Jean-Louis Richard Movies

Adolphe, French director Benoît Jacquot's adaptation of Benjamin Constant's novel of the same name, tells the story of a young man's passion for 30-year-old Ellenore (Isabelle Adjani). After much resistance, Ellenore falls for Adolphe (Stanislas Mehrar), only to find out that his love for her has waned significantly. Though Adolphe did not intentionally hurt Ellenore, she is very much saddened by his lack of feeling toward her. This unhappy love story also features French actors Jean Yanne and Romain Duris. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

French novelist Vincent Ravalec made his directorial debut with this French drama about small-time crook Gaston (Yvan Attal) who poses as a millionaire after he picks up hitchhiking 16-year-old Marie-Pierre (Virginie Lanoue). Actually living in a seedy apartment, Gaston deals in stolen goods, but he soon climbs to bigger heists, including car thefts. Concealing his illegal activities, Gaston operates his company, Extramill, out of upscale, posh offices, while he and Marie-Pierre move into a sedate upper-middle-class neighborhood. Life is sweet, but the onset of paranoia, kinky sex activities, and police probes eventually culminate in violence. Shown in the Cinemas en France section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A middle-aged woman temporarily abandons her role as wife and mother to embark upon a mad love affair with a man 20 years her junior. Up until the time she meets handsome young Emilio, Diane Clovier had a relatively happy life with her husband, kids and career. Emilio, with his amoral charm, is the antithesis of her life and Diane throws herself into a heated frenzy of lovemaking and romance with him. She shows little regard for the destruction she causes within her family. Her husband Phillipe, a lawyer, finds out about the affair, but does nothing to stop it in the hope that she will come to her senses. But as her relationship with Emilio grows hotter, it looks as if Diane may be lost forever. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this downbeat drama from France, Benoit (Xavier Beauvois) is an upper class art student who is shocked to discover that he's been drafted into the Army. Eager to avoid military service, Benoit feigns illness, consults a psychiatrist for depression, and even tells the draft board he's gay, all to no avail. In a fit of desperation, Benoit attempts suicide, only to learn in the hospital that he has tested positive for HIV. Now that he has a real reason to be depressed, Benoit sinks into an emotional downturn and ends up in jail, where he is introduced to Omar (Roschdy Zem), who suggests that he can make big money fast by smuggling drugs. With nothing better to do, Benoit goes into business with Omar, and with his ill-gotten gains, he travels to Italy, where he meets a beautiful young woman named Claudia (Chiara Mastroianni). Benoit and Claudia quickly fall in love, but the lure of the drug market soon proves more powerful than Benoit's feelings for his girlfriend. Director and star Xavier Beauvois won the Jury Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival for his work on this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jacques Rivette directed this richly detailed six-hour drama based on the story of Joan of Arc. In Part one, "Les Batailles," Jeanne the Maid (Sandrine Bonnaire) leaves her childhood home in Domremy after hearing what she is sure was the voice of God. She believes that she can help lead France to victory on the battlefield, and she persuades Charles, dauphin of France (Andre Marcon) to allow her to guide his troops. Part two, "Les Prisons," concerns the sad aftermath of Jeanne's defeat at Orleans. Jeanne is sent to prison, where in two separate trials she is tried for heresy and impersonating a man, with both her life and the sanctity of her mortal body at stake. A four-hour version, with each of the two parts trimmed down to two hours, is also available. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It is not necessary to know that this story is based on a true incident in order to enjoy it; in real life, a man landed in a major European airport without the necessary papers, and while authorities worked (slowly, ever-so slowly) to resolve his citizenship status, he lived and worked there, unable to leave either by air or by foot. This situation lasted for years. In the current movie, Arturo (Jean Rochefort) has flown into France from Montreal. He holds dual French and Canadian citizenship, but all his papers were stolen from him while he was at the Canadian airport without his knowledge. He is married to a Spanish woman and lives in Rome. This confusion of visas and nationalities is too great for the authorities to sort out quickly, and he settles into a behind-the-scenes existence at the airport while he awaits developments. There, he discovers a whole international community of the stranded, a nation-within-a-nation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Loursat (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a lawyer who has spent the last decade drinking himself into insensibility with a huge cache of gourmet wine in response to his grief at the death of his beloved wife. In the process, he has managed to alienate his now-grown daughter and is barely on speaking terms with his housekeeper. However, finding the corpse of a murdered young man in a room in his house snaps him out of his protracted reverie. He sobers up, investigates the murder, and takes his place in the courtoom to straighten out this mess. In the process, he wins back the respect and affection of his family. This courtroom drama and mystery is based on one of Georges Simenon's many novels. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Noted stage director Patrice Chereau adds his stylistic flair to this drama loosely taken from a story by Anton Chekhov. A French family is shown as they go through the daily routines of life. Arguing, feasting, crying, and yearning for love are just some of the human emotions encountered. The mood wavers between excessive noise to silence while those not participating in the conversations listen in. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In spite of spending three hours developing the story of French peasant Charles Saganne (Gérard Depardieu), the sweep of this epic skims over the qualities that transformed Saganne from an ordinary officer to a great military leader. Saganne was first sent to a garrison town in North Africa before Colonel Dubreuilh (Philippe Noiret) assigned him to other missions, finally giving him a chance to exercise his innate ability to lead men. After a tragic hiatus in Paris where he fails to promote the colonialist cause, he returns to the Sahara and outshines his past accomplishments, leading a ragtag band of Arab dissidents in some brilliant military maneuvers -- for which he won the French Legion of Honor. His newfound recognition also attracted a society maven who became his wife, and after his tour of duty has ended Saganne moves with her to the village where he was born. But the year is 1914 and Saganne's peaceful village idyll was not meant to endure -- he is again called off to war, and to his destiny. Even though the costuming, landscape, battles, and charisma of Depardieu as Saganne and Noiret as Colonel Dubreuilh are outstanding, and several subsidiary characters deliver emotionally compelling vignettes, the protagonists as an ensemble have not been scripted with much depth of character -- making the three-hour epic seem a bit too long in the end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In another typical Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicle, the French action hero plays a policeman prone to advancing the cause of justice by any means necessary. On his agenda is a powerful drug cartel working out of Paris and Marseilles, with a drug lord (Henry Silva) who is essentially inaccessible -- but not immortal. Stunts (performed by Belmondo) and chase scenes on land and water enliven the story, but the scenes with Belmondo's love interest are rather marginal themselves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Joss Beaumont (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a French spy given the assignment of killing an African dictator, and when he arrives in Africa to do so, he is captured and put in prison. The political winds had changed - the dictator is now an ally - and the best way to handle the agent is to keep him in jail. Naturally at odds now with his former bosses and with an ax to grind for his own incarceration, the agent escapes after two years in prison and heads back to Paris where he announces that he is going to finish his assassination job during the coming diplomatic visit of the African leader. Once aware of his intent, the French government sets up one trap after another, but to no avail - the agent remains free and there is no doubt that he has the full capacity to do exactly what he says. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The advertising business is the background for this drama about the struggles between a jaded old-timer (Bernard Blier) and his former employee (Francis Perrin), an idealistic young man who starts his own company and wants somehow to tell the truth about the products he is pushing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide