Roland Bertin Movies
Supporting actor Bertin has been onscreen from the '70s. ~ All Movie Guide
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
- Starring:
- Albert Dupontel, Claude Perron, (more)
- 2002
Charlotte Silvera's Girls Can Get Away With Anything is about a young girl who acted in a film. Eight-year-old Judith (Thylda Bares) was plucked from everyday life to act in a film that was made in Paris. After returning home from the experience, she finds that her parents' marriage is on the rocks. She makes her way back to Paris with her friend Nora (Nora Rotman), and the two of them do what they can to survive. Girls Can Get Away With Anything was shot on digital video and was screened at the Paris Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thylda Bares, Nora Rotman, (more)
- 1996
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
- Starring:
- Albert Dupontel, Claude Perron, (more)
- 1994
This French political thriller demonstrates that justice does not always win out when faced with a corrupt government system. The setting is modern Paris during a time when it was suffering a series of terrorist attacks. Guyot works for Air France as a hologram engineer. He has a dark and mysterious past. One night while driving close to an airport, his best friend is shot by two policemen for no apparent reason. He takes it to the authorities who claim they acted in self-defense. When he discovers that the only eyewitness, an illegal African immigrant, was hastily deported. Believing that Internal Affairs has launched a biased investigation, Guyot takes off to Africa in search of the witness. He finds him and records his testimony, but while creating a hologram that would prove the killer's identity, he is killed. One honest, but world-weary cop close to retirement, decides to take a stand and crack the case. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Poivey, Inês de Medeiros, (more)
- 1994
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
- Starring:
- Anémone, Roland Bertin, (more)
- 1993
Eleven-year old Alexandrine (Sandrine Blancke) may be making something more out of what is happening in her family than is really there, but she appears to be afraid to be touched by her father (Alain Bashung), and gets really edgy when her mother (a nurse) has to work late. When one of her teachers puts two and two together and suspects incest, she encourages Alexandrine to press charges against her father. The girl at first tries to do that, but when her father shows up at the police station, the clams up. Even if she is only experiencing an imaginary terror, her father's nonchalance, her mother's complete refusal to consider the possibility and her grandparent's refusal to offer any consolation in the face of some troubling evidence must be horrifying to the girl. Whether there is incest in the family is open to some doubt, but there is no question that it harbors one very unhappy little girl in its midst. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mireille Perrier, Alain Bashung, (more)
- 1992
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
- Starring:
- Béatrice Dalle, Thierry Fortineau, (more)
- 1987
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
- Starring:
- Michel Voita, Christine Boisson, (more)
- 1987
An Austrian diplomat assigned to Paris wakes up after having a strange nightmare and finds himself emotionally distanced from his world. He feels absolutely nothing as he attends to his daily routine. He gradually begins to behave in an increasingly strange manner. The story is based on Moment of True Feeling, a novel by Peter Handke. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Niels Arestrup, Anne Wiazemsky, (more)
- 1986
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
- Starring:
- Dominique Sanda, Lambert Wilson, (more)
- 1984
The common problem of a generation gap between young teens and their parents is exacerbated by a cultural gap as well in this interesting first film by Charlotte Silvera. When Louise's family -- her parents and two sisters -- came from Tunisia to live in France, the parents kept their traditional Jewish beliefs intact. Now Louise wants to go to her friend's birthday party on a Saturday, but her parents refuse -- and she is furious. Her anger is most intensely directed at her mother, and her father's indolent, laissez-faire attitude only makes matters worse. To her, their attitudes are outmoded by modern life in France, and like all young teens it is hard for Louise to see the bigger picture. Meanwhile, news bulletins indicate that terrorism is on the rise in France -- indicating some difficult times ahead for Louise's generation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Rouvel, Roland Bertin, (more)
- 1983
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
- Starring:
- Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, (more)
- 1982
Alain Tescique (Jean Rochefort) is in Paris on a brief vacation from his job on a North Sea oil rig, and while he is playing around with a ham radio set he bought for his son, he picks up some suspicious conversations in a neighboring apartment. After some more eavesdropping, he hears about an important rendezvous and then manages to steal a coded message that seems to be about an imminent assassination. His worries increase when the couple in the nearby apartment are found murdered, and their assassin is described as someone who looks just like himself. Although he is upset and indecisive, his fears are assuaged by Daniel, the neighbor across from him (Jean-Pierre Marielle) and Beatrice (Dominique Sanda), a new romantic interest he met by accident. What he does not know is that Beatrice and Daniel were planted by an underground organization to get their hands on the coded document and force him into suicide. Without knowing it, his situation is much worse than what he had imagined and it seems like only a miracle can save him now. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rochefort, Dominique Sanda, (more)
- 1981
Pauline (Carole Laure), an attractive woman, becomes the obsession of a killer, Jacques (Richard Berry) who has murdered several women. He breaks into her apartment, makes her strip, does not touch her, and leaves. Ravic (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is the police inspector trying to track down the killer and when he sees Pauline, he develops an equally neurotic obsession for the woman. The two men, police inspector and criminal, are headed for a final show-down in Pauline's apartment, and only one of them will walk out alive. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Carole Laure, (more)
- 1980
The pushes and pulls of an emerging post-war society are behind the antagonisms in this routine, slow-paced story set in a Jesuit school in 1952. A somewhat old-fashioned priest has his own ideas about how to train the boys in his charge and at the same time, the director of the school is faced with serious financial and moral decisions. The one boy who tends to follow the priest's viewpoints is, in the end, too troubled to live up to his expectations and in a dramatic turn-around, the priest becomes victimized. A sliding moral scale not only allows the victimization to occur but raises larger questions about ethics and one's adjustment to a changing world. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruno Cremer, Jean Bouise, (more)
- 1979
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
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Jean-Marc Thibault, (more)
- 1979
A good argument against capital punishment, this polemical as well as compelling docudrama tells the story of the arrest, conviction, and execution of a man who may have been innocent. In 1974 a young girl was kidnapped and murdered near Marseilles. The public was outraged at the crime, so when traveling salesman Christian Ranucci (Serge Avedikian) was arrested, the prevailing mood was to convict him. As this story unfolds, it is revealed that the court did not allow certain exonerating evidence to be presented nor contradictory witnesses to take the stand. Among the facets of the case that raised doubt was a red sweater found at the crime scene. It belonged to the killer but was several sizes too big for Ranucci. In brief, there is enough evidence to suggest that the real killer and kidnapper got away with it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Avedikian, Michele Marquais, (more)
- 1978
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a French philosopher and writer whose works helped to usher in the modern era, and were especially important in laying the groundwork for the idealization of nature and "primitive" societies, as well as much of the rationale for socialism. This film explores the last years of the great rebel's life, after he was forced into exile in 1762 by the publication of his book Emile. Living in Switzerland, Prussia and England, he was constantly hounded by churchmen for his nonconformity. Eventually, his troubles cause him to degenerate into a paranoid old lunatic. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Simon, Dominique Labourier, (more)
- 1977
La Part du Feu is a French idiom, and has to do with making a sacrifice for some gain. Hansen (Michel Piccoli) is a wheeler-dealer and building developer, who apparently manipulates people and situations just for the joy of it. In this melodrama, it was his wife Catherine's (Claudia Cardinale) money which enabled him to get into the real-estate business, but these days she is somewhat neglected. Jacques (Jacques Perrin) is his assistant, an eager but none too confident young man who has been having an affair with Catherine. The two of them worry a great deal about Hanson discovering their relationship. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
- 1977
Based on a novel by Roger Borniche, this crime drama retells the story of the renowned gangster "Pierrot le Fou," whose band of robbers sought out banks and factories in the period just after the Second World War, when the French police forces were in disarray. In the movie, Alain Delon plays Robert, the gangleader, who plans for his gang to perform a large number of major robberies in one day. After that, he and his gang will retire comfortably for a time with the loot. Performed with split-second timing, the robberies go well almost to the end. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Nicole Calfan, (more)
- 1976
Violette (Isabelle Adjani) is fascinated with the shabby background and low-down ways of her boyfriend Francois (Jacques Dutronc), and despite her middle-class family's objections, she marries him. Unable to keep a job, and without any real skills, he has a hard time supporting them, especially after the birth of their baby. He turns to shoplifting, and she briefly leaves him when she discovers this. Sometime after they get back together, with money still in short supply, she takes a turn at shoplifting too, and gets a kick out of it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Adjani, Jacques Dutronc, (more)
