Catherine Rouvel Movies

A romantic comedy from acclaimed French director Jacques Rivette (La Belle Noiseuse), this film centers on three men and three women whose lives converge during the run of a play in Paris. The star of the play, Camille (Jeanne Balibar), is returning to Paris after leaving her stuffy boyfriend Pierre (Jacques Bonaffe) and residing in Italy. Her Italian theater company has brought her to France, where the show is run by her lover, director, and co-star Ugo (Sergio Castellitto). Ugo is concerned with the show's poor attendance, but also busy searching for a long-lost play by an Italian playwright. While on his quest, he discovers the beautiful young Do (Helene De Fougerolles), a student who offers to help him. Do's mother has a library that may contain the lost play, and Ugo runs into her possessive half-sibling Arthur (Bruno Todeschini), a shady man pursuing an affair with Pierre's wife Sonia (Mariane Basler), who also has a questionable past. After a brooding dinner at Pierre and Sonia's home, tensions mount in everybody's relationships and their romantic journeys are similarly tested. A lighter work from the usually dramatic filmmaker Rivette, the film was made by the director at the amazing age of 73.
~ Jason Clark, Rovi

The title of Sand and Blood has led some to assume that this 1988 French film is a remake of the old warhorse Blood and Sand. In fact, the only thing the two properties have in common is a bullfighter as a protagonist. A sensitive matador (Patrick Catalifo) grows weary of killing and tries to escape his chosen profession. He meets a young, musically inclined doctor (Sami Frey) who likewise despises bullfighting. The two form a warm and giving friendship, which threatens to rupture when a woman enters the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Commissioner Stan Jalard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) takes in his godson after the boy's father, who is also Stan's police partner, is murdered in this routine action thriller. Stan chases the heavy until he catches up with him. He levies his gun on the killer as he decides whether to shoot him or let him spend life in prison. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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, Rovi

The inaugural film effort of French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, Black and White in Color is set during World War I. Upon the outbreak of hostilities, a French trading post in West Central Africa finds itself at odds with a formerly peaceful German post, for no other reason than their parent countries are at war. The newly xenophobic French traders attack the Germans, only to fail in their efforts. Socialist Jacques Spiesser is put in charge of the debilitated French contingent, utterly discarding his former high ideals in the process. Filmed on location on the Ivory Coast, the satirical Black and White in Color (originally La Victoire en Chantant) won the American Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The 1970 French crime flick Borsalino featured Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo as charismatic gangsters in 1930s Marseilles. Belmondo was killed off in that film, but Delon survived to show up in the 1974 sequel Borsalino and Co. (actually filmed just after the original, but not released for several years). Seeking redress for the death of his partner, Roch (Delon) disposes of his enemies in a variety of novel (and gruesome) methods. Both Borsalino and Co. and its predecessor were inspired by Eugene Saccomano's novel The Bandits of Marseilles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Thomas (Jacques Charrier) is a sailor who has deserted from the Navy in this gentle French drama. He has found refuge in a seaside bordello. Romantic difficulties blossom as he and Flora (Catherine Rouvert), one of the house's prostitutes, fall in love with each other. When he hurts her, however, the denizens of the house agree that he must leave ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

No blame is assessed in this unusual French prison drama, which is based on the book by Albertine Sarrazin. All the usual violence, opportunism and homosexuality are present, but they serve as a backdrop to the story of thieves Annick (Juliet Berto) and Jean (Jean-Claude Bouillon), who are in love. Though they have both been sentenced to quite a few years in prison, the prison authorities permit them to marry. Sometime before, Annick knew a nun, who became Annick's nemesis when she learned she had been conned. When the couple attempts to escape, it is the nun who stops them. The story is told in flashbacks, while Annick writes in her diary. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

When he gets separated from his unit, Laforet (Roger Van Hool) becomes a de facto deserter during 1939 fighting in the French provinces. Most of the story concerns his love affair with a local farmgirl, as he competes for her affection with a refugee from Spain. When he presses her to make a decision between them, the choice doesn't go in his favor. Soon after this he joins up with the Resistance movement. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Based on a Eugene Saccomano novel entitled The Bandits of Marseilles, this movie was followed by a sequel entitled Borsalino and Co. This movie captures the mood of 1930 Marseilles beautifully with the use of ambience and music. Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo portray two gangsters who kill their way to the top. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

Pierre Clementi plays the title role in the French-filmed Benjamin. A callow teenager of the 18th century, Benjamin spends a summer with his worldly relatives on their summer estate. An orphan girl (Catherine Deneuve) living on a neighboring estate, inaugurates an affair with Benjamin. In true La Ronde fashion, the girl then sleeps with a landed-gentry (Michel Piccoli), who sleeps with a countess (Michelle Morgan), who ends up in the sack with her nephew Benjamin. Benjamin has also been released under the faintly misleading title The Diary of an Innocent Boy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Seeing an opportunity to make a financial recovery for the family, a nobleman attempts to wed his son to his wealthy friend's daughter. His plan is to send the boy for a cruise on the SS France with the prospective female. Upon arriving to meet the lovely girl, the young man switches places with his valet. Unbeknownst to him, however, is the fact that the girl has pulled a similar deception. Though Jean-Marc Ripert is responsible for much of the cinematography in this New Wave comedy, it is Francois Reichenbach who handled the camera for many of the ocean-liner scenes. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi