Michel Piccoli Movies
French leading man Michel Piccoli spent most of his time from 1945 through 1955 on the French stage, primarily with Theatre Babylone and the Reynauld-Barrault Company. He enjoyed nominal film stardom from 1955 onward, though it was not until 1961's Le Doulos that he truly became "box office," specializing in worldly, cynical roles. Like Hollywood's Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Gary Cooper, Piccoli was possessed of that rare gift of being able to adapt himself to virtually any kind of material without altering his essential screen persona. And like those aforementioned actors, Piccoli's talents suited the prerequisites of a wide variety of directors: not many contemporary performers can claim to have worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, Costa-Gavras, Luis Bunuel, and Louis Malle. Piccoli's acting awards include a Cannes Festival prize for 1979's Salto nel Vuoto and a 1982 Berlin Festival honor for Une Etrange Affaire. In 1991, Piccoli once again won international acclaim for his portrayal of an artist suffering from a creative block in La belle noiseuse. He subseqently continued to do steady work in pictures of varying quality, one highlight being Raul Ruiz's 1997 Généalogies d'une Crime, which cast Piccoli as a doctor caught up in a murder mystery. In 1976, Piccoli recorded his remarkable career on the page when he co-wrote a semi-autobiography, Dialogue Egoistes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1985
This big-budget historical epic from acclaimed Egyptian director Youssef Chahine features a crazed turn by Patrice Chereau as Napoleon Bonaparte. The film, an Egyptian-French co-production, deals with Napoleon's occupation of Alexandria and its effect on a typical Egyptian family. Michel Piccoli leads the cast as a general in Napoleon's army who tentatively befriends a local poet. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Mohsen Mohiedine, (more)
- 1985
This melodrama, set in WW II during the French occupation, tells the story of the members of a Jewish family who flee the Germans and end up hiding in the country manse of two aristocrats. Unfortunately, the Gestapo finds them and they are sent to a concentration camp. The film then leaps ahead to 1985 where the daughter of the couple begins believing that her dead brother has been reincarnated as a famed pianist. She feels this is so because both of them love Rachmaninoff's "Concerto No. 2". ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Evelyne Bouix, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1984
Alex Rodak (Michael York) is a Polish director in exile in London with his family, which includes an older teenage son Adam (Michael Lyndon) who is struggling with an identity crisis, his wife (Joanna Szerzerbic), and another son. Rodak is in the throes of putting together a major show about Poland and the politics of exile at a West End theater. His single-minded determination to succeed causes him to take advantage of others, and because of his need for backing, he turns to a low-life businessman (John Hurt) to bail him out. His wife is anything but happy about his behavior and dislikes this last decision even more. On the opposite end of the spectrum stands Adam, who is disillusioned with his father's drive to succeed at all costs (the father does receive a few awards) and who longs to go back to his roots -- in Warsaw. The story jumps from one scene to the next with some fantasy segments and not always enough connecting narrative. Otherwise, this is an interesting study of how a father and son become alienated in a conflict between cultural identity and its exploitation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael York, Janna Szerzerbic, (more)
- 1984
Through a series of convoluted turns, like a tornado going through Kansas, director Claude Lelouch has managed to keep a vacuum at the center of his film. A corporate executive (Michel Piccoli and a young actress (Evelyne Bouix) suddenly disappear and reappear and disappear, almost as fast as blinking Christmas tree lights. Since neither can remember what is going on, it is likely that they are suffering from the classic "I was kidnapped by an extraterrestrial" syndrome. And in fact, that may be the case because it seems that some ETs wanted to speak through these two people to tell earthlings to quit gearing up their nuclear arsenals. Jean-Louis Trintignant plays an acting teacher and Charles Aznavour plays a restaurant owner in this complex story -- yet both stars cannot carry the film on their own merits. For many viewers the labyrinth that wends its way to the final credits is a bit difficult to follow, and at the center of the labyrinth is a woefully inadequate ending. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1983
Falling a little short of either comedy or drama or whatever the intent may have been, this bland film directed by first-timer Luciano Tovoli is about an Italian general (Marcel Mastroianni) sent to Albania along with an army chaplain (Michel Piccoli) to bring back the remains of 3,000 compatriot soldiers. The Italian general runs into a German counterpart (Gerard Klein) with a similar mission, but even among the three of them, it is an impossible task to sort out 3,000 skeletons and 3,000 dog tags and come up with any kind of order -- not a situation that lends itself to hilarity, no matter what one's perspective might be. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1982
Sebastien Grenier (Lino Ventura), a former French spy, is working as a financial analyst in Zurich and cultivating an on-going relationship with Anna Gretz (Krystyna Janda), a German teaching at the university. Then his peaceful existence starts to disintegrate when he is recruited by a top French intelligence operative (Michel Piccoli) to discover how one of their own secret agents was found out and executed in broad daylight by a gang of terrorists. Sebastien starts to work but is immediately put off by the fact that his contacts are being murdered before he can reach them. As he gets deeper and deeper into the case, he comes to realize that he is being used in an elaborate political scheme, a scheme that leads to the death of Anna and a vow to get the killers who have now ruined what is left of his life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Krystyna Janda, (more)
- 1982
Andre Joeuf (Jean Poiret) is the coldly calculating president of an insurance company who, when faced with the imperative of firing some of his highly paid executives, invites them all over to his country estate for a weekend to indulge in a few games of musical chairs. Anyone left standing after each round will be out his job. The mix of people at the estate and their relationships to each other and their boss, as well as the character of the boss himself, are enough to make most business majors switch to art history. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Poiret, Daniel Auteuil, (more)
- 1982
A man's tragic past leads him to take justice into his own hands in this troubling look at life in Europe after WWII. Max Baumstein (Michel Piccoli) is a well-known human rights activist and avowed pacifist who, to the shock and puzzlement of many, murders a politician from South America. As Baumstein goes to trial, it is revealed that his victim was in fact a Nazi war criminal who ordered the deaths of thousands of people -- including Baumstein's parents. In flashback, Max recalls the horrors of the Nazi occupation of France, and he remembers Elsa Weiner (Romy Schneider), a woman who helped save his life and struggled to free her husband Michel (Helmut Griem) from a concentration camp after he was condemned for publishing anti-fascist literature. La Passante Du Sans-Souci marked the final screen appearance of actress Romy Schneider, who played both Elsa and Baumstein's wife Lina; Schneider died of heart failure shortly after it was released. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1982
Despite a fast-paced story that slams the broadcast industry and lotto mentality, this sci-fi action thriller emphasizes action over anxiety, and so its hunt-and-kill premise is less exciting than it sounds. Based on a Robert Sheckley tale, the action is brought about by a television show invented by money-motivated executives with ratings on the brain. The idea is to choose someone from the vast sea of the unemployed and cast them as the "hunted," while five others are the "hunters." The prey receives a million dollars if he or she can outsmart the five hunters, and a hunter gets $100,000 for finding and killing their human target. François Jacquemard (Gerard Lanvin) is chosen to be the man who has to outsmart the five hitmen, and when he proves to be too good at it, the TV executives have to find a way to outsmart him. All the drama, from beginning to end, is played out under the watchful eyes of multiple TV cameras, on the ground and in the air, while blood-thirsty viewers stay glued to their sets like Romans watching the gladiators -- but unlike the Romans, they are regularly interrupted by those annoying commercial breaks. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1981
Anne (Jane Birkin) is a seriously disturbed young woman who is driven to leave her husband for awhile and go home to her parents in the countryside. Once there, she comes up against many of the primal causes of her own imbalanced mind. Her father is in an indecisive relationship with both his wife (Natasha Parry) and his mistress (Eva Rensi), and does not seem a pillar of stability himself. When Anne confronts her father, their relationship degenerates, leaving little promise for the future. Viewers should take note that the film deals with social taboos, such as incest. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1981
Louis (Gerard Lanvin), an advertising executive in a Paris department store, is not the world's most ambitious man, but he has a good marriage and is content with his job -- until his world is turned upside-down by a new, manipulative, controlling manager (Michel Piccoli) who slowly starts to dominate his life. Once given privileged entry into the inner circle of the boss' confidantes, Louis does everything so as not to lose his advantaged position: he works overtime, he fawns, he fetches, his house is at the manager's disposal. His wife (Nathalie Baye), who sees right through the arrogant manager, is getting fed up with her husband's behavior but is not able to make him aware of the extent of his own personality changes. In a pique of anger, she leaves him -- and it looks as though Louis cannot "unlearn" his lesson, especially when the manager disappears as mysteriously as he came. Michel Piccoli won the "Best Actor" award at the 1982 Berlin Film Festival for his role in this film. The film itself also won the Louis Delluc award for the "Best French Film" of 1981. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1980
