Rufus Movies

Adapted from the French comic book Panic in London, director Pierre-Francois Martin-Laval's sophomore feature tells the tale of a forgotten isle inhabited by five people who live like they're in medieval times while awaiting the arrival of their new king. Tourist train driver Guillaume (Martin-Laval) and his tuba-playing wife, Magali (Florence Foresti), are deeply in love. They lead a blissful life in the suburbs, and they've just discovered they're about to start a family when the father Guillaume never knew contacts the couple with a shocking announcement: by virtue of an accord reaching back to the Middle Ages, Guillaume is the heir to a kingdom located just off the coasts of France and England. But while the elated couple at first imagine themselves living in an island castle and presiding over a paradise filled with faithful subjects, the reality of the situation isn't quite so romantic. Battered by North winds, the island is little more than a glorified rock. To make matters worse, the current residents are five eccentrics who seem to have forgotten what century they live in. Now, while Magali gets wrapped up in the prospect of becoming a genuine queen and Guillaume celebrates his status as a crowned head, their new servants scramble to cover up the truth about the island until their new ruler can no longer renounce his throne. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A movie fan finds a way to make himself a presence in the lives of his favorite actresses in this comedy from French writer-director Laetitia Colombani. Robert Lepage (Kad Merad) is a janitor who is part of the cleaning crew at the offices of the biggest talent agency in Paris. Ordinarily, this job wouldn't offer many perks, but Robert is clever enough to know what to look for while he's vacuuming or emptying waste baskets, and he's able to swipe invitations to major events and pencil himself onto guest lists for show-biz soirees. Robert's longtime girlfriend (Maria de Medeiros) doesn't think much of his double life, but he's having enough fun that he starts adding his own thoughts to paperwork at the office, and begins using his skills to boost the careers of his favorite stars -- classy veteran actress Solange Duvivier (Catherine Deneuve), sultry siren Isabelle Serena (Emmanuelle Beart) and promising starlet Violette Duval (Melanie Bernier). Thanks to Robert's meddling, Solange, Isabelle and Violette are cast together in a big-budget costume epic, but when he becomes a regular visitor to the set, the actresses begin wondering among themselves who he is and how he became such a big shot. Mes Stars Et Moi (aka My Stars) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Three middle-aged men take a second stab at getting their high school degree in this comedy-drama from France. When they were teenagers, Michel (Jacques Gamblin), Gerard (Kad Merad) and Edmond (Rufus) all failed their Baccalaureat exams, the challenging comprehensive essay test that evaluates a French student's knowledge before they are given their high school diploma. While they planned to focus on their studies and take the exam again, all three ended up getting jobs in the same factory, with Michel and Gerard working on the line and Edmond eventually advancing to foreman. Twenty years after leaving school, Michel and his wife Claire (Anne Brochet), who works in a beauty salon, have a teenage son, Philippe (Edouard Collin) who has just flunked the Baccalaureat exam. As Michel and Claire encourage Philippe to buck up and give the test another try, Michel gets the word that the factory where he works is shutting down, and he, Gerard and Edmond are all out of a job. Michel discovers getting a new job without a degree is tough even with plenty of work experience, so he and Gerard pledge to crack open their textbooks and give the Baccalaureat another try, which Edmond becoming their unwelcome study partner. Michel also finds himself bonding with Philippe in a new way as both men work towards bettering their futures. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An actor who lands the role of his life is forced into an even greater real-life acting challenge in this comedy drama from France. Maurice Kurtz (Stéphane Freiss) is an actor who is passionately in love with his wife, Perla (Bérénice Bejo), and wishes he could provide a better life for her. Maurice and his friends Simon (Lionel Abelanski), Sami (Olivier Sitruk), and Edouard (Stéphan Guérin-Tillié) work for a company that dubs American films into French when they're not looking for acting work, and when they learn that famous American filmmaker Grichenberg (Peter Coyote) is coming to Paris to shoot a Yiddish-language version of The Merchant of Venice, they all show up at a "cattle call" audition hoping to land bit parts. To his great surprise, Maurice's reading wins him the leading role of Shylock, and he quickly passes the good news along to Perla. As it happens, Perla needs some good news -- she's just been diagnosed with cancer, and her doctor tells her she's not long for the world. Maurice is comforted by the fact that his good fortune is lifting Perla's spirits, so when Grichenberg recasts him a few days later with a major American star, Maurice and his buddies devise a variety of scams to convince Perla that her husband is still making the movie that will make him famous. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

French actor Pierre-Olivier Mornas (using his directing name of Pierre Olivier) writes and directs the romantic drama Comme si de rien n'était (Act Natural). Mornas plays Thomas, a theatrical stage director who starts dating museum guide Alix (Alice Carel). One day, Thomas overhears her talking on the phone about her failing health. While Alix doesn't realize why, Thomas decides to cast her in his next production. Act Natural won the Prix Tournage at the 2003 Avignon Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Her mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta) died in a freak accident when Amelie was eight, and her father Raphael (Rufus) had limited contact with her, since his presence seemed to throw her heart into high gear. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. When Princess Diana dies in a car wreck in the summer of 1997, Amelie is reminded that life can be fleeting and she decides it's time for her to intervene in the lives of those around her, hoping to bring a bit of happiness to her neighbors and the regulars at the cafe. Amelie starts by bringing together two lonely people -- Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), a tobacconist with a severe case of hypochondria, and Joseph (Dominique Pinon), an especially ill-tempered customer. When Amelie finds a box of old toys in her apartment, she returns them to their former owner, Mr. Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou), sending him on a reverie of childhood. Amelie befriends Dufayel (Serge Merlin), an elderly artist living nearby whose bones are so brittle, thanks to a rare disease, that everything in his flat must be padded for his protection. And Amelie decides someone has to step into the life of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a lonely adult video store clerk and part-time carnival spook-show ghost who collects pictures left behind at photo booths around Paris. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain received unusually enthusiastic advance reviews prior to its French premiere in the spring of 2001, and was well received at a special free screening at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Iranian Iradj Azimi directed this French historical drama re-creating events depicted in the famous 1819 painting The Raft of the Medusa by Jean Louis Andre Theodore Gericault (1791-1824). The ill-fated voyage of the frigate Medusa begins when it departs Rochefort for Senegal in 1816. After striking a sandbar off the African coast, 150 civilians row safely to shore, but Captain Chaumareys (Jean Yanne) orders 140 soldiers and sailors onto a raft (minus supplies) and has it cut loose. Only 14 survive from the 140, creating a scandal back in France. Gericault (Laurent Terzieff) later talks to three of the survivors while researching his painting. Work on this film began in 1987, but sets destroyed by Hurricane Hugo caused delays, so the film was not completed until 1990. However, it then remained undistributed until an incident in which writer-director Azimi slashed his wrists in front of French Ministry of Culture officials. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi