Pierre Santini Movies

In this farcical look at a female detective/mystery story writer, Cathy Palmer (JoBeth Williams) is an ordinary housewife living in Ohio with a condescending husband who is far from ideal. When Cathy wins a writing contest and has the chance to go to Paris and meet the author of the romance novels she loves, her husband tries to prevent the trip. In the end, Cathy's interests prevail, though her husband still refuses to go with her. After arriving in Paris, Cathy is knocked down by a car and wakes up in the hospital with all memory of her past life erased. In its place, she believes she is Rebecca Ryan, the heroine in the romance novels she has read. Carrying her unconscious role to the hilt, she dresses in elegant clothes and meets the comically rattled Alan McMann (Tom Conti) who becomes her partner, of sorts. Little does she know that Alan is not Rebecca's secretary, but the actual ghost writer of the Ryan novels. Cathy begins to suspect that villains are lurking everywhere, and her intuition in that regard is unerring -- she has doubts about the klutzy leader of the French opposition party (Giancarlo Giannini), and it turns out her doubts are well-founded. As the plot thickens, it becomes apparent that sooner or later Cathy-cum-Rebecca will have to realize the truth about her identity, but in the meantime, much skullduggery awaits. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This French kitchen appliance horror film antedated some of the American releases (Attack of the Killer Refrigerator (1990), Ghost in the Machine (1993)) by nearly a decade, and might be the first of its type. An epidemic of appliance madness unrelated to discount sales strikes an island off the coast of France: the islanders are being murderously attacked by ovens and refrigerators acquired in the same department store. Enter the young Dr. Gabrielle Martin (Anny Duperey), who arrives here to escape her own personal tragedy and instead lands in the middle of the kitchen mania. She tracks down the cause of the rapidly spreading epidemic to another doctor on the island -- quite as insane as any of the kitchen appliances (if the comparison could be made) -- and finds that the villainous doctor and the appliances have a most unusual link. Graphic scenes of mutilation by an oven, as one example, leave nothing much to the imagination in this film, but the interpretations of actors Anny Duperey and Jean-Claude Brialy as the good and evil doctors are excellent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this martial arts movie set in Madrid, the abused children of a drug smuggler try to frame the owner of a Madrid martial arts school. A housewife then begins fighting on his behalf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This uncomfortably voyeuristic Claude Chabrol effort was released in France as Une Partie De Plaisir. The story, which is little more than an elongated anecdote, details the destruction of a marriage at the hands of a domineering husband. To fully appreciate the perversity of Chabrol's concept, it should be noted that the leading character, Paul Gegauff, is playing "himself," and that Gegauff's ex-wife Danielle is costarred as his beleaguered partner. Even allowing for dramatic license, Gegauff comes off as a hateful brute; Curiously, he was murdered several years later by his second wife (Chabrol didn't get a chance to film that one). Interestingly, Chabrol had used the name "Paul" for many of the disruptive gadfly characters in his earlier films. Pleasure Party was also issued to some English-speaking markets as A Piece of Pleasure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When intruders interfere in the robbery of Le Metaf (Michel Constantin) and his gang and a girl is murdered, they are set up for blackmail by an underworld figure who wants them to do a job for him. The thugs are double-crossed when they do the job, but Le Metaf wins free of their designs and gets a girlfriend in the process. This crime/caper film is in French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This thoughtful French film tells of the events leading to a young man's attempt at suicide. As Raymond (Richard Bohringer) sits on a ledge of his apartment building, and people try to talk him back inside, he remembers the events of his day and his life before this moment. Things seemed to be going along well enough until something triggered his revulsion at the pettiness and falseness that is the everyday currency of life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide