Michel Piccoli Movies

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, Rovi

Though far better known in Europe than in the United States, Eastern European director Otar Iosseliani (who hails from Georgia) claims a bevy of international awards and a devoted fanbase, and commands a formidable amount of respect in film circles for his meticulous cinematic craftsmanship. Almost uniquely for a contemporary filmmaker of his stature, Iosseliani (best known for his 2002 Berlinale Silver Bear winner Lundi Matin) states that an integral part of his creative process involves receiving divine intervention from the Almighty - his everpresent muse. With the documentary Otar Iosseliani: The Whistling Blackbird, filmmaker Julie Bertucelli - a longtime friend of Iosseliani's - follows the 73-year-old director around, camera in tow, and explores his creative process, gaining unparalleled insight into a mind so flooded with projects and plans and visions that most, as he readily admits, will never see fruition. The film observes Iosseliani as he orchestrates preproduction of a film, by collaborating diligently with storyboard artists and his Director of Photography, William Lubtchansky, and engaging in discussions of creative difference that run the gamut from light and witty to heated and caustic. The picture also unveils the degree to which Ioselliani insists on casting his pictures with lay men and women, and his enormous emphasis on the kinesthetics of movement, visual artistry and camera balletics, often at the expense of dialogue - a preference that cannot be tagged with a value judgement, for it is part and parcel of Iosseliani's unique filmic voice. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Guillaume Depardieu, Jeanne Balibar, and Michel Piccoli star in director Jacques Rivette's adaptation of the Balzac novella The Duchesse de Langeais, which tells the tale of a Parisian socialite who is romantically pursued by a Napoleonic war hero. The story begins as grieving French general Armand de Montriveau (Depardieu) arrives at a Majorcan church to speak with French nun Antionette le Langeais (Balibar). General de Montriveau believes le Langeais to be a woman he once loved dearly, but eventually lost. As the pair is reunited under the watchful eyes of the presiding priest and mother superior, their romantic past gradually comes into focus. It was five years ago that bored socialite Antoinette first became enamored with the wounded soldier whose rousing tales of adventure offered exciting contrast to her highly refined lifestyle. Though she was married at the time, the coquettish cosmopolitan quickly fell under the spell of the commanding military man -- who vowed that very night that Antoinette would be his lover. As their romance grows more complicated, the passionate pair finds it increasingly difficult to deny the powerful connection that binds them. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira pays homage to Luis Bunuel's masterful exercise in surreal eroticism, Belle de Jour, with this latter-day "sequel." Years ago, Henri Husson (Michel Piccoli) lusted after Severine, a beautiful and innocent young housewife who satisfied her less than wholesome erotic desires by working afternoons at an upscale brothel while avoiding intimacy with her husband. While Henri knew Severine's secret, he never told her if he did (or did not) reveal her secret life to her wheelchair-bound husband, and she's long wondered if he ever betrayed her confidences. One day, while attending a concert, Henri is startled to see Severine (Bulle Ogier, in the role Catherine Deneuve played in Belle de Jour) is also in the audience, and he arranges a candlelight dinner. However, while Henri is as sly and randy as ever, he discovers Severine is a changed woman -- after more than thirty years and the death of her husband, she's a mere shadow of her former self, and is considering joining a convent for retirement. Belle Toujours received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Master filmmaker Raúl Ruiz adds a black comedy to his far-reaching body of work with That Day, a playful meditation on money, death, and false spirituality. Livia (Elsa Zylberstein) and Pointpoirot (Bernard Girardeau) are, respectively, a spoiled society woman who suffers from delusional visions of heavenly apparitions and a crazed serial killer on the loose after a successful prison break. It isn't long before fate brings the two together, and after thwarting Pointpoirot's initial attempts to murder her, Livia soon warms to the charming sociopath. The duo makes short work of Livia's greedy family -- who were planning on killing her and collecting her fortune, anyway -- and as the death count rises, a romance develops between the two. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Anton Chekhov's The Seagull receives an updated adaptation in this drama from veteran French filmmaker Claude Miller. Mado (Nicole Garcia) is a successful actress who is spending the summer at her country estate with her boyfriend, Brice (Bernard Giraudeau), a noted filmmaker who directed her latest picture. Also staying with Mado is her son, Julien (Robinson Stévenin), a budding experimental filmmaker with a combustible personality who is infatuated with Lili (Ludivine Sagnier), a beautiful young woman whose family lives nearby. Lili is attentive but cool around Julien, who doesn't pay much heed to the attentions of Jeanne-Marie (Julie Depardieu), the daughter of Mado's caretaker (Marc Betton) who has long held a torch for him. When Julien screens his latest film for Mado and her guests, it leads to a bitter argument between