Roland Bertin Movies

Albert Dupontel directs, writes, and stars in freewheeling French comedy concerning a glue-huffing homeless man who earns an unexpected modicum of respect after coming into possession of a police uniform. Roland (Dupontel) was wandering the shores of the Seine when he noticed a man hurling himself into the churning waters below. Upon investigating the site from which the man leapt, the curious derelict finds that the jumper, presumably a policeman, had left behind his uniform and a suicide note. When Roland attempts to do the right thing and return the uniform to the police station, he is chased away by overzealous cops before he has the chance to explain what happened. Upon noticing a cafeteria that provides free meals to policemen, Roland decides to make the best of his situation by donning the uniform and ordering dinner. Later, when Roland meets a singing mother (Claude Perron) who is struggling to get her children back from the malevolent in-laws who object of her lifestyle and see her as unfit to parent, the uniformed drifter attempts to use his newfound badge for a good cause. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Jet black and unrelentingly nihilistic with only a touch of sentiment, this comedy tells the story of a mildly retarded 30-year-old who leaves the orphanage where he was raised to learn the truth about his parents. In his mind, they died somewhat romantically, perhaps at the hands of the Mafia or maybe they were kidnapped.... The truth is, Bernie's impoverished parents left him to die in a project dumpster when he was only two weeks old. Eventually, after meeting assorted savory and unsavory characters, Bernie learns the truth and finds his parents. The reunion is horribly unpleasant and during a struggle, someone is raped and loses vital appendages. Later Bernie gets involved with a heroin addict trying to escape her tyrannical, jobless and crippled father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A private eye finds that her professional and personal lives are beginning to intertwine in this French drama. Maxime Chabrier (Anémone) is a woman in her mid-40s who works as a private detective. Despite her chain smoking and sloppy appearance, Maxime is regarded as a skilled investigator by her colleagues and considered the best PI at her agency by her boss. While Maxime has romantic dalliances with both men and women, she hasn't been involved in a long-term relationship since she left her husband 15 years ago. However, Maxime is hired to look into a case that suggests that her former husband has become involved with insurance fraud, which brings her into contact with her 17-year-old son Baptiste (Gregoire Colin) for the first time since the divorce. Just as Maxime is trying to mend fences with her son and find out what her ex has gotten himself into, she finds herself falling in love with Jacques (Michel Didym), an economist. Pas Tres Catholique was nominated for the prestigious Golden Bear award at the 1994 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Who would have expected Brigitte to marry a prisoner with a long sentence in the first place? In this romantic action movie, that is only the first in a long line of surprising actions by the young woman. Somehow, she manages to get hooked to the young prisoner before realizing that he'll be locked up for another three or four decades. She decides that this is much too long to wait to spend time with her sweetheart and decides to learn how to fly a helicopter. Why? So she can fly in and take him out of his prison yard, which is exactly what she does, thrilling romantics all over France and seriously upsetting the authorities. This award-winning film (it's a 1991 Cannes jury-prize winner) is based on a true incident from 1986. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Edmond Rostand's classic drama of inner and outer beauty is given a lavish treatment in this acclaimed French production. Gérard Depardieu portrays the title character, a brilliant, charismatic swordsman with a generous spirit and a genius for poetry. It would seem that such a man would have no trouble attracting women, but Cyrano considers himself doomed to loneliness by an unattractive face featuring an oversized nose. His feelings of inadequacy are emphasized when Roxane, the beautiful woman he adores, attracts the attention of Christian, a young cadet in Cyrano's service. Christian lacks the poetic gift, however, and he ironically turns to Cyrano for help in winning Roxane's love. What follows is a tale of deception, with Roxane falling in love with the ineloquent Christian thanks to Cyrano's words of love. The underlying narrative has become quite familiar to modern audiences through retellings and variations from the 1950 adaptation starring José Ferrer to Steve Martin's Roxanne. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's interpretation stresses the tragic majesty of the original, setting a vigorous performance by Depardieu against a beautifully designed reproduction of the period and an emphasis on the sound and poetry of Rostand's original language; the subtitles for the film's English release were penned by renowned British author Anthony Burgess. This attention to detail creates a particularly faithful cinematic rendering of the original work that met with positive critical responses. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Cristophe (Michel Voita) is a reporter who is assigned to interview the prominent archaeologist Tober (Jean Bouise) in this combination fantasy drama. Tober has uncovered the coffin of the legendary 16t-century killer Jenatsch (Vittorio Mezzogiorno). After the interview, Cristophe begins to experience hallucinations that move from the present to the past with disturbing consequences. Soon his relationship with his sweetheart Nina (Christine Boisson) begins to suffer as Cristophe has visions of Jenatsch's murder. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In a standard tale of intrigue and foul play, Michel Sauvage (Lambert Wilson) has just gotten away with murder and is now marrying rich heiress Ariane (Ingrid Held) in hopes of taking all she's worth. Unfortunately for Michel, the murder victim's hard-fisted, tippling neighbor Madam Krantz (Danielle Darrieux in a great comic performance) has just blown into Paris with the intention of tracking down the killer. On one hand, Michel has to defend himself from her prying, and on the other, protect his wife's fortune from the increasingly attractive and avaricious Helene, Ariane's half-sister (Dominique Sanda). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

L'Homme Blesse is known in English-speaking countries as The Wounded Man. Jean-Hughes Anglade is a lonely, isolated young man who lets no one get close to him. He meets a street hustler and comes out of his shell, going 180 degrees into gay Obsession. Though he has yet to physically approach the object of his affection, Anglade builds up so much unrequited lust that it explodes with horrible results. L'Homme Blesse isn't rated, but viewership should definitely be confined to those older than 21--and even some of them may not be ready for it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This French sex farce is translated in English as The Trout. Joseph Losey directed and co-wrote the film, which stars Isabelle Huppert as Frederique, a young woman living on her family's rural trout farm. Frederique is trapped in a dull marriage to a rube. She decides to leave him and the trout farm for the city; she wants to make her living in the financial sector. She ends up in a cutthroat corporate world and meets up with the sophisticated Lou (the legendary Jeanne Moreau). Frederique finds herself trading sexual favors for corporate advancement and becoming more deeply involved in a complicated series of business dealings. Eventually, she longs for a return to her simpler life on the trout farm. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The diva of the title is a famous black opera singer (Wilhelmina Wiggins-Fernandez) who steadfastly refuses to be recorded. The singer is idolized by young French mail-carrier Jules (Frederic Andrei), who sneaks a tape recorder into the theater and records her performance. This is witnessed by a pair of Taiwanese criminals, who unlike Andrei wish to profit from the bootlegged recording. They begin to pursue the boy, as do a couple of home-grown hooligans who believe that Jules is in possession of some murder evidence. The serpentine plot leads to a warm friendship between Jules and the reclusive diva - and to a brilliantly photographed (by Philipe Rousselot) motorcycle chase through the subway tunnels of Paris. Diva marked the directorial debut of Jean-Jacques Beineix, whose obvious fondness for the more esoteric techniques of the Nouvelle Vague never impedes his willingness to simply entertain his audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Corinne (Miou-Miou) is a Parisian detective who is transferred to a small village in Northern France when an investigation uncovers evidence that is potentially damaging to some powerful local politicians. She is temporarily given a desk job before she is called on to solve the murder of a little girl. Her inquiry uncovers a child pornography ring that targets children from the working class. Comedian (Jean-Marc Thibault) gives a fine performance in a straight role as the local police inspector. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide