Charlotte Rampling Movies
Born in England circa 1945, actress Charlotte Rampling is the daughter of a British colonel who went on to become a NATO commander and relatively successful painter. After attending the Jeanne d'Arc Académie pour Jeunes Filles in Versailles and the prestigious St. Hilda's school in Bushley, England, Rampling worked as a model before making her film debut as a water skier in The Knack...and How to Get It (1965), director Richard Lester's acclaimed sex comedy. Her breakout role, however, wouldn't come until a year later, when she performed opposite Lynn Redgrave as the bitchy but beautiful roommate of the title character in Georgy Girl (1966). Georgy Girl set the standard for Rampling's further work, which, while not always popular with mainstream audiences, could never be conceived of as mundane. Quite the contrary, in fact -- from her role as a hitchhiker in Vanishing Point (1971) to her portrayal of Ann Boleyn in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972) to her performance as a woman in love with a chimpanzee in Max My Love (1986), Rampling became notorious for her bold, meaningful characters. Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969) is no exception to the rule (the incestuous political drama was originally rated X in the United States); neither was her work with Sean Connery in John Boorman's sci-fi adventure Zardoz (1973). That said, Rampling's most intense role was, arguably, that of a concentration camp survivor who is reunited with the Nazi guard (Dirk Bogarde) who tortured her throughout her captivity in 1974's The Night Porter.In 1975, Rampling starred opposite Robert Mitchum in the post-noir detective thriller Farewell, My Lovely, and offered a passionate rendering of a violent heiress confined to a mental institution in the French/Italian/German collaboration La Chair de l'Orchidée. The actress' success continued to grow throughout the later half of the 1970s, and in 1980, Rampling played a lead role alongside Woody Allen in Stardust Memories, the follow-up to the much-hailed Manhattan. Shortly afterward, Rampling could be seen as the deceitful Laura in director Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama The Verdict (1982) with Paul Newman. Rampling spent much of the mid-'80s filming in Europe; one of her most notable performances during that time was as the mysterious mistress of a murder victim in the French crime thriller On Ne Meurt Que Deux Fois, though she would return to America for Alan Parker's Angel Heart. The heavily praised voodoo-themed crime thriller featured Rampling as an ill-fated woman whose heart is irrevocably extracted from her body.
Though her fondness for murder mysteries and historical political dramas still manifested itself through her performances in Paris by Night (1989) and Invasion of Privacy (1996), Rampling also found luck in several moderately well-received comedies, including Time is Money (1994) and Asphalt Tango (1997). However, her name was launched back into the A-list after her performance as a complicated aunt in the multi-award-winning The Wings of the Dove with Helena Bonham Carter. In 2000, Rampling was nominated for her own Oscar; her portrayal of a phenomenally distraught widow in Under the Sand was praised by critics and audiences alike as one of the best performances of the year. After participating in several documentaries and the espionage thriller Spy Game (2001), Rampling starred as a conservative mystery writer in director François Ozon's Swimming Pool -- the role would win her an award for Best Actress from the European Film Academy in 2003. After her success with Swimming Pool, Rampling went on to play supporting roles in The Statement (2003) and Immortel Ad Vitam (2004). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Following up on his critically successful debut, Sunday (1997), which won top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival, Jonathan Nossiter directs this romantic drama about a man obsessed with coincidence, serendipity, and the preternatural. Alec Skarsgard (Stellan Skarsgard) is a Stockholm-born American who lives in Athens and works as a commodities trader. He takes great pride in his ability to perceive patterns and trends in the daily undulations of the market and thereby turn a huge profit. In his private life, he also obsesses over random incidents and occurrences, looking for a deeper meaning in the chaos of everyday life. Though he loves his longtime wife Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling) and their two teenaged children, he finds that he cannot resist the seductive wiles of his co-worker Katherine (Deborah Kara Unger). He soon breaks the illicit affair off in an effort to save the marriage. Yet when he accidentally bumps into Katherine on a family ski trip, believing it fateful coincidence, he leaves with his co-worker and files for divorce. Later, Katherine reveals that she concocted their fortuitous meeting. Aghast, Alec promptly spurns her and returns to his soon-to-be ex-wife. Since she has already taken up with Greek intellectual Andreas (Dimitris Katalifos), Marjorie is less than enthusiastic about reconciling. Meanwhile, Katherine follows Alec and informs him that she is pregnant. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
Renowned Greek filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis wrote and directed this adaptation of the classic final drama by playwright Anton Chekhov, set in 1900. Lyubov Ranevskaya (Charlotte Rampling) left Russia to escape troubling memories of the death of her son. Now her family is riddled with debt and Lyubov and her teenaged daughter Anya (Tushka Bergen) have come home to the family estate, looking for a way to pay their bills. Much to their dismay, the Ranevskayas are forced to sell their land to Lopakhin (Owen Teale), a crude businessman who intends to build a housing development in what was once the family's cherry orchard. The international cast also includes Alan Bates as Lyubov's brother Gaev, Katrin Cartlidge as Lyubov's ward Varya, and Michael Gough and Frances de la Tour as the family's servants. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, (more)
Charles Dickens' classic novel, which has been brought to the screen at least six times in the past (including a modernized adaptation released in 1998), is committed to film once again in this production for television by the BBC. Pip is an orphan who lives with his older sister and her husband Joe, a blacksmith. Pip is occasionally sent to visit Miss Havisham (Charlotte Rampling), an eccentric old crone who lives in a huge but filthy mansion and is always dressed in a decrepit bridal trousseau. Miss Havisham has a ward, a lovely young woman named Estella, with whom Pip is immediately smitten. However, Pip is convinced a boy of poor circumstances could never win her heart, which fills him with a desire to better himself. While economics would dictate a fate as Joe's assistant, one day Pip receives a message from a lawyer named Jaggers -- an anonymous benefactor has made it possible for Pip to leave the blacksmith's shop and pursue a gentleman's education in London. Pip (played as an adult by Ioan Gruffudd) soon moves to the city, where he hopes to gain knowledge, wealth and the affections of Estella (Justine Waddell). This version of Great Expectations made its American premier on the PBS cultural series Masterpiece Theatre, where it was shown as a three-part miniseries. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ioan Gruffudd, Justine Waddell, (more)
- 1997
Marion (Charlotte Rampling), a sly and sophisticated French madam, convinces a beautiful bevy of Romanian women to board a bus and travel to Paris, where they believe lucrative careers as exotic dancers await them. Among those young women is ballerina Dora (Catalina Rahaianu), the gullible wife of Andrei (Mircea Diaconu). Much of the fun in this romantic comedy comes from his attempts to win Dora back and save her from a life of prostitution. Unfortunately, he must first contend with the wily Marion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Mircea Diaconu, (more)
Based on the 1902 Henry James novel of the same name, The Wings of the Dove is set in 1910. After the death of her mother, Kate Croy (Helena Bonham Carter) has become a ward of her wealthy Aunt Maude (Charlotte Rampling), who is paying her dissipated father (Michael Gambon) to stay out of Kate's life. Maude wants Kate not to repeat Kate's mother's mistake and marry someone who is a commoner, and Maude arranges a meeting between Kate and Lord Mark (Alex Jennings), a high-class gentleman who can escort her to the right places. But Kate is more interested in Merton Densher (Linus Roache), a penniless journalist. A beautiful but terminally ill American heiress, Millie Theale (Alison Elliott), arrives on the scene and befriends Kate. Kate notices Millie's obvious affection for the handsome Merton, and she arranges an elaborate scheme to hook up the two of them so that Merton can collect Millie's money after her death. But because of her own jealousy, Kate repeatedly sabotages her own arrangement. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, (more)
- 1996
- R
Cult hero Larry Cohen wrote this suspense thriller about a woman whose relationship with a sociopathic killer unwittingly makes her a political hot potato in the abortion rights movement. Theresa Barnes (Mili Avital) is a young woman working at a flower show who meets a handsome and charming young man, Josh (Jonathan Schaech), who as a child had a successful career as a model. Theresa and Josh quickly become a couple, and she thinks that she's finally found the man of her dreams until she becomes pregnant. Josh reacts to this news with unpredictable, psychotic violence, and as Josh becomes more and more unstable, Theresa decides for her own safety that she needs to get away from him. Theresa runs away and stays in a cabin in the woods, and she makes plans to get an abortion. However, Josh finds her and holds her captive, intending to keep her his prisoner until her pregnancy is too far along to be terminated. After several attempts at escape, Josh finally lets Theresa go, and she immediately goes to the police. Josh, however, promptly hires a lawyer who helps him bring his story to the media. As Josh tells it, he's a concerned and caring father trying to save the life of his unborn son from his callous and uncaring girlfriend, who does not respect the sanctity of life. Overnight, Josh becomes the new spokesman for the pro-life movement. In time, Theresa decides to have the baby, but she refuses to buckle under to Josh's public demands to be given sole custody of the child. In time, Theresa is able to convince Police Sgt. Rutherford (David Keith) that Josh is not all that he claims to be, and Rutherford's digging confirms that Josh is not a cheerful friend of the unborn, but a dangerous psychopath who has killed before and will likely kill again. Invasion of Privacy also features Naomi Campbell, Charlotte Rampling, and R.G. Armstrong. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mili Avital, Johnathon Schaech, (more)
- 1995
From his late teens until his premature death in January 1999 at age 36, post-bop pianist Michel Petrucciani clocked in as one of the most original voices on the jazz scene. Born with a rare bone condition called osteogenensis imperfecta that stunted his growth, Petrucciani took to the piano at a markedly early age and pulled from such influences as Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans. In time, he courageously surmounted the inherent debilitations of his disease to rank among the greatest practitioners of his instrument, and honed a thoroughly unique sound in the process. Non-Stop Travels with Michel Petrucciani provides one of the first documentary portraits of Petrucciani's life and meteoric career. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Petrucciani
- 1994
Directed by Axel Corti and based on the German novel by Joseph Roth, Radetzkymarsch was a television miniseries originally broadcast in France. Taking place in Vienna, Austria, the story concerns the an aristocratic family right before the outbreak of WWI. Baron Franz Von Trotta (Max Von Sydow) is the son of a war hero who saved the Emperor's life. He was raised in royalty under the Emperor's care and not allowed to join the army himself, so he pressures his son, Carl Joseph (Tilman Günther), to join the military. Carl Joseph is weak and wants no part of the armed forces, but soon WWI breaks out and lessens his chance for escape. Also starring Gert Voss as Chojnicki, Claude Rich as Dr. Demant, and Charlotte Rampling as Valerie von Taussig. Features a score by Poland's leading contemporary film composer, Zbigniew Preisner. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Tilman Gunther, (more)
- 1994
Screenwriter and novelist Joseph Kaufman Max von Sydow) has made his mark, earned gobs of money in his day, and won an Oscar for his troubles. Now he's a lot older, and all he wants to do is sit around and vegetate - and if he were anyone else, he'd probably be allowed to. However, he has a lifestyle that requires that he continue to manufacture "product," and he has an advance for a novel that he's spent without writing a word. His lovely mansion is likely to be taken by French authorities for back taxes, if he can't rouse himself to start typing. However, in this comedy, it will take the combined full-time efforts of his agent (Martin Landau), his wife (Charlotte Rampling), and a young admirer and fellow writer (Francois Montagut) to rouse him from his lethargy, and it's not at all clear that they will succeed in doing so. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
This drama concerns a small period in the life of its central figure, Alan Marshall (Alexander Outhred), a young man living in rural Australia in 1910, who was crippled by polio years before. Because he hasn't the strength or coordination to perform most chores and enter fully into the life of his family and friends, much that he experiences comes to him vicariously. In the story, he witnesses many dramatic events happening to others. Several of them concern the romantic trials and tribulations of the women and men he knows. However, the story which concerns him the most is somewhat sad: despite the best efforts of his father, Alan is unable to ride a horse. The screenplay of the movie is based on a collection of Marshall's autobiographical stories. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Russell Crowe, (more)
- 1989
- Add Helmut Newton: Frames from the Edge to QueueAdd Helmut Newton: Frames from the Edge to top of Queue
Helmut Newton is a still photographer known for his innovative fashion photography of glamorous women, and who has also made a name for himself for his black-and-white nude photographs of female celebrities. His groundbreaking fashion photos appeared on the cover of Vogue in the 1950's and '60s. He is also somewhat infamous because of his reputedly quite huge ego. This documentary features interviews with some of his most famous models, including Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling and Sigourney Weaver, and with less well-known women. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
British playwright David Hare both wrote and directed the complicated political melodrama Paris By Night. Charlotte Rampling plays a Tory member of the European parliament, who lets absolutely nothing get in way of her ambitions. At present, Rampling is convinced that she is being blackmailed by her ex-business partner Andrew Ray. Upon accidentally meeting Ray, Rampling impulsively murders the man. In a deliciously ironic turn of events, she is approached by Ray's daughter Sinead Cusack, who hopes that Rampling will help her locate her missing dad. Rampling eventually finds out Ray had been innocent all along-but a greater shock awaits her at home, at the hands of her long-neglected husband Michael Gambon. Paris By Night contains far too many cute coincidences to be credible, but this fact doesn't immediately sink in as the audience revels in the film's superlative performances and David Hare's adroit manipulation of people, places and events. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Michael Gambon, (more)
"They didn't kill me; I was dead already," is the statement uttered by Dexter Cornell (Dennis Quaid), an English professor at the University of Texas at Austin who has been poisoned by a slow-acting toxin and who has twenty-four hours to track down his killers before he ceases to exist. Remade from the 1949 Rudolph Mate thriller by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, the co-directors jazz up the old luridness with slap-up doggishness that boosts the intensity-level higher than it deserves to go. Cornell is a burned-out novelist trying to hold on to tenure at the university while seeing his marriage collapse around him. As if that weren't enough, he is receiving amorous come-ons from smart, young student Sydney Fuller (Meg Ryan) and being badgered by another student, Nick Lang (Robert Knepper), to read his brilliant first novel. Not long after Dex demurs to Nick to read his novel, Nick is killed in a fall. Only then does Dex find out that Nick has been having an affair with his wife. Things keep going from bad to worse when, after an all-night drinking binge, Dex discovers that he has been slipped a poison that will kill him within 24 hours. Teaming up with the adoring Sydney, Dex tries to track down the person who poisoned him while dodging the cops, since he happens to be a prime murder suspect. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, (more)
- 1987
- R
A police officer investigating the death of a transvestite masks feelings of love for his widowed sister (Charlotte Rampling) while raging against her lover (Derek DeLint) in this Belgian film directed by Patrick Conrad. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Michael Sarrazin, (more)
The time is the 1950s: seedy Brooklyn private eye Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) is hired by shady Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) to locate a pop singer who reneged on a debt. Harry ventures into Harlem, the first step of a Heart of Darkness-inspired odyssey. Each time Harry makes contact with someone who might know the singer's whereabouts, he or she is killed in a horrible, ritualistic fashion; a Satanic cult seems to be at the bottom of all the carnage. Harry solves the mystery, all right. He just didn't know that he had the answer all along -- even before Louis entered his office. Also available in the "unrated" video version, Angel Heart is best known as the film that nearly got an X-rating due to a no-holds-barred sex scene involving Mickey Rourke and Lisa Bonet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, (more)
Fabled Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima was the guiding hand behind the fast-paced French comedy Max, Mon Amour. The "Max" with whom the elegant Charlotte Rampling falls in love is a circus chimpanzee (played by a short-statured man in a monkey suit). Charlotte's British-ambassador husband Anthony Higgins has long suspected that his wife was cheating on him, but he certainly isn't prepared for her simian paramour. Amazingly, the film never descends into goofiness: Oshima uses his unorthodox plotline to poke holes in the self-protective pretensions of the Bourgeoisie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Anthony Higgins, (more)
- 1985
In this cool, clinical adaptation of the novel about love and death by Yasunari Kawabata, Hugo (Andrzej Zulawski) is a writer whose one great book was based on an affair he had with Lea (Charlotte Rampling), a sculptor. Bereft of inspiration for a follow-up, Hugo returns years later to rekindle the flame of romance and creativity. Lea soundly rejects him, and her student Prudence (Myriem Roussel) feels a burning hatred for the man who deserted the woman/teacher she admires. So after Hugo returns to his wife and family in Paris, Prudence hunts him down to perversely seduce him in a mocking manner. In the meantime, she and Hugo's son Martin (Jean-Claude Adelin) fall in love for real. After Prudence goes back home, Martin comes for a visit -- with accidentally unhappy results for all concerned. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrzej Zulawski, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
- 1985
On Ne Meurt Que Deux Fois, a French murder mystery based upon a novel of the same name, is an unusual, involving film with excellent performances by its entire cast. Police Inspector Staniland (Michel Serrault) is investigating the death of a pianist. While conducting his investigation and looking through the victim's apartment, he meets Barbara (Charlotte Rampling), the mistress of the murder victim. Barbara confesses to the crime, but Staniland, based on his observations and experience, does not believe her. He then sets out to find the truth, with surprising results. Both Serrault and Rampling are outstanding in this well-directed, well-paced film. On Ne Meurt Que Deux Fois was also released as He Died With His Eyes Open and won the Jury Prize at the 1985 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Charlotte Rampling, (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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Michel Piccoli, (more)
In Sidney Lumet's powerful courtroom drama The Verdict, Paul Newman stars as Frank Galvin, an alcoholic Boston lawyer who tries to redeem his personal and professional reputation by winning a difficult medical malpractice case. Frank, down on his luck, is presented with the case of his life when he is approached by the family of a woman who has been left in a coma following an operation in a large Catholic hospital. Helped by his assistant Mickey (Jack Warden), he agrees to take the case, hoping for a fast settlement. When he visits the victim in the hospital, he becomes emotionally involved, turns down a sizable settlement offer made by the hospital, and decides to bring the case to trial despite the formidable opposition of the Church and its lawyer, Newman (James Mason). He is also assisted by his new girlfriend, Laura (Charlotte Rampling), a woman who turns out to have an unusual past. Oscar-nominated for "Best Picture" and "Best Director" (Lumet) as well as for "Best Adapted Screenplay" (David Mamet from a novel by Barry Reed), The Verdict is an outstanding, if not very legally accurate, courtroom drama; Frank's decision to try the case without telling the family of the victim of the settlement offer would probably lead to his real-life disbarment. Paul Newman and James Mason give fine, Oscar-nominated performances, and Charlotte Rampling is quite good as the deceitful Laura, who never seems to turn down a drink. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
Woody Allen's tenth film as writer/director, Stardust Memories opens with a scene reminiscent of the opening of 8 1/2 and continues to use that film for inspiration. Sandy Bates (Allen) sits in a train at a train station, the car filled with very unhappy looking people. In a train on another set of tracks, Bates sees a wonderful party going on. A beautiful woman blows him a kiss as the happy train pulls out of the station. Bates is a famous film director who has been invited to attend a festival of his work being held at the Stardust hotel. He attends the event, but is ceaselessly harassed by fans who accost him and repel him in equal measure. While consistently hearing the complaints from fans, critics, and even space aliens that his earlier comedies are superior to his dramatic work, Bates juggles a trio of women in his private life. His encounters during the course of the retrospective force Bates to take a long look at himself. Sharon Stone makes one of her first film appearances as the woman who blows Sandy a kiss. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, (more)
- 1977
An ambitious musical adaptation of Michel Déon's best-selling novel, Un Taxi Mauve is set in Ireland during a time in which the nation announced it would no longer demand income taxes of artists, bringing a steady stream of creative bohemians to the Emerald Isle. Novelist Philippe (Philippe Noiret) is a French novelist recently relocated to Ireland, where makes friends with Jerry (Edward Albert), an American expatriate who left his home after the death of his girlfriend. Philippe and Jerry become chummy with Taubelman (Peter Ustinov), who is looking after Anne, a beautiful young woman who cannot speak. Jerry becomes infatuated with Anne, while Philippe tries to win the heart of Sharon (Charlotte Rampling), Jerry's sister. Fred Astaire also appears as Dr. Scully, an American physician who has come to Ireland to live out his final years.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Rampling, Philippe Noiret, (more)