the two as her criticism of her son's work devolves into a series of personal attacks on one another. As Julien threatens to sever ties with his mother, Lili courts the attentions of Brice, while Jeanne-Marie defends Julien's work with little reaction from him. La Petite Lili received its world premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A man who's been confronted with new responsibilities must decide what to do with his career in this drama with comic undertones. Gilbert Vance (Michel Piccoli) is an aging but highly respected actor who, after completing a performance of Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King in which he plays opposite an attractive and talented actress named Sylvie Leonor Silveira, receives devastating news -- his wife, his daughter, and her husband have all perished in an automobile accident. Vance becomes the guardian of his grandson, and as he learns to live without his loved ones, the boy soon becomes his best and most rewarding reason for getting through the days. Vance returns to work playing Prospero in a well-received production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and after the successful run, Vance's agent (Antoine Chappey) is flooded with offers for the actor's services. But the majority of the projects are highly dubious, and Vance ends up rejecting most of them, though he takes a role in a screen adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses directed by American filmmaker John Crawford (John Malkovich), even though he knows he's miscast. As Vance ponders retirement, his agent also passes along another sort of offer -- Sylvie has confided that she's very much attracted to Vance, but while she's more than interested in an affair, Vance isn't sure that he wants a new relationship in his life. Catherine Deneuve also appears in a supporting role as an actress working with Vance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Surrealist master Luis Bunuel is a towering figure in the world of cinema history, directing such groundbreaking works as Un Chien Andalou, Exterminating Angels, and That Obscure Object of Desire, yet his personal life was clouded in myth and paradox. Though sexually diffident, he frequently worked in the erotic drama genre; though personally quite conservative, his films are florid, flamboyant, and utterly bizarre. This documentary, directed Jose Luis Lopez Linares, tries to illuminate some of these contradictions. It features interviews ranging from the historical -- Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes -- to the personal -- his wife and children. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The son of actor Bernard Blier, director Bertrand Blier is known throughout France for his documentaries and dark depictions of sex and its impact on society. Though his influences and personal opinions clearly shine through, Les Acteurs is a satirical take on the ups, downs, and numerous implications of life in showbiz as told by a variety of real-life French actors. Among the featured cast are André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jacques Villeret, Claude Rich, and Pierre Arditi, all of whom play themselves. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Veteran Spanish director Luis Garcia Berlanga created this anarchic black comedy about sexual impotence and millennial anxiety. Though a Paris-based plastic surgeon spends much of his time and wealth on prostitutes, he is plagued by impotence. Despondent, he plans to commit suicide. After happening upon a bike with "Paris-Timbuktu" painted on it, he decides to bike from France to Africa and kill himself there on New Year's Eve. But when his plans are thwarted in Spain by a painful boil on his bottom, he is forced to room with a pair of sisters in a remote village. Through them, he finds himself increasingly immersed in the local community, populated by the likes of a clergyman suspected of murder, a nudist garage mechanic, and a bizarre champion cyclist. Paris-Timbuktu was screened at the 1999 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Mirroring the style of French graphic novels and dramatic comic strips, this adventure is set in a rundown lunar city and chronicles an evil, rapidly aging dictator's desperate search for the man who unwillingly donated his brain cells to him 20 years before. The dictator Mac Bee begins his mad hunt after an assassin kills his heirs. Without more of Tykho Moon's brain cells, Mac Bee will lose control of the moon and so sends out his best storm troopers to find Tykho. But Tykho lost his memory after the first operation and has become Anikst, a sculptor. He has a feeling that something is wrong and that for some reason he may be the object of the intense searching. While wandering the city streets, he encounters and falls in love with Lena, a beautiful prostitute who also turns out to be more than she seems. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Distinguished French actor Michel Piccoli was 72-years-old when he made his directorial debut with this keen black comedy of a wildly dysfunctional family and the destructive games they play whenever they force themselves to get together. Piccoli also penned the screenplay. Constantin is the father and rules his small dynasty of three unsuccessful sons with an iron fist. Every Sunday, Constantin insists that the family gather for dinner, even though these meals genuinely possess a nightmarish quality due to the unruly grandkids, the unbridled lusts the brothers have for each other's wives, and their ceaseless bickering. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi