Melvil Poupaud Movies
Observant American moviegoers may recognize the très beau French actor Melvil Poupaud from his role in James Ivory's 2003 romantic comedy Le Divorce -- in which he played the arrogant two-timer Charles-Henri de Persand, who divorced a gorgeous, pregnant American wife (Naomi Watts) whom any man would be a fool to leave. Actually, Poupaud had already sustained a decades-long career in the French film industry before joining the cast of that movie. Christened after Herman Melville by his screenwriter mother, Poupaud launched off into acting in primary school, with a role in La Ville des Pirates (1983), directed by the esteemed Raul Ruiz -- not a bad start for a ten-year-old. Sporting dual passions -- one for music, another for movies -- Poupaud cut his chops as a musician on the drums, then formed the Euro rock band Mud with his brother Yarol Poupaud, while continuing to land movie roles on the side.Poupaud worked under the aegis of A-list French directors such as Jacques Doillon and Eric Rohmer -- typically pure romances or romantic comedies, often typecast as a snotty, slightly conceited jerk. Early parts included the younger brother in Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Lover (1991), the lead role of Gaspard in Rohmer's A Summer's Tale (1996), and several more collaborations with Ruiz, such as that director's 1994 Fado, Major and Minor. Le Divorce represented Poupaud's first international role -- an attempt to rise above his largely continental appeal and renown.
Poupaud subsequently received top billing in François Ozon's 2005 Time to Leave, as a high-profile, gay fashion photographer struggling with inoperable brain cancer. Among other things, the film demonstrated that Poupaud could hold his own alongside Jeanne Moreau. The actor followed this up with a respectable contribution as the romantic lead in Zoe Cassavetes' drama Broken English (2007), opposite American indie darling Parker Posey. The next year, he had a small role as Johnny "Goodboy" Jones in the Wachowski Brothers' elaborate, CGI-infused live-action production of Speed Racer. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
A loyal man is tempted both in real life and in cyberspace in this thriller from director Gilles Marchand. Gaspard (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) and his girlfriend Marion (Pauline Etienne) head out to Marseilles for a few weeks of sunshine and relaxation, but after spending a few hours by the pool one day, he finds a lost cell phone in the locker room. Gaspard isn't sure what he should do with the phone, and he's all the more puzzled when the phone rings and he finds himself having to help Audrey (Louise Bourgoin), an attractive but disturbed woman threatening to kill herself. Gaspard and Marion help Audrey before she can take her own life, but while Gaspard is deeply in love with Marion, he's powerfully intrigued by Audrey. Gaspard discovers Audrey is a serious fan of an on-line role playing game called Black Hole, and he begins playing too, creating a character that bears little resemblance to his own personality. The fictive Gaspard becomes all the more attracted to Audrey in the virtual environment, until he realizes she's not as benign as he first thought. L'Autre Monde (aka Black Heaven) was an official selection at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2010
Portuguese filmmaker Raúl Ruiz directed this epic-scale adaptation of Camilo Castelo Branco's historical novel about people looking for truth behind each other's facades in 19th century Portugal. Father Dinis (Adriano Luz) is a man of faith who often finds himself trading one personality for another as he serves different people in different ways. When João (João Luís Arrais), a teenager born out of wedlock and raised in an orphanage, begins asking questions about his parents, Dinis arranges for him to be introduced to his mother, who turns out to be a wealthy countess, Angela (Maria João Bastos). While Angela is married, her jealous and short-tempered husband is not the father, and when word spreads that she is carrying another man's child, the Marquis of Montezelos (Rui Morisson) arranges for the biological father to be killed and hires an outlaw named the Knife-Eater (Ricardo Pereira) to murder the child after it is born. However, the plan goes awry, and in time the Knife-Eater redeems himself; meanwhile, the unexpected connections between the characters evolve with the passage of time. Mistérios de Lisboa (aka Mysteries of Lisbon) was an official selection at the 2010 New York Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adriano Luz
A woman flees to the sea after her lover dies of a sudden drug overdose in this intimate drama from director François Ozon. Parisian couple Mousse (Isabelle Carré) and Louis (Melvil Poupaud) are gorgeous, wealthy, and deeply in love. They share a fashionable apartment in a popular part of the city, but their charmed lives come crashing down all around them when, one morning, Louis' mother arrives at the apartment to find her son dead of an overdose, and his girlfriend lying unconscious nearby. When Mousse discovers that she is pregnant with Louis' child, she retreats to a country house by the sea, where she makes the decision to keep the baby. Later, Louis' brother Paul (Louis-Ronan Choisy) arrives at the remote house, entering into a tentative relationship with the fragile Mousse as she ponders an uncertain future without the love of her life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabelle Carré, Louis-Ronan Choisy, (more)
Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Dillane, and Joanne Whalley star in first-time feature filmmaker Malcolm Venville's darkly comic tale of a man who rallies his friends in order to seek revenge against the French waiter who recently slept with his wife. Sexy Beast scribes Louis Mellis and David Scinto pen the screenplay for a film produced by Richard Brown and Steve Golin. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, (more)
- 2009
James Huth helms this live-action adaptation of the long-running Belgian comic book series -- first published in the 1940s -- that is equal parts homage to and a parody of the American Wild West. French comedian Jean Dujardin stars as the titular gunslinger, a rootin' tootin' cowboy who brings law and order to Daisy Town with the help of his loyal talking horse, Jolly Jumper. Along the way, Lucky Luke encounters various historical figures, each portrayed by a virtual who's who of contemporary French actors: Jesse James (Melvil Poupaud), Calamity Jane (Sylvie Testud), Belle Starr (Alexandra Lamy), and Billy the Kid (Michael Youn). ~ Sandra Bencic, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Dujardin, Melvil Poupaud, (more)
The Matrix masterminds Andy and Larry Wachowski usher anime icon Tatsuo Yoshida's classic 1960s-era hit into the new millennium with this family-friendly story of a young racecar driver who takes on the mysterious Racer X in a custom-made, gadget-loaded speed machine named the Mach 5. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is the kind of driver that every wheelman wishes he could be: a born winner whose unbeatable combination of aggression, instinct, and fearlessness always finds him crossing the checkered flag with a comfortable lead. In Speed Racer's mind, the only driver who could present him with any real challenge is his late brother -- the legendary Rex Racer. Rex died in a heated cross-country rally known as The Crucible many years ago, and now his younger sibling is driven to fulfill the legacy that Rex left behind. To this day, Speed Racer is fiercely loyal to family. It was Speed Racer's father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), who designed the unbeatable Mach 5, and even a lucrative offer from racing giants Royalton Industries isn't enough to get the young ace to break his family ties.
Upon turning down Royalton's (Roger Allam) astronomical offer, Speed Racer makes the shocking discovery that the outcomes of the biggest races are being predetermined by a handful of powerful moguls who pad their profits by manipulating the drivers. Realizing that his career would be ruined if word of the fix gets out, Royalton vows that the Mach 5 will never make it to another finish line. Now, the only way for Speed Racer to save the family business and beat Royalton at his own game will be to win the very same race that claimed his brother's life so many years ago. In order to accomplish that formidable feat, however, Speed Racer will not only have to rely on his family and the aid of his longtime girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), but form a tenuous alliance with his longtime rival -- the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) -- as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Upon turning down Royalton's (Roger Allam) astronomical offer, Speed Racer makes the shocking discovery that the outcomes of the biggest races are being predetermined by a handful of powerful moguls who pad their profits by manipulating the drivers. Realizing that his career would be ruined if word of the fix gets out, Royalton vows that the Mach 5 will never make it to another finish line. Now, the only way for Speed Racer to save the family business and beat Royalton at his own game will be to win the very same race that claimed his brother's life so many years ago. In order to accomplish that formidable feat, however, Speed Racer will not only have to rely on his family and the aid of his longtime girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), but form a tenuous alliance with his longtime rival -- the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) -- as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, (more)
The devastating reverberations of a profound tragedy echo through generations of a long-suffering French family in this emotional family drama from director Arnaud Desplechin. When Abel and his wife, Junon, started a family, it seemed like the seeds of true happiness had been planted. But while their daughter, Elizabeth, was healthy from the day she was born, things quickly turned dark when her brother Joseph was diagnosed with a rare and deadly genetic condition. Joseph's only hope for survival was a bone marrow transplant, but Abel, Junon, and Elizabeth were all incompatible. In one last, desperate chance to save their son's life, Abel and Junon conceived a third child. But not even little Henri could save his ailing brother's life. Joseph died at the age of seven, and neither his siblings nor his parents have ever found the strength to recover. Years later, family relations have deteriorated beyond the point of repair; the tensions between family matriarch Elizabeth and her cynical brother Henri finally culminating in a violent confrontation in which Elizabeth banishes her alcoholic brother and refuses him further contact with his troubled adolescent nephew, Paul. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon, (more)
- 2008
An adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1929 short story "The House of Lurking Death," this French-language whodunit represents director Pascal Thomas's third Christie adaptation, following the 2005 By the Pricking of My Thumbs and the 2007 Towards Zero; like Thumbs, it hones in on Prudence (Catherine Frot) and Belisaire Beresford (Andre Dussollier), a married pair of amateur sleuths. This particular outing is set at Christmastime, and finds the Rhone Alps-dwelling Beresfords visited by a beloved aunt, Auntie Babette (Annie Cordy), who promptly informs them that she spotted a murder through a rainy window while seated on a train. Eager for a new crime to solve, Prudence jumps into the case when Belisaire leaves town on a weekend jaunt, and makes her way to a creepy chateau in the middle of the forest, populated by the most unpleasant of families. Inhabitants include an eccentric patriarch widower named Roderick Charpentier (Claude Rich), his morose daughter Emma (Chiara Mastroianni), his conniving and paranoid sons (Christian Vadim, Alexandre Lafaurie and Melvil Poupaud), and a local country doctor (Hippolyte Girardot). Prudence takes a position as a cook at the residence, and when the body crops up, it soon falls on her shoulders to ferret out the murderer. Soon, her husband joins her at the house, tipped off by a local detective regarding his wife's whereabouts. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Frot, André Dussollier, (more)
A single thirtysomething whose friends all seem to be romantically involved, happily married, or with child meets an eccentric Frenchman who shows her just what an amazing place the world can truly be in director Zoe Cassavetes' entry into the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. As if it wasn't depressing enough to be 35 and still single, Nora (Parker Posey) is constantly reminded by her loving but tactless mother (Gena Rowlands) just how unlucky she has been in love. Though Nora longs to enter into a blissful union like the one of her best friend, Audrey (Drea de Matteo), she finds that the dating pool just isn't what it used to be. Things soon begin to look up, however, when Nora makes the acquaintance of handsome Frenchman Julian (Melvil Poupaud). While the two share an instant chemistry that is undeniable, Nora is saddened to learn that Julian will soon be departing for his native soil. When Julian does depart, Nora laments the fact that she wasn't able to express her feelings more effectively. If only Nora could organize her scattered thoughts long enough to remember her love object's last name, she might not have to go searching out every "Julian" in Paris to locate the man of her dreams. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Parker Posey, Melvil Poupaud, (more)
A woman is thrust into a world where everything is subtly unfamiliar in this edgy thriller from writer and director Sean Ellis. Gina McVay (Lena Headey) is a radiologist who is enjoying dinner one evening with her family and her boyfriend Stefan (Melvil Poupaud) when a mirror shatters for no apparent reason. After a few moments, no one thinks much of it, but the next day Gina is leaving work and she sees something even more troubling -- a woman who looks just like her, driving a car identical to her own. Curious, Gina sneaks into the doppelganger's apartment and sees a photo of herself and her father in the hallway. Seriously rattled, Gina runs out and drives away, only to get in an accident that lands her in the hospital. After she's released, Gina asks Stefan if she can stay with him, but while he looks the same, his personality and behavior are quite different from the way she remembers him, and she begins having vivid nightmares which become all the more terrifying when the same horrific images begin popping up in her waking hours. The Broken received its American premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lena Headey, Ulrich Thomsen, (more)
- 2007
Inspired by the photographic travels of Antione d'Agata, Danielle Arbid's worldly drama follows a French photographer who travels the globe to seek out the most extreme experiences imaginable. Thomas Koyré is a fearless shutterbug who's always willing to put his life on the line for the sake of a good shot. Upon falling under the spell of an enigmatic old man named Fouad Saleh, the photographer travels to the Far East in hopes of uncovering the secrets of the man who can no longer recall his own past. As the photographer soon finds out, it's often the most innocent endeavors that yield the most profound and transformative results. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Melvil Poupaud, Alexander Siddig, (more)
By the Pricking of My Thumbs director Pascal Thomas returns to the written word of Agatha Christie for inspiration, and the result is a lively whodunit centering on a deadly family gathering and the exquisite sleuthing skills of hyper-perceptive crime-fighter Superintendent Bataille. For the past twenty-odd years, elderly dowager Camilla Tresillian (Danielle Darrieux) has maintained a quiet existence in her sprawling mansion, where her every need is attended to by professional caretaker Marie-Adeline (Alessandra Martines) and stern-eyed personal maid Barrette (Carmen Durand). The familiar silence of Camilla's world is suddenly interrupted, however, when a series of relatives including her spendthrift nephew Guillaume (Melvil Poupaud) and his second wife Caroline (Laura Smet) are summoned to her mansion for a long overdue family gathering. Much to the Guillaume's dismay, his first wife Aude (Chiara Mastroianni) is also on the guest list, as is worldly adventurer Thomas Rondeau (Clement Thomas), who has always carried a torch for the pretty divorcée. Likewise, notorious ladies man Fred Latimer (Xavier Thiam) turns up casting a longing gaze at Caroline, and as the rest of the guests begin to arrive it becomes increasingly apparent that they all anticipate a hearty inheritance from their increasingly frail host. When Judge Trevoz (Jacques Sereys), a special guest of Camilla's, becomes the first victim in a painstakingly planned double homicide, it begins to appear as if Guillaume's greed has finally gotten the best of him. As with most well executed crimes, however, the truth is a far cry from initial appearances and fortunately Superintendent Bataille just so happens to be vacationing in the region. Now, as the clue-sniffing sleuth and his policeman nephew interrupt Camilla's party in hopes of ferreting out a killer, it quickly becomes apparent that everyone in the mansion has a motive for murder. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- François Morel, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 2005
Eric Rohmer is one of the best-respected filmmakers in the history of the French cinema, as well as among the most elusive. Notoriously reluctant to talk about his own work, Rohmer rarely sits for filmed interviews, but documentary filmmaker Marie Binet has taken another route to gain a perspective on the director's working methods in this feature. Les Contes Secrets ou les Rohmeriens features interviews with 16 actors who have appeared in Rohmer's films, and they talk on camera about his unusual working methods, his personality, and his spare but evocative signature style. Among the thespians who share their memories are Jean-Louis Trinitignant, Marie-Christine Barrault, Zouzou, Jean-Claude Brialy, Béatrice Romand, Françoise Fabian, and Andre Dussolier; the film also includes rare footage of Rohmer himself at work on the set of his 1978 effort Perceval. Les Contes Secrets ou les Rohmeriens received its North American premiere at the 2005 New Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Féodor Atkine, Marie-Christine Barrault, (more)
Diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only a short while to live, a successful fashion photographer embarks on one final journey in the second of three films in a trilogy about death and mourning from French director François Ozon (the first entry in the the trilogy was Under the Sand) . After passing out during a particularly grueling photo shoot, high profile shutterbug Romain (Melvil Poupaud) is shocked to discover that his body has been ravaged by a fully metastasized cancer that will soon kill him. Without revealing the cause for his erratic behavior, the shell shocked Romain commences to alienate his entire family and ditch his handsome young boyfriend before connecting with affable waitress Jany (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) at a roadside café while en route to his grandmother's house. Upon arriving at the home of the one family member he knows will be joining him shortly in death, Romain's naked vulnerability is met with a gentle ear and sound advice. Once again meeting with the kindly Jany on his way to his ultimate fate, Romain and the waitress strike up an unusual bargain. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Melvil Poupaud, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 2003
Two seemingly happily married French couples are forced to contend with a number of issues in director Noemie Lvovsky's 2003 marriage comedy drama Les Sentiments. Nearing the end of his career, small-town doctor Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri) and his wife Carole (Nathalie Baye) are relatively content with their lives and marriage. When Francois (Melvil Poupaud) -- the new doctor taking over Jacques' practice -- and his young bride Edith (Isabelle Carré) move in next door, Jacques and Carole are ecstatic when they learn that the newcomers have a lot in common with them. While both the men and women bond with each other, Jacques also begins to take a sexual interest in Edith that she is all too willing to indulge. As their affair quickly ignites, both Jacques and Edith find their respective outlooks on life have been renewed while they also deludedly hold on to the notion that they can successfully pull off their affair without causing damage to their marriages. Les Sentiments was included in the programs for the 2003 Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nathalie Baye, Jean-Pierre Bacri, (more)
Based on the 1997 National Book Award-nominated novel of the same name by Diane Johnson (co-writer of the script for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining), Le Divorce is a romantic comedy from director James Ivory. Revisiting the "Americans in France" theme that Ivory explored in 1998's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, the film stars Kate Hudson as Isabel Walker. When she receives word that her pregnant poetess sister Roxy (Naomi Watts) has been left by her philandering French husband, artist Charles-Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud), Isabel offers her help and moral support. As the depressive Roxy struggles with the separation proceedings -- which include the rights to ownership of a work of art that's a family heirloom -- Isabel takes a job with author Olivia Pace and has a fling with the bohemian Yves (Romain Duris). But things get complicated when the younger, more impudent sister decides instead to pursue Charles' uncle, the snooty, married diplomat Edgar (Thierry Lhermitte), and when a mysterious man (Matthew Modine) starts stalking Roxy. Eventually, the rest of the plucky Walker clan has to come to the aid of the siblings. Stockard Channing and Sam Waterston co-star. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, (more)
- 2000
Ebullient drag queens do battle with repressive police in The Heart's Root, a fantastical film set in Lisbon. The city's protector, Saint Anthony, is the patron saint of lovers and also the inspiration behind "the brides of St. Anthony," a group of transvestites that dances through the city's streets in the name of freedom and liberation. They are threatened by Cato (Luis Miguel Cintra), a self-serving mayoral candidate who pines in unrequited love for Silvia (Joana Barcia), a friend of the aforementioned transvestites and protege of the formidable madam of one of Lisbon's brothels. Meditations on pornography, religion, fascism, and sex abound. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- Starring:
- Luis Miguel Cintra, Joana Barcia, (more)
- 2000
Raul Ruiz's Love Torn in a Dream is introduced with a fake newsreel, taking place in postwar France, in which the cast of the film meet with the producer, who explains the film's complex weave of nine narratives. A diagram in which each story is represented by a letter of the alphabet explicates the intertwining of the nine tales. As the producer explains each actor's role, the film begins. The stories, rooted in folklore, bump up against each other as the film leaps back in forth in time. They involve a jewel stolen from a painting, a mirror that "steals" what it reflects, a seminary student who dresses as a priest to hear the nuns' confessions, brothers who combat each other in their search for a group of rings, a man whose everyday life is predicted by a website 24 hours in advance, a Catholic who finds out he's really Jewish, and a treasure map that leads to a pirate's chest. Each of the main cast members plays multiple roles. Ruiz veterans Melvil Poupaud and Elsa Zylberstein play the lead roles, while Lambert Wilson, Christian Vadim, Diogo Dória, José Meireles, and Rogério Samora play supporting roles. The film won the FIPRESCI Award at the 2000 Montreal World Film Festival, and was shown as part of the "Film Comment Selects" series at New York's Lincoln Center in 2003. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Melvil Poupaud, Elsa Zylberstein, (more)
- 1999
Music video director Michael Shamberg debuts with this experimental drama about a woman who comes to terms with painful childhood memories. Orlando (Stanton D. Miranda) is an expatriate American sports journalist living in Paris. She is also slowly recovering from childhood sexual abuse from her father and an incestuous relationship with her late brother. As she wanders the streets on a rainy evening, she sullenly ruminates over her memories. Both Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci play small parts in this film, while legendary filmmaker Chris Marker provides computer graphics. Souvenir was screened at the 1999 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stanton D. Miranda, Manon Blanc, (more)
An ambitious project of Chile-born, Paris-based Raul Ruiz, this psychological drama brings to the screen the famous classic of Marcel Proust with fidelity to its interior monologues and streams of consciousness. Proust (Marcelo Mazzarella), on his deathbed in his small apartment on Rue Hamelin, is looking through old photos and remembering his life, as real characters intermingle with fictional ones from his novels. The period is 1914-18, when WWI is raging. Hidden in Paris, thanks to his asthma, Marcel Proust wanders into the night. He finds an aging courtesan in Café de la Paix, which is deserted by the curfew. Charlus, the seducer of young boys, is at the Palais des Felicites where he meets his lovers. Gilberte returns alone to Tansonville to evade the confiscation of her chateau by the Germans after the death of her husband at the front. Famous violinist Morel is hiding in a decrepit hotel. The demoralizing effects of war affect all the characters, hastening their decadence or transforming them into caricatures. In the whirlpool of the grotesque specter of war, Marcel finds refuge in his childhood memories to escape the atrocities around him. Death and decadence, the evanescence of human existence, and the relations between space and time are some of the main themes explored in this film, which reflects the works of Marcel Proust in every detail. Raul Ruiz has on his side a very good screenwriter, Gilles Taurand, and an impressive cast: Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich, who have collaborated with Ruiz before, Emanuelle Béart, Vincent Pérez, Pascal Greggory, and the Italian man of theatre, Marcello Mazzarella. Shown in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marcelo Mazzarella, Emmanuelle Béart, (more)
- 1999
Caroline Ducey, who previously gained fame by bearing it all in the 1999 dour erotic drama Romance, stars in this drama set in the 14th century. Alienor (Ducey) is provincial lass who puts her skill with herbal cures to use by healing the festering boil on the king's leg. He rewards her with offering her a husband of her choice. Unfortunately, the betrothed Court Bertrand de Roussillon (Melvil Poupaud) refuses to consummate the marriage. Not a woman to let such a setback keep her down, she resolves to use her healing powers to loose her hymen by any means necessary. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jackie Berroyer, Mathieu Demy, (more)
Raul Ruiz directed this typically eccentric look at the nature of crime, the human mind, and life in the modern world. Solange (Catherine Deneuve) is a defense attorney with a reputation for taking on cases that can't be won -- and proving it by losing them. Her latest lost cause is Rene (Melvil Poupaud), a young man on trial for murdering his Aunt Jeanne (also played by Deneuve), a cruel psychiatrist who raised him as a child and was convinced from infancy that he was destined for a life of crime. While Rene would seemingly need a good lawyer in his situation, he prefers instead to play games with Solange's mind and finds unlikely allies in a strange society of French and Belgian psychologists, headed by Georges (Michel Piccoli), who seems crazier than anyone he's treating. Solange, however, finds herself falling in love with Rene, which only makes a difficult situation more unpleasant for everyone. Through a series of layered flashbacks, we're shown Rene's crime several times from a number of perspectives, which ultimately makes his actions seem more vague with each repetition. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1997
This film is the directorial debut of 29-year-old Graham Guit, who co-scripted with Eric Neve. Young Frenchman Lenny (Melvil Poupaud) takes some cocaine from London to Paris where he makes a risky connection with dapper drug dealer Joel (Jean-Phillippe Ecoffey) and his violent henchman Sammy (Issac Sharry), splitting the scene to get a plane ticket before they discover he's cut the coke. Joel's girlfriend Juliette (Romane Bohringer) seduces Lenny and makes off with the cash. But then Juliette falls for Lenny, decides to double-cross Joel, and departs with a suitcase of cash -- so she thinks. Instead of money, the suitcase contains many valuable vials of the drug Special K. While Lenny and Juliette search for a buyer so they can unload the Special K, Joel and Sammy are in hot pursuit. Shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Melvil Poupaud, Romane Bohringer, (more)
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