Mireille Perrier Movies

French director Aurélia Georges's offbeat character study The Walking Man commences with the intersection of two minds and two lives: that of a photographer, and a gaunt fellow with a perpetually darkened mood named Viktor Atemian. The men meet in mid-1970s Paris, forge an enduring friendship and play Dadaist games together; in time, Viktor impulsively picks up a pen and paper and begins to write continually, irrepressibly. Viktor's success first peaks, thanks in no small part to the acclaim of his premier short story, but in time, his popularity and his money both run out - he's forced to sell his luxury Parisian apartment and eventually winds up on the street. Georges's film follows Atamian as he slides from the crests of fame to the depths of obscurity, and into the emotional and spiritual no man's land that accompanies such a state. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Bernard Stora directs this coming-of-age drama about a single-minded soccer player sidetracked by love. Laurant (Jalil Lespert) lives in a crowded little abode with his mother, a pair of half-brothers, and an Arabic-speaking grandmother. Laurent's soccer-playing prowess has garnered the attention of scouts from a professional team in Nantes. Believing that sex only distracts an athlete's focus, he has never bothered much with girls until he meets Fabienne (Mireille Perrier), the sexy single mother of one of his mates. Soon, a May-December relationship blooms between the two. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed Belgian novelist Jean-Philippe Toussaint drew attention to his directorial talents in 1990 with a remarkable satire on modern life, Monsieur. His third feature, La Patinoire, is about a film director who is shooting a highly symbolic film called 'Dolores' at an ice rink. He has hired a Lithuanian ice hockey team with which he is having enormous communication problems. His actors all have inflated egos, his film crew is made up of fools, and there is a politician on his back. But he must finish the film, no matter what, in time for the Venice Film Festival. A black comedy which is applicable to all absurd situations of life, but particularly those associated with the film industry, La Patinoire is a clever satire from beginning to end, including its title. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

This dark and intense drama follows the slow and painful destruction of a young, passive woman as she watches her family fall apart. Maria is the shy and dutiful daughter upon whose shoulders the family traumas have fallen. In addition to a regular job she cooks, cleans, and studies. Her parents offer no assistance as her father is blind, with a tendency towards violence when drinking. His wife, the focus of his violence is terribly unhappy. After a particularly brutal beating, Maria's brothers rise up against the father and end up leaving the home. It is up to Maria to try to bring the factions together. Maria's pressures increase after she calmly stabs her boss during an attempted rape, and then copes with her mother's suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After World War II, Romania was swiftly integrated into the Soviet empire, but not before journalist George Vlaicu (Johan Leysen) could write and disseminate an article decrying the death of democracy. He spends eleven years in prison, emerging in 1959 after a secret policeman promises him that, if he will write a weekly summary of the events of his life (which need not include anything the policeman doesn't already know), he can go free. He goes on to become a nationally celebrated poet after marrying the woman who typed his postwar protest. Eventually, a number of incidents make him realize that his reports to the police have been used to further the government's persecution of his friends, and he makes plans to defect. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In modern-day Paris, a cabalist known as the Maharal has created a golem, an artificial being constructed of earth and clay, infused with spirit through the recitation of a special formula. The legendary being he brings to life is known in this instance as "The Spirit of Exile," and the magician's goal in creating her was to create a protector for Jews in need of one. In this movie, the golem is motivated to assist numerous people whose lives are marked by tragedy. In the main story, she must try to help Shemesh, a woman whose many troubles cause her to resemble the Biblical character of Job. She has been evicted from her home after her husband and sons die, and she and her daughter-in-law must find some means for surviving their difficult situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Very few people know that Pierre Marroux (Yves Montand) is the father of the famous terrorist Netchaiev (Vincent Lindon), and that's the way he likes to keep it. His boy is now presumed to be dead, and he has a job to do, protecting the safety of those who pay him. However, the boy has recently returned to Paris with a group on an operation. Netchaiev is tired of being a hunted man and is shopping his potential confession around for the best deal. This puts him at odds with his colleagues past and present, and his life is in great danger. When Pierre learns of the situation, he tries to use his skills to find his son before his killers do. Along the way, he learns that the French government has a very shady deal with the terrorists, and it wants Netchaiev dead, too. This thriller is based on a novel by Jacques Semprun. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Fabrice (Richard Berry) is an otherwise brutish truck driver who loves the disciplines involved in bicycle racing. He's no champion and doesn't appear to care much whether he wins any or not. In the crowded spaces of his world, the aloneness that comes with being a racer in training affords him a much-needed solitude and peace of mind. It's probably best for the people around him, too. In fact, it would be good if he could remain on his bike forever, because his nearly insane fear and distrust of others leads him to some pretty obnoxious behavior, especially with the women in his life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Set in French Colonial Africa, Chocolat is told from the viewpoint of 8-year-old Cecile Ducasse. With no other frame of reference, the innocent Ducasse accepts the subjugation of the black natives by the white colonists as the natural order of things. The girl grows gradually aware of the social iniquities about her, but only in retrospect (the film is related in flashback, narrated by the grown-up heroine) does she fully realize just how cruel and wrong-headed the entire colonial system had been. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This critically acclaimed French drama blends film noir and science fiction elements in a story about a strange and deadly plague. A sexually transmitted disease called STBO is sweeping the country; it's spread by having sex without emotional involvement, and most of its victims are teenagers who make love out of curiosity rather than commitment. While a serum that can treat the disease has been formulated, it's been locked away in an inaccessible government building, and most of those suffering can't get at it. A woman known as "The American" (Carroll Brooks) has hired Marc (Michel Piccoli), who is deep in debt and desperate for cash, to steal the drug; Marc enlists the aid of Alex (Denis Lavant), the teenage son of one of his close friends, to help pull off the robbery. Alex is in love with Lise (Julie Delpy), a girl his age that he's been involved with, but he finds himself attracted to Anna (Juliette Binoche), Marc's younger lover who is determined to stand by her man. Mauvais Sang received the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival and the International Fantasy Film Award at the Fantasporto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

With an off-beat sense of humor to match its erratic central character, this original comedy-drama features Jean-Philippe Ecoffey as Yves, a young man who works as a cop at night. The catch is that Yves turns to petty crime during the day, partly to impress Aurore (Aurelle Doazan), a nurse he idolizes from afar. His criminal hobby seems hard to understand, since it's doubtful that they will really get him anywhere with Aurore; besides, she already has a boyfriend. Nevertheless, Yves starts out by robbing a post office and ends up trying to run over Aurore's boyfriend, an act which finally gets him into serious trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Too many hours under the sun, artificial or not, might have warped this experimental work by Philippe Garrel. Ostensibly starting out as a movie about a young man and a woman whose relationship is coming apart, the story itself then comes apart. Soon director Garrel himself is in front of the camera, as the story turns into a film within a film, and other directors are brought in to salvage it: Chantal Ackerman and Jacques Doillon. After two hours of smoke and mirrors, viewers themselves will have to judge whether or not the salvage job worked. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide