Roland Bertin Movies

This film by French director Alain Resnais (Last Year in Marienbad) is loosely based on a true story from the 1930s about financier, con-man and swindler Stavisky who was arrested in 1934 for selling phony stock but was never brought to trial. While in jail, he continued to engage in doubtful monetary transactions. As the rumors that he was being protected by high-ranking members of the government of the French Third Republic were undoubtedly true, the scandal had a profoundly unsettling effect on the French nation, already suffering from poor government handling of the Depression, and this incident nearly brought down both the government and the Republic. Stavisky's death in prison (an apparent suicide) triggered widespread unrest and rioting. In the movie, when Stavisky (Jean-Paul Belmondo) goes to jail as a young con-man, his embarrassed father commits suicide. Ruining countless lives in his stellar career as a big-money swindler, including that of his nobleman friend Raoul (Charles Boyer), Stavisky is shown to be a pawn in a still bigger swindle, one which will destroy the Left and open the way to fascism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, Costa-Gavras' Special Section (Section Speciale) is set in wartime France, but the parallels to contemporary political persecution are inescapable. A young German naval officer is killed in occupied Paris. The supplicative Vichy government sets about to locate the perpetrators. Four idealistic young Frenchman are arrested, tortured and slated for execution. It is clear that it doesn't matter whether they're guilty or not: the flames of totalitarianism must be stoked, even with the blood of the innocent. And it's especially convenient if the accused are thoroughly expendable in the eyes of the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alain Delon plays Mr. Klein, a French-Catholic art dealer during the Nazi occupation. Strapped for cash, Klein takes financial advantage of his Jewish neighbors, knowing that they have no legal recourse. Ironically, Klein is himself mistaken for a missing Jew, a man who has been using Mr. Klein's name as a cover for his secret operations. As he desperately seeks out that man, he learns a bitter lesson about life in the other man's shoes. Star Delon is one of the four producers of this French feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For a change, the character portrayed by Gérard Depardieu in Maîtresse is relatively normal; it is the world around him which has gone slightly mad. Looking for a measure of affection and companionship, Olivier (Depardieu) crosses the path of the lovely Ariane (Bulle Ogier). She happens to be a professional dominatrix-and from the evidence we're presented, she's one of the most accomplished of her ilk. How this mismatched (to put it mildly) relationship can possibly work is the core of Maîtresse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

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

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