Michel Piccoli Movies

This is a movie about walls, no not physical walls of wood and stone, but the psychological walls that protect and ultimately imprison certain souls, effectively isolating them from the most teeming crowds. 19-year-old Cora's are walls of anger that keep her militantly aloof from the world around her. The much-older Cosimo's walls are harder to define. Suffering from debilitating bouts of forgetfulness, he lives in a whimsical world, wandering whenever the urge strikes him. His wanderlust greatly worries his daughter Ada, herself trying to surmount the fences erected between her husband and herself as they try to deal with Cosimo. She hires Cora to surreptitiously watch Cosimo and to keep him from harm. At first Cora is content to quietly trail the oblivious Cosimo on his daily jaunts around the city, but as time passes she finds herself drawing inexorably nearer to the old man. One day Cosimo just gets on a train and randomly visits numerous towns with Cora forced to follow. Eventually they end up in the country where Cora shows that she is not as hard and cynical as she seems. She then informs Ada of her father's latest escapades, but eventually Cora comes to accept the professor as he is and in so doing finds new insight about herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Noted French filmmaker Demy's wife Agnes Varda helmed this intensely personal tribute to her late husband. It is her third such tribute and is the only one to look deeply into Demy's vision as a director and his filmmaking techniques. To do so, she uses perfectly preserved film clips from each of the director's works and interviews with those who knew and loved him. Those interviewed include actress Catherine Deneuve, actress Anouk Aimee, actor Michel Piccoli, composer Michel Legrand, his own children and others, including female fans whose lives where influenced by his work. Also included are intimate home movies of him during a visit by Francois Truffaut and the late Jim Morrison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This homage to the cinema by venerated movie-maker Agnes Varda, often dubbed the "grandmother" of the French New Wave, features an all-star international cast. The story is based upon the memories and insights of the 100-year old Mr. Simon Cinema. He lives in a magnificent house filled with movie memorabilia. To help him remember the important details of his career he hires Camille, a film student to write down his remembrances and experiences which have involved all areas of movie-making. Camille comes once a day for 101 days. Film clips, photographs and actual visitors highlight his stories. As he continues to spin his yarns, the imagery in the film smoothly morph into other images. Camille, when not recording, is involved in other exploits including a romance with a production assistant, Mica who aspires to becoming a director. She also begins plotting a way to get to Mr. Cinema's fortune by having a friend pose as his long lost heir. Many other characters are peripherally involved including Death, an Italian seeking the rights to his film catalogue, and a memory specialist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The biblical tale of Joseph is told from an Egyptian perspective in this interesting character study. In this film, Joseph is called Ram. Ram, tired of his family's backward superstitious life, and tired of being picked on by his brothers, wants to go to Egypt to study agriculture. His brothers travel with him across Sinai, but then suddenly sell him to Ozir, an Egyptian who works for a Theban military leader, Amihar. Amihar is impressed by Ram's drive and personal charm and so grants Ram some desolate land outside the capital. Ram soon finds himself a pawn in the political and sexual games between Amihar and his wife Simihit, a high priestess of the Cult of Amun. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, filmed in a series of vignettes, a diverse cast of characters tries to pick up the pieces of their lives after Paul's ladyfriend commits suicide. Not only that, but Paul (Michel Piccoli) must cope with having four house guests, including an infant baby, the infant's recently separated mother, another child of hers, and an immature young woman who is the girlfriend of a rock band's lead singer. Their complex and demanding lives add to the distressed man's difficulty in coping with his bereavement and at the same time help pull him through it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

France, 1815. After his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon heads for exile. Royalists occupy Paris and attempt to restore the monarchy. However, the battle doesn't seem to be over. On July 6, Talleyrand (Claude Rich), a shrewd politician of flexible convictions, invites chief of police and zealous revolutionary Fouché (Claude Brasseur) to supper and tries to convince him to serve the king. Over the meal they insult each other, accuse each other, and, at first sight, look like mortal enemies. But they definitely have one thing in common: they are both power-hungry. Basically a stage two-hander, the picture looks frustratingly uncinematic and static, despite the vigorous performances by the two leads. It will be enjoyed most by viewers with a good knowledge of the French Revolution and the Restoration who will understand the dialogue's subtle political details. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Two couples traveling together in the same car are forced to take refuge at the country manor of a hermit-like old man when their car breaks down. In a star turn, Michel Piccoli plays the old man, who skillfully manipulates these virtually spineless people, destroying relationships between them and forging new ones on a whim. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this fascinating and unconventional examination of the creative process, an artist near the end of his career finds new inspiration in a young model. Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) is a famous and well-respected artist who lives in a comfortable estate in the French countryside. At the age of 60, Frenhofer considers his career as a painter to be over; he says he no longer feels any inspiration to create, and his last attempt at a major work, a nude study of his wife Liz (Jane Birkin) called "La Belle Noiseuse" (The Beautiful Nuisance), has sat unfinished for ten years. Just as Frenhofer has lost his enthusiasm for his art, he has also lost his passion for Liz; their relationship is polite and friendly, but without enthusiasm. When Frenhofer tells Nicolas (David Bursztein), his young protégé, that he no longer feels the desire to paint, Nicolas suggests that he needs a more inspiring subject, and he offers his girlfriend Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart) as a model. Frenhofer is taken with Marianne's beauty, and, with Liz's cool approval, he and Marianne spend several arduous sessions together, exchanging ideas and opinions as Frenhofer methodically attempts to create a final masterpiece. While La Belle Noiseuse runs 240 minutes, director Jacques Rivette also prepared an alternate version, La Belle Noiseuse -- Divertimento, which runs 120 minutes, features a different framing sequence, and incorporates takes unused in the original cut. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The story of this film was allegedly based on a true story witnessed by the director Nico Papatakis during his filmmaking collaboration with the controversial and much-lionized monstre sacrée Jean Genet. In the story, Marcel Spadice (Michel Piccoli) is a famous writer with a criminal background and a penchant for handsome men. From time to time, he induces an attractive female admirer to arrange for him to be introduced to nice, talented young men who happen to be sufficiently handsome to interest him. At other times, the endless effort to woo these men (who are most often heterosexual) grows wearying, and he goes to the train station to pick up soldiers looking for some easy money and a night's lodging. In this film, the writer has grown enamored with a young circus laborer (Lilah Dadi) who wants to move up in the world, literally, by becoming a tightrope walker. Marcel cadges an introduction, and for a time sponsors the young man's training. However, when the boy suffers an accident which renders him unfit for his chosen vocation, Marcel loses interest in him and takes up with another young man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This comic excursion from Louis Malle is set in May 1968, concurrent with a series of Parisian student uprisings. After the death of family matriarch Mme. Vieuzac (Paulette Dubost), the survivors converge on the French countryside for her funeral; they include her two sons, Milou (Michel Piccoli) and Georges (Michel Duchaussoy); Camille (Miou-Miou), Milou's daughter; Camille's husband and children; and granddaughter Claire (Dominique Blanc), a lesbian. With the latest news of rebellion from Paris as their soundtrack, the family members argue over property, revive long-simmering arguments, and watch in dismay as an unlikely love affair begins. When the student uprising threatens to spill over into their community, the family heads for the hills, where the great outdoors only intensifies their reunion. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Mathieu (Robin Renucci) is called on by the French government to investigate murders in the Asian community of Paris in this routine thriller. With Chinese and Vietnamese engaged in a bloody slaughterfest, the key to the mystery lies with the orphan girl (Marguerite Tran) who Mathieu helped to escape during the fall of Saigon in 1975. Now a beautiful young woman, Mathieu is reunited ten years later with the refugee, and together they attempt to solve the case. He uncovers a CIA plot that has carried over from the last days of the Vietnam War and that is related to the Paris murders. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The carefree life at a decadent cabaret in Paris is overshadowed by the darkening cloud of war in this thrilling drama. Beppo (Roger Hanin) is a club owner with ties to the mob who wages a secret war against the evil forces of fascism who control the local police. Vivian Reed gives a memorable performance as Josephine Baker, while gangsters, Nazis and other thugs wage a nocturnal battle for control of the city of lights. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Juliette (Nastassja Kinski) is a hairstylist who is diagnosed with cancer in this tearjerking romantic drama. Her illness leads her to oncologist Raoul Bergeron (Michel Piccoli), and she ends up as his mistress. When Juliette falls in love with Raoul's intern Clement (Jean-Hughes Anglade), the jealous doctor threatens to sabotage Clement's career. Juliette spends the rest of the film jumping from Raoul to Clement and back again. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide