Jean Piat Movies

Adapted from a novel by acclaimed mystery writer Sébastien Japrisot, this French/Italian nailbiter stars Marlène Jobert as Mélancolie "Mellie" Mau, a young woman stalked by on a rainy afternoon by a mysterious stranger. The man eventually breaks in on Mellie while her husband is gone and rapes her. She grabs a shotgun and kills her assailant, dumping the body into the ocean. When the body is recovered, American military officer Dobbs (Charles Bronson) accuses Mellie of the murder -- and of stealing the U.S. Army money that the rapist had been carrying with him -- and that's only the beginning. The plot piles one twist upon another, deliriously confounding the audience at every turn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While arch surrealist Luis Bunuel never made a secret of his skepticism about the existence of God, he was also raised as a strict Spanish Catholic and remained fascinated with the church's teaching throughout his life, and his obsessions with both faith and the contradictions of dogma provided the basis for this episodic satiric comedy. Jean (Laurent Terzieff) and Pierre (Paul Frankeur) are two threadbare vagabonds who are making their way from Paris to Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are believed to be kept. While Jean and Pierre's journey begins in the 20th Century, as they travel they seemingly develop the ability to move through time and space as they pass through a variety of historical scenes taken from a broad range of theological texts -- and all involving heresy in one form or another. As they walk the long road to Santiago de Compostela (when they can't catch a ride), Jean and Pierre encounter Jesus (Bernard Verley), who decides not to shave his beard to keep his mother happy; a young boy with stigmata and unusual powers; the Marquis de Sade (Michel Piccoli), who patently struggles to teach atheism to a young girl he's captured; an eccentric priest who has an irreversible belief in transubstantiation until he changes his mind; two men who put their debate over Catholic dogma to the test in a duel with swords; and Satan (Pierre Clementi), who shows up just in time for a car wreck. La Voie Lactee (aka The Milky Way) was scripted by Bunuel and his frequent screenwriting collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere; each of the film's historic episodes was adapted faithfully from an actual biblical text or historical account. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This French social comedy makes fun of the upper crust. It is based on a Moliere play and is the first appearance of the entire Comedie Francaise troupe. Usually, the troupe only allowed one member at a time to appear in a film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Based upon the classic Moliere farce and performed by the legendary Comedie Francaise, The Would Be Gentleman opens in a contemporary setting as audience members enter a theatre and take their seats. The curtain rises, and we the play begins. We soon meet Jourdain (Louis Seigner), a man of recent wealth but no breeding. Jourdain is obsessed with "quality" and "respectability," but is a total fool, and his efforts at bettering himself are met with derision -- but only behind his back. Jourdain also has set his sights on a lovely widowed Marquise, whom he hopes to impress by commissioning serenades, ballets, etc., and for whom he has bought an expensive ring. He has enlisted the aid of an impecunious Count to deliver his messages of love, but the Count is after the Marquise himself and tells her that the gifts he brings are his own. Jourdain also must deal with his wife, who finds his airs ridiculous, and his daughter Lucille, who wishes to marry Cleonte, a young, honorable man who is perfect in all respects save one -- he is not of noble blood. Fortunately, Cleonte's servant devises a scheme to fool Jourdain into thinking Cleonte is to the manor born, and the film ends with all the lovers matched with their appropriate partners. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi