Philippe Rouleau Movies
- 1987
Jean-Luc Godard wrote, directed, and starred in this offbeat comedy. He appears as a bumbling cinematographer who drops film cannisters as he rushes to a screening, and he and others board a plane helmed by a pilot who is reading a self-help book about suicide. A philosophical narration accompanies scenes of recurring imagery. A man dancing with a woman, the vapor trail of a jet against the sky, and a dead man with a huge knife in his belly are used along with a glass door being slammed in a little girl's face. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Luc Godard, Dominique Lavanant, (more)
In this interesting cinematic tour of a woman's memory (winner of the 1985 Cannes Camera d'Or Award), Marie (Daniela Silverio) is a young Venezuelan who has been living in France and returns back home to liquidate her late aunt Oriana's hacienda. As Marie moves at a slow pace through the rooms of the hacienda, closed doors to chambers of memory in her mind begin to open. She recalls her adolescence spent in this house with her reclusive aunt, a woman who never left the premises. As Marie begins to remember events from that era from the perspective of an adult, she realizes why her aunt shut herself away. Parents should be advised that incest is a part of this story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Wells, Daniela Silverio, (more)
- 1980
Poignant and with several delicately wrought moments, this otherwise by-the-book tearjerker is about a little brother and big sister looking for their long-lost father. Nadine Trintignant (wife of Jean-Louis Trintignant) co-scripted and directs her two children, nineteen-year-old Marie as the eponymous sister and five-year-old Vincent as the brother, also by the same name. After their mother dies, Marie and Vincent are forced into the care of an iron-willed, iron-fisted Aunt Jeanne (Lucienne Hamon) whose militaristic view of life soon drives them to run away. The two set out for Antibes knowing that their father captains a private yacht in that port. Along the way they meet up with a kind writer who takes care of them for the night, a slightly off-the-wall man who gives them a ride, and a few other characters. It certainly looks like the long-awaited meeting with their father will really happen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Trintignant, Vincent Trintignant, (more)
- 1978
Though he is a homosexual, he has been completely circumspect in his behavior since he entered the French diplomatic corps. However, in this film, he is routinely being followed so that a dossier can be created on him by an undercover agency. They use the leverage they gain in this manner in a variety of ways, and it could even be that their investigation is fully sanctioned by the government. However, as the lad grows aware of the investigation, his carefully composed facade begins to crumble. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francois Marthouret, Daniel Mesguich, (more)
- 1977
During a business trip to Morocco to finalize a deal to build an ugly modern tourist village on the site of a lovely local town, Jean-Luc (Jean-Claude Biraly), the bank representative, is called on by the architect's wife. She has, it seems, accidentally killed her husband during a spat and needs his help to hide the body. Incredibly, he gives it. Then he returns to Paris with the architect's murderous spouse (Marlene Jobert), who proceeds to turn his life upside down with her blithe spirit and joie de vivre. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlène Jobert, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1972
This French thriller is based upon a theory about the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. The story begins as a reporter is informed that one of his friends may have been shot by two gunmen in an American car. The reporter goes out looking for his friend, who did not die after the shooting. Along the way he is shot at and beaten up. This does not deter the intrepid journalist who keeps getting closer to the truth. Eventually he learns that the Euro-Mafia and the French Secret police are involved in the shooting. The reporter then encounters an American who tries to dissuade him from pursuing the mystery because it is far too complex to really know the truth. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
The first film directed by Costa-Gavras, The Sleeping Car Murders was based on a novel by Sebastien Japrisot. During a Marseilles-to-Paris overnight train trip, a girl is found dead in a sleeping car. As Paris detective Yves Montand steps up his investigation, more and more passengers turn up murdered. The unlikely climax is the only sore point of this otherwise well-wrought mystery. Bereft of the politicizing of Costa-Gavras' later works, The Sleeping Car Murders exhibits the director's fondness for American "film noir" thrillers. The film first hit Parisian movie screens under the title Compartiment Tueurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
