fries) in this historical drama set during the French Civil War of 1793. The Republican Army decimated Western France when an insurgence of peasants, clergy, and aristocrats loyal to the Royalists staged a counterrevolution. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Sophie Marceau, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Cinema Paradiso offers a nostalgic look at films and the effect they have on a young boy who grows up in and around the title village movie theater in this Italian comedy drama that is based on the life and times of screenwriter/director Giuseppe Tornatore. The story begins in the present as a Sicilian mother pines for her estranged son, Salvatore, who left many years ago and has since become a prominent Roman film director who has taken the advice of his mentor too literally. He finally returns to his home village to attend the funeral of the town's former film projectionist, Alfredo, and, in so doing, embarks upon a journey into his boyhood just after WWII when he became the man's official son. In the dark confines of the Cinema Paradiso, the boy and the other townsfolk try to escape from the grim realities of post-war Italy. The town censor is also there to insure nothing untoward appears onscreen, invariably demanding that all kissing scenes be edited out. One day, Salvatore saves Alfredo's life after a fire, and then becomes the new projectionist. A few years later, Salvatore falls in love with a beautiful girl who breaks his heart after he is inducted into the military. Thirty years later, Salvatore has come to say goodbye to his life-long friend, who has left him a little gift in a film can. In 2002, over a decade after the film's original release, Tornatore brought the original 170-minute director's cut to American screens for the first time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio, (more)
- 1969
Clerambard (Philippe Noiret) feeds his large family by killing cats and dogs. He also makes his family run hand looms with very little respite. His life forever changes when he sees Saint Francis. The Saint helps him prepare his horse as Clerambard suddenly goes out into the world to preach the gospel and reveal his newfound love of animals. This comedy is taken from the hit play by Marcel Ayme. Dany Carrel has an amusing role as the town prostitute. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Dany Carrel, (more)
- 1991
Amnesty International produced this film, which features more than two dozen greats of French cinema making pleas for the lives of political prisoners around the world. Each filmmaker speaks passionately on behalf of an individual whose life has been warped by political intolerance, imprisonment, torture or murder, as the lives of those prisoners or sufferers are documented onscreen. A variety of directors contributed shorts with this theme, and the ways in which the appeals are dramatized differ markedly from one to the next. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Philippe Noiret, (more)
Based on pulp master Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280, Bertrand Tavernier's Coup de Torchon is a sardonic thriller that remains true to its source's spirit, even as it transposes the action from the American South to colonial West Africa. Lucien (Philippe Noiret) is the bumbling police chief of Bourkasa, a dusty outpost in rural Senegal. Badgered by local thugs, Lucien initially comes across as a pathetic oaf unable to stand up for himself. Things at home are scarcely better, as Lucien finds himself harried by his nagging wife, Huguette (Stéphane Audran), who is carrying on an affair with a man she claims to be her brother (Eddy Mitchell). Without warning, Lucien embarks on a nonchalant killing spree, murdering everyone who has ever mistreated him. As he sets about "cleaning the slate," Lucien intensifies his affair with ditsy Rose (Isabelle Huppert), all the while pining for the newly arrived schoolteacher, Anne (Irene Skobline). Remaining above suspicion even as bodies pile up, the seemingly witless Lucien gradually develops a twisted logic for his actions, animating his crusade with an evangelical purpose. By movie's end, Tavernier leaves little room for redemption, leaving the joyless Lucien mired in a moral quagmire of his own making. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, (more)
- 1962
The oddly featured poet Cyrano De Bergerac(Jose Ferrer, reprising an Oscar-winning role in Michael Gordon's Cyrano De Bergerac), he of the enormous nose, and musketeer D'Artagnan (Jean-Pierre Cassel) lend a hand to put down a revolution in 17th-century Paris. While they bravely fight for the monarchy, the men dally with two comely courtesans (Sylva Koscina and Daliah Lavi). Though paired off with satisfactory partners, the couples find that a switcheroo might afford them each true love. Director Abel Gance and Nelly Kaplan wrote the screenplay, which united period characters Cyrano, from Edmond Rostand's play, and D'Artagnan, from Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers, in this romantic swashbuckler. Though French cinema pioneer Gance was near the end of his career, Kaplan was just beginning. She would go on to write, edit and direct several more films. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Ferrer, José Ferrer, (more)
A burned out actor begins to question his sanity in this French comedy that stars the writer/director Michel Blanc in a dual role. In the first role Blanc plays himself as an exhausted actor. He has been doing too much TV and too many movies. Odd things begin to happen and Blanc becomes convinced his sanity is slipping away. He is seen going berserk at Cannes with a series of starlets. At Cannes, he meets festival head Gilles Jacob whom he persuades to give the room number of Gerard Depardieu. After Blanc is accused of attempted rape, he goes to a psychiatrist who prescribes peace and quiet in the country. He goes to the Provencial estate of his friend Carole Bouquet. It is there Bouquet and Blanc meet Blanc's devilish double Patrick Olivier. After a lengthy chase the two sit down and decide that Blanc will take only the high quality roles while Olivier will do the rest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Blanc, Carole Bouquet, (more)