German director Hans Noever shot this crime drama in the U.S. in English, an unusual achievement at this time. The setting is Jefferson City, Missouri, and Joseph Randolph (Martin West), a VIP in a fictional electronics company, has just gotten the sack. The company bigwigs insist it is simply because of downsizing, but Randolph is not buying it. Enraged, he gets a handgun (this is the U.S.) and shoots five managers to death. Then he turns himself in and is eventually put in a psychiatric hospital by the police. His family suffers a series of tragedies that leave only his daughter to wonder about why her father was committed to an institution. She joins with a visiting reporter from Chicago and another interested man, and all three start digging deeper into the company's history. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Martin West, (more)
- 1979
Three men with a penchant for gambling on the horses soon find themselves in trouble because of their addiction. Pierre (Michel Piccoli) is the math whiz who uses his talent for picking the winners. Charles (Michel Galabru) is the wealthy scrap-iron magnate who has embarrassing evidence on many prominent political figures. Loic (Jacques Dutronc) is the aspiring politico who seeks to further his career by any means possible. Charles approaches Loic and asks his political party for a loan in hopes of fixing an upcoming race. When all three men come up big winners, an official investigation is launched. Pierre and Charles find themselves in trouble, with Loic gaining access to Charles' coveted list of evidence on his political rivals. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacques Dutronc, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1979
In this rambling comic tale about a man and a wife, with four children, who calmly announce to the children that they want to divorce one another, it is impossible to tell who is dissatisfied with whom about what. They had seemed to be a perfect couple. Their flabbergasted children have mixed feelings, and the most difficult thing about the divorce, besides understanding why it is taking place at all, is deciding what will happen with the couple's numerous pets. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Lea Massari, (more)
- 1979
The old Guy De Maupassant story The Devil would seem to be the springboard for the Italian-made Leap Into the Void. Michel Piccoli plays an Italian jurist whose sister Anouk Aimee is a bit "light in the belfry". Piccoli entreats Michele Placido to convince the awkward Aimee to kill herself. The results are unexpected, and fascinating. As with most of his work, director Marco Bellocchio uses the seemingly petty problems of his bourgeois characters as a mirror of what is going on in society at large. Leap Into the Void was originally released as Salto nel Vuoto; both Michel Piccoli and Anouk Aimee won Best Acting awards at the 1980 Cannes Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1978
Crime specialist Sergio Corbucci directed this madcap comic mystery that is just waiting to be discovered by cult audiences. It stars Marcello Mastroianni as a café mandolin player who performs on a streetcorner to help pay for his father's gambling debts. After a murder and a suicide occur, the innocent Mastroianni becomes the prime suspect, and he undertakes his own investigation to clear his name. In the process, he is force-fed cocaine in a disco, hung from the side of a high-rise, almost killed in a car accident, and trapped in a sinking boat. As if that wasn't enough, there's also a frozen midget and a New Year's Eve party in an insane asylum. Ornella Muti, Capucine, and Michel Piccoli co-star, and as silly as it is, the film manages to maintain a giallo look thanks to rich photography by Luigi Kuveiller (the man responsible for the lush earthtones in Profondo Rosso) and a brisk score by Riz Ortolani. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- 1978
In this story, the ambitions of the get-rich-quick crowd come crashing down around their ears as they hitch a ride on a speculation bubble involving sugar-commodities pricing. Raoul (Gerard Depardieu) is a hot-shot commodities broker who sweet-talks Adrien (Jean Carmet), a quiet and unassuming man, into taking his wife's inheritance and using it to speculate on the recent rise in sugar prices. Raoul is able to pry more money away from Adrien when he shows him how much his first, more conservative speculations have made. Commodities speculators know that when the market is going their way, their earnings multiply many-fold. However, in the heat of the moment, they sometimes forget that when prices go the wrong way, their losses can also multiply. In this story, the con-man is taken in by his own con, for Raoul has also entered the sugar market, using every bit of money he can scrape together. When the market turns around, they both land in the soup together. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Jean Carmet, (more)
- 1978
A group of carping critics and whiny would-be artists who have never been confronted with the reality of having their works accepted and promulgated are vacationing in the house of the publisher Strauberg on the Greek island of Mykonos. All of them have huge egos and even larger pretensions, and swiftly become irritated with one another's company. The publisher himself (Michel Piccoli) arrives into the midst of this seething mass of jealousies. Feeling that they have to be on their "best" behavior to impress this potential patron, the pretentious intellectuals' resentments escalate. Made in 1975, this feature was not released until 1978. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Theodor Kotulla, (more)
- 1978
The French Riviera felt the heavy hand of German occupation much later than the rest of the country, and was a haven for wealthy misfits who had no other place to go to escape that regime. Despite the certain knowledge that their doom is approaching, the characters in this film party and quarrel as if their world were not disintegrating rapidly. In the main story, Konrad (Michel Piccoli), an Austrian surgeon, has fled his newly Nazified country for the Riviera. There, he encounters Laura (Lara Wendel) the 13-year-old daughter of an anti-fascist Italian Contessa (Claudia Cardinale). When the girl perceives that he loves her, she offers herself to him. Horrified, he sends her away. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
- 1977
Spoiled Children (Des enfants gates) finds director Bertrand Tavernier tempering his New Wave impulses with an overwhelming desire to entertain a mass audience. The "children" of the title are actually artistically inclined grown-ups. Filmmaker Bernard (Michel Piccoli), who is suffering a creative block, enters into an affair with the much-younger Anne (Christine Pascal). Meanwhile, Bernard's idealistic neighbors go head-to-head with their more pragmatic (and crueler) landlord. While a very personal film, Spoiled Children is broad enough in its appeal to reach even those who've never attempted anything of an artistic nature. Actress Christine Pascal co-wrote the script with director Tavernier, reportedly drawing on their own relationship. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Christine Pascal, (more)
- 1977
La Part du Feu is a French idiom, and has to do with making a sacrifice for some gain. Hansen (Michel Piccoli) is a wheeler-dealer and building developer, who apparently manipulates people and situations just for the joy of it. In this melodrama, it was his wife Catherine's (Claudia Cardinale) money which enabled him to get into the real-estate business, but these days she is somewhat neglected. Jacques (Jacques Perrin) is his assistant, an eager but none too confident young man who has been having an affair with Catherine. The two of them worry a great deal about Hanson discovering their relationship. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
- 1977
In this sardonic comedy, after an executive is killed in a mysterious automobile accident, the French offices of his multinational company is inundated with mysteriously threatening be-ribboned anti-capitalist tracts, delivered overnight to everyone's desks. Later, the executive's body is brought to company offices for an official wake -- only no one at the company has ordered that such a thing be done. A mysterious prankster, who is able to imitate the voice of the company's president, has arranged these things. When Americans from the head office get wind of these developments, they institute a search for the perpetrator which leads to mysterious subterranean passages under the company's skyscraper ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Yanne, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1976
Set at an indeterminate time in the near future, this routine, well-acted drama by Elio Petri tackles favorite Italian topics: religion and politics. A bit of macabre fantasy is added to the mix, but the end product remains somewhat muddled. Don Gaetano (Marcello Mastroianni) is a priest who is supervising a group of Christian Democrats on a religious retreat. The objective is to help these politicians purify their past wrongdoings, no matter how large or small, and live closer to God. The retreat takes place in a concrete bunker with plenty of small rooms for contemplation and icons set here and there to offer inspiration. Once the retreat begins, the politicos alarmingly begin to die off one by one. Don Gaetano wants them to get closer to God but did he mean that close? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1976
Patrick Dewaere plays Andre, a hot-tempered young man who whiles away his spare time by fantasizing about the action films of Douglas Fairbanks. For years, a relative of his has promised him a job. For years, he has waited for the job, but to no avail. Finally too frustrated to stand it any more, Andre beats up the relative's boss. Then his girlfriend (Miou-Miou), tired of his tantrums, refuses to see him any more. This prompts even more extreme behavior on his part, though he harms no one but himself this time. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Patrick Dewaere, (more)
- 1976
Michel Piccoli plays Simon, a French businessman reluctantly venturing into middle age. As he deals with his own midlife crisis, Simon becomes virtually oblivious to the social changes around him. The businessman tries to counter advancing age with an increased sex life, but finds that women aren't the same compliant creatures he remembers from his youth. Though the material is rife with opportunities for "radical" camerawork, director Claude Sautet chooses an austere, near-classic cinematic style, allowing us to concentrate more on the people in front of the camera rather than the person behind it. Featured in the cast of Mado is actress Romy Schneider, a Sautet favorite. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Ottavia Piccolo, (more)
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