Michel Pilorge Movies
- 1990
- PG
An American comic (Patsy Kensit) is trying to make it in the comedy dens of Paris, but her soon-to-expire visa forces her to visit a marriage broker. He fixes her up with a songwriter (Stephane Freiss), but French immigration remains suspicious even after the marriage. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
When the mother of 12-year-old Martin suddenly dies, his schoolmates rally 'round to keep the authorities from finding out lest they send the fatherless youth to the dreaded local orphanage. This off-beat French drama, chronicles their efforts that begin with a midnight burial of the poor woman's body (placed inside a grandfather clock) in a lonely field. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvain Copans, Nicolas Parodi, (more)
- 1989
The conflict in question is World War II; even though hostilities have all but ceased, the Germans and the French are not precisely reconciled. German soldier Richard Bohlinger, absent without leave, is befriended by a couple of pre-teen boys (Antoine and Julien Hubert, sons of director Jean-Louis Hubert). Despite the fact that they seem to have found a lasting peace, the adult world doesn't see things the boys' way, and Bohlinger is put to death. Apres le Guerre is the second felicitous collaboration between director Hubert and veteran character-actor Richard Bohlinger; the first was the popular Le Grand Chemin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antoine Hubert, Richard Bohringer, (more)
Menage begins as a comedy of sorts, but be warned: it develops into a very dark, very confusing probe into the seamier aspects of Parisian life. Gerard Depardieu plays a crude but charismatic thief, whose own gayness does not prevent his commiserating with those of the opposite sex. Miou-Miou and Michel Blanc are young, impoverished lovers who fall under Depardieu's influence. He gains their confidence by introducing them to kinky sex, then sucks them into a vortex of crime. Director Bertrand Blier, who in most of his films has explored the awesome power (rather than pleasure) of sex, nearly outdoes himself in Menage (aka Tenue de Soiree). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Michel Blanc, (more)
- 1983
The French My Other Husband (Attention! Une Femme Peut en Cacher une Autre) would eventually suffer the indignity of an American TV-movie remake, which will go unnamed here to protect the guilty. The original film is a sprightly vehicle for the delectable Miou-Miou. Thanks to her resourcefulness and spunk, Alice (Miou-Miou) manages to get two well-paying jobs in two separates cities. She also acquires two husbands, airline pilot Philippe (Roger Hanin) and school teacher Vincent (Eddy Mitchell), and three children unevenly distributed between them. Our Heroine is found out when Philippe's schedule is changed and he chances to meet Vincent. Both men accept the situation philosophically, but a frantic Alice feels an explanation is necessary. It is that explanation that provides the heart and soul of this irresistible little film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Roger Hanin, (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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Poiret, Daniel Auteuil, (more)
- 1977
Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Michel Gauché, a stunt double and trickster who is crazy in love with his former fiancee, work-mate, and fellow stunt performer Jane (Raquel Welch). She, however, is so angry with him for landing her in the hospital due to a badly performed stunt that she breaks off the engagement. Belmondo also plays Bruno Ferrari, the movie star he is doubling for, an effeminate homosexual who lusts after his stuntman. Because Jane is angry with Michel, she falls into the arms of a film producer, and arranges for Michel to re-do the same stunt over and over again endlessly. She also tries to woo Bruno the movie star and discovers that he is not interested in women. Michel tries hard to win her back, sometimes pretending to be the movie star, which confuses her to no end. Just as she is about to marry a dull aristocrat, Belmondo appears in an old gorilla outfit and abducts her from the aisles of the church. Belmondo was famous for doing all his own stunts, and he continued that tradition in this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raquel Welch, (more)
For a change, the character portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in Maîtresse is relatively normal; it is the world around him which has gone slightly mad. Looking for a measure of affection and companionship, Olivier (Depardieu) crosses the path of the lovely Ariane (Bulle Ogier). She happens to be a professional dominatrix-and from the evidence we're presented, she's one of the most accomplished of her ilk. How this mismatched (to put it mildly) relationship can possibly work is the core of Maîtresse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Bulle Ogier, (more)
Director Bertrand Blier's Les Valseuses features Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere as a pair of sociopaths wending their way across France. Though Depardieu is the more dominant of the two, both men are equally culpable in their disregard for common decency. They are particularly rough on women, even the like-minded Miou-Miou, whom they both love in their own way. Jeanne Moreau has a brief bit as an ex-convict who sleeps with both Depardieu and Dewaere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, (more)