- 1989
- PG13
This political drama chronicles the corruption of a mayoral candidate for New York City. His ordeal begins when he launches a campaign for the legalization of heretofore illegal narcotics. Alarmed by the support it gets, Mafiosos frame the candidate for a crime he did not commit and force him to choose between joining their ranks or going to jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Belushi, Mimi Rogers, (more)
Marcello Mastroianni stars in this French farce, an absurd "western" set in Paris, with Mastroianni as the incurably vain General George Armstrong Custer. Richard Nixon is the American president, but everyone is costumed appropriately for the previous century. Buffalo Bill (Michel Piccoli), the famous scout, is here portrayed as a limp-wristed bungler. Ugo Tognazzi plays one of Custer's Native American opponents; he runs a curio shop selling Native artifacts made in sweatshops by white women. The climactic battle is held in a large construction excavation where Les Halles market used to be. The language the two sides use to justify their conflict is lifted from that used in the then-current Vietnam War. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1978
The two wandering minstrels Pippo (Vittorio Gassman) and Peppe (Philippe Noiret) have long been favorites in their Roman neighborhood, each separately contributing a musical accompaniment to the lives of its inhabitants. During a critical time some months previously, they had both had relations with the same woman. Tragically, she has just died in childbirth. The resulting baby boy belongs to one of them, but no one can decide who. At first prepared to fight over the boy's paternity (simultaneously dividing the neighborhood into factions), they agree to raise the boy together and call him Piripicchio. Over the following years, they lovingly teach him everything they know. However, when he reaches adulthood, like many before him, he shuns their ways and their world. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 2005
A man looking for a reason to live gets more than he bargained for in this black comedy from France. Edy (François Berléand) is an insurance salesman who has fallen into a deep depression. Edy can scarcely work up the energy to do more than listen to his collection of classic jazz records (at full volume, much to his neighbor's annoyance) and drink all night, and he's made some unsuccessful attempts at suicide. However, Edy's efforts to end his own life not only don't do the job, they have a bad habit of destroying other people's property, and in one case killing an innocent bystander. Unsure of what to do, Edy calls upon his friend Louis (Philippe Noiret) for advice. Louis, who helped Edy get started in the insurance game, has some ideas of how to bring excitement back into his friend's life, but Edy becomes nervous when Louis leads him into a life of crime that gets messier with each passing day. Edy also stars Yves Verhoeven, Laurent Bateau, and Marion Cotillard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Berléand, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 1995
Based on a short story from Giuseppe Pontiggia's popular Italian book Vite di uomini non illustri (Lives of Non-Illustrious Men), this comedy chronicles the many lively phases in the life of Claudia Bertelli, who lived between 1949 and 2011. Born to former radicals turned conservative middle-class Milanese, Claudia realizes that her parents can never consciously decide whether they find her behavior shocking or tolerable. During the 1960s, Claudia gets involved with protesting and falls in love for the first time with an idealistic, angry reactionary who subsequently disappears "underground" for many years. By the time he finally emerges he has become a corrupt devotee of the Socialist Party leader Bettino Craxi. By the 1970s, Claudia's protests have taken a feminist bent. She shocks her parents when she gives birth to a black baby from an unknown father and then later marries a Jewish philosopher. It doesn't last, but Claudia continues to be socially conscious for the rest of her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Aimed at younger audiences, this special-effects filled French comedy centers on the afterlife adventures of two recently deceased fellows, Georges, a gentle chauffeur and his ruthless corporate tiger of an employer, Phillipe. Unfortunate Georges meets his demise at the hands of a gunman just as he discovers that he has won the lottery. Shortly thereafter, his boss Phillipe is murdered by his business rival Martigues. As ghosts, no living soul can see or here Georges and Phillipe who set out together to put their earthly affairs in order before taking off to their respective final resting places. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Gérard Jugnot, (more)
- 1990
Anatole Hirsch (Phillippe Noiret) has already made his mark as a writer, and has garnered critical acclaim and financial rewards. However, he isn't a very nice man, and his life has left him angry and dissatisfied. To address that discomfort, he decides to perpetrate a hoax on the unsuspecting art community. Under a pen name, which he arranges for his young cousin Martin (Robin Renucci) to act as the front for, he writes a really brutal novel. Later, when the novel wins a major French literature prize, Martin begins to preen himself on his newfound, false, fame. Anatole will have none of that, and quickly pens a lousy second novel for the young author which, like so many second novels, condemns the heretofore promising young "novelist"back to the obscurity he emerged from. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Robin Renucci, (more)
