Marc Berman Movies
Can a thirtysomething gal from the city find happiness with a goat farm and its aging overseer? Sandrine (Mathilde Seigner) is a computer expert who has successfully pursued a career in business; however, her career path was chosen to please her family more than herself, and Sandrine has decided to move away from the fast pace of city life to rural France. Hoping to put her job skills to work in a new context, Sandrine begins studying agriculture, and arranges to buy a goat farm from Adrien (Michel Serrault), an elderly farmer who is nearing retirement. Adrien will spend another year and a half at the farm in order to insure a smooth transition to Sandrine's management, but his attitude toward her speaks less of gratitude than resentment; he isn't eager to show her the workings of the farm he helped to build, and his behavior is more than a bit hostile. Using her computer skills, Sandrine creates a website that generates a whole new market for the goat cheese and fruit preserves the farm generates, which helps her win Adrien's grudging respect, and when Adrien falls ill and it looks possible he may not live out his final stay on the farm, he begins to open up to her, sharing all he knows about the farm, and a new level of admiration and trust grows between them. Une Hirondelle a Fait Le Printemps was the first feature film from writer and director Christian Carion. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Mathilde Seigner, (more)
- 1996
A paranoiac's delight, this contemporary mystery thriller warns that psychotherapy can be dangerous for both doctor and patient. The twisted tale begins with a funeral and then moves to the office of Dr. Antoine Riviere, a noted psychiatrist and author who deep down is more interested in his own needs than those of his patients. The only two clients who interest him are the filthy rich temptress Isabelle d'Archambault and the natty Edouard Berg, who brags of killing his wife and may actually be guilty of the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Patrick Timsit, (more)
- 1996
This dramatic retrospective from Marco Ferreri eulogizes the passing of cinema as a culturally vital art form. While not all will agree with Ferreri's thesis that cinema for the masses is a lost art and has become an elitist endeavor, the director, using a combination of archival documentary footage, wide-ranging snippets from old and new films, and reenactments, makes some compelling arguments. One of his chief theses is that the decline of cinema was marked by the loss of the great movie houses where people from all walks gathered to form a unique, transitory microcosm of society that abided, if only briefly, by different rules from those in the "real" world outside. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doriana Bianchi, Eric Berger, (more)
- 1994
In this French drama, an irresponsible man is forced by circumstances beyond his control to communicate with the family he's kept at a distance. Jean-Paul (Gerard Lanvin) is the manager of a hotel in Nice whose shady business practices have put him seriously into debt; he needs to raise 300,000 francs in three days, or the loan sharks who've been keeping him afloat will come after him. Desperate for help, he approaches his younger brother Philippe (Jean-Marc Barr), whom he hasn't spoken with in ten years; Philippe stole Jean-Paul's girl from him, and subsequently married her. Jean-Paul also contacts his older brother Francis (Bernard Giraudeau), a schoolteacher who was disowned by their father when he admitted to the family that he was homosexual. Neither Philippe nor Francis can help him, so Jean-Paul tries to visit his father Raphael (Roberto Herlitzka) in Italy, hoping to put a large insurance policy on his father's life, naming himself as beneficiary. When it turns out that Raphael has gone missing, the three brothers must come together to find their father and keep him out of danger. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Bernard Giraudeau, (more)
- 1992
Visitors to Paris are forever regaling those back home with outrageous tales of rude or even abusive behavior by shopkeepers, sales attendants, and (in general) just about anyone whose business puts them in contact with the public. Even ordinary Parisians seem prone to this sort of behavior. On the one hand, it is easy to sympathise with the aggrieved tourist; on the other, what if your home were the object of interest for uninterrupted hordes of barely civilized strangers, poking and prying into its every nook and cranny? In this comedy, which was remarkably popular in France (and Paris!), an American-trained store manager (Fabrice Luchini) attempts to inculcate his staff with such unlikely notions as "service" and "the customer is always right," using the latest corporate training techniques. Some of these techniques are humorous in themselves, like the "trust" exercises which became so popular a few years back, or the technique of "bonding" in natural situations, joining together to win challenge matches, etc. The poor idealistic manager who attempts to accomplish this radical transformation in his staff is ill prepared for his program's odd result: the staff now has considerable ésprit de corps, but of a quite different kind than he had envisioned. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabrice Luchini, Marc Berman, (more)
- 1992
An urge to see his long-absent father sends a young Argentine boy on an epic bicycle trip throughout South America. Martin lives in the world's southernmost city, Ushaia. His father is an anthropologist, last reported as working in Brazil. Leaving behind his mother and stepfather, the boy travels north, encountering scenes of exploitation and destruction, abject subjugation to the U.S.A., and of high absurdity. An example of the latter would be when a national president whose surname means "frog" puts on rubber flippers in order to survey the damage in a flooded city. Along the way, he also learns about environmental and cultural destruction, particularly in reference to indigenous cultures and peoples. His astonishing journeys take him as far as Mexico. This meandering tale was profoundly popular in Latin America. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Quiroz, Ricardo Bartis, (more)
- 1992
One would think that Maud could divorce her completely unamorous husband: in ten years of marriage, they have never once had sex. In this comedy, based on Tom Sharpe's novel Blott on the Landscape, Maud's husband is the mayor of the town they live in, and she is the hereditary owner of an ancient and glorious mansion. If she divorces him, under French law, he will gain the mansion from her. However, even if she doesn't divorce him and keeps the mansion, if her perfidious husband's current plans go through, the mansion will be blown up to make way for a new railway line. He wants to get his hands on the cash settlement that would bring. Somehow, Maud has to find a way to save her mansion, and it would be nice if, somewhere along the line she could find somebody to have sex with. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Cluzet, Valérie Lemercier, (more)
- 1990
In this somewhat allegorical drama, five men, two women and a dog are the sole survivors of an airplane crash into the desert. The men are as mixed a lot as one could hope to find; the women (one young, one mature) are as level-headed a pair as one could hope to find. Conflict between the men breaks out almost immediately, as the bible-thumping macho hunter cannot abide the Scottish homosexual and his lover; the adolescent young man wants to have sex with somebody, preferably the younger woman; and the biologist wants to quieten things down but is otherwise unable to contribute anything. By the film's end, all the men have done unspeakable things to one another while the women remain above the fray. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Freeman, Shelagh McLeod, (more)
- 1990
Bruno is bored and frustrated. His attempts to woo Juliette, an attractive hairdresser in the village next to his have fallen flat, and he just plain doesn't like his life. He decides to do something to spice things up and at the same time impress Juliette that he's really smitten with her. That is why he takes a gun and hijacks a school bus, demanding to be taken to Juliette's village. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvan Attal, Kristin Scott Thomas, (more)
- 1989
In this allegorical children's melodrama, nine-year old Tom and Lola (Neil Stubbs and Melodie Colin) have been kept in super-sanitary conditions all their lives, and have only rarely ventured outside their clinical environment wrapped in plastic. They have been told that they have a radical immune deficiency, and will die if exposed to a normal environment. Surreptitiously, they begin to test the truth of this assertion by escaping from supervision in the middle of the night, and discover that whatever their adult captors believe, they are just fine. One day they escape for good. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mélodie Collin, Cecile Magnet, (more)
- 1986
A white accountant finds himself irresistibly drawn into a sadomasochistic relationship with his black masseur in this distinguished film debut from French filmmaker Claire Devers. The story contains little dialog and is filmed in black and white. The accountant is a quiet married man who has been hired to work on the books of a local health club. He is not interested in extramarital sex, only his work. Later his boss suggest he try a massage at the club. A cautious man, the accountant is at first bashful as the enormous masseur begins working on his tense muscles. Soon he finds himself hooked on these evening sessions that become increasingly violent (but not sexual) as time passes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Frappat, Jacques Martial, (more)
- 1986
In another indictment of the flaws of our so-called civilization, this satire from the late director (Marco Ferreri) features (Christopher Lambert) as Michel, a miserable man who has failed at love and finds solace in a mechanical key holder. Michel has just been dumped by Barbara (Anemone) because he has not been able to get her pregnant. He is feeling pretty low when he finds a key holder with blue eyes and big red lips that responds to the sound of a whistle with "I Love You." Michel tacks this gadget up on his TV set and whistles away. He seems happy with this fool-proof declaration of love until one day, the key holder responds to the neighbor's whistle and Michel goes berserk. After all, if your key ring can't be faithful, what's the world coming to? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anémone, Eddy Mitchell, (more)
- 1986
Antoine has a promising political career in front of him, if he can only keep from getting sidelined by inappropriate love affairs. He is a junior minister in France's socialist government, and he has had a hand in writing a number of important pieces of legislation. He has put his heart into crafting and promoting a bill to reform higher education. However, he is a little too young and idealistic to accept it when his party sacrifices his bill in order to gain a concession from the opposition on another important goal. Meanwhile, his love affair with a right-wing businessman's wife has been exceedingly difficult to consummate quietly. Antoine and Florence eventually decide they don't care that much about their reputations and throw caution to the winds. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Garcia, Sami Frey, (more)
- 1985
Weak in script and plot, this comedy about the differences (or not) between royalty and the commoners that toil for a living has little to recommend it. Princess Charlotte (Anemone) is scheduled to marry a boring duke, but before that event happens, Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) has taken a bet that he can seduce her. He does, profits from his act, and then falls in love with her. Meanwhile, the wedding with the duke is still planned, and it remains to be seen whether Paul will give in and give up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anémone, Thierry Lhermitte, (more)
- 1985
- PG
Ettore Scola directed this light comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Marcello Mastroianni that Scola calls "a story about two men who have reached the age where you look back and take stock." Lemmon plays business executive Robert Traven, who returns Naples for the first time since 1946, when he had an affair with an Italian girl named Maria. The girl's brother, Antonio Jasiello (Marcello Mastroianni) recognizes Robert and they sit around, catch up with old times. But when Antonio takes Robert to visit Maria (Giovanna Sanfilippo), Robert discovers Antonio has been writing letters to her in Robert's name for years, building up Robert to legendary status. Since the letters were not kept secret, everyone who knows Maria and Antonio greets Robert as if he were a living legend. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1984
An aspiring young actress (Valerie Kaprisky) accepts a leading role in a film version of Dostoyevsky's The Possessed. Dissatisfied by her performance, the eccentric filmmaker (Francis Huster) begins a rigorous course of indoctrination, sexual domination, and acting lessons, leaving the mentally exhausted girl unable to distinguish between the real world and that of the film. Arty, challenging, and some say over the top, the film was honored with the Special Jury Award at the Montreal World Film Festival in 1984. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Huster, Valérie Kaprisky, (more)
- 1983
This tragic musical drama chronicles the star-crossed love between beloved French singer Edith Piaf and World Middleweight boxing champion Marcel Cerdan who died in a plane crash. The tumultuous affair is paralleled by the love affair of a French POW and his young pen pal who get engaged after writing to each other for four years and having never met. Their romances are framed by the sad, torchy songs of Piaf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyne Bouix, Marcel Cerdan, Jr., (more)
