Maria Schneider Movies

Muriel (Annie Giradot) is a shy woman who bluffs and blusters around in order to hide her shyness and to protect her loneliness, even though she longs wistfully for a companion of some sort. She has been lonely so long that now she is an old maid and has never been wooed. In this gentle French film, Muriel gets a glimpse of romance when Gabriel (Philippe Noiret) walks into the seaside hotel she is vacationing in. His car has broken down, and he has to stay there for a few days while it is repaired. Hers is the only dinner table with room at it, and Gabriel cannot prevent himself from charming women. She is stiff with him at first, but soon they develop a friendship. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The mutual admiration between actor Jack Nicholson and director Michelangelo Antonioni resulted in the psychological drama The Passenger. Nicholson plays David Locke, a disillusioned American reporter who is sent on a grueling mission to North Africa. When he stumbles across the body of a dead man, Locke, long desirous of starting life over again, assumes the corpse's identity. He soon discovers that the man he's pretending to be is involved in gun running on behalf of a terrorist group. Making the acquaintance of a mysterious woman (Maria Schneider), he finds a kindred spirit -- a woman as "lost" as he. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in the 19th century, and based on the classic Swiss novel Die Richterin by C. F. Meyer, this film tells a story of ghosts, incest and murder in a mountain village. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Giacinto (Michele Placido) has taken his wife Vanina (Stefania Sandrelli) along on his scuba-diving trip, mostly for the purpose of keeping his vacation cottage clean. At first, Vanina doesn't mind much, but she encounters Suna (Maria Schneider), a wealthy feminist, who encourages her to go out and meet the local people. When, after sex with a local teenaged boy, she discovers the possibility of orgasms, she wakes up to feminine power, and begins to assert herself. This film, based on Dacia Maraini's novel Donna in Guerra is reputedly the first Italian film made entirely by women. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Klaus Kinski plays a motorcycle rider whose bike breaks down in a small French village. He is helped by Madeleine (Maria Schneider), a young woman who is a social outcast from having a child out of wedlock. When news spreads that a little girl was run down by a cyclist, locals focus their blame on Kinski. A lynch mob is formed by a truckdriver (Patrice Melennes) who seeks revenge on the stranger accused of the hit-and-run accident. Kinski does well in an uncharacteristic role evoking sympathy from the viewer. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Marie (Miou-Miou) is a young girl from a working-class family who falls for Gerard (Daniel Duval) before she discovers he is a vicious, sadistic pimp. She is degraded, abused, and beaten regularly by Gerard as she is forced into a life of prostitution. Marie later decides she must leave her pimp to regain control of her body, mind, and soul. Maria Schneider co-stars with Neil Arestrup in this voyeuristic and disturbing story. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

When an amateur detective is caught up in a murder case, he cannot foresee that he is about to be chased by hit-men, glamorous women, and some inscrutable Chinese in this average private-eye spoof by director Jean-Louis Comolli. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The French Bunker Palace Hotel is set in the Future. Rebels have taken over the totalitarian government, compelling the officials to flee for safety to the underground hotel of the title. Clara (Carole Bouquet), a spy for the rebels, infiltrates the hotel to observe the last moves of the crumbling regime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This award-winning drama follows the romantic and sexual misadventures of a bisexual, HIV-positive Frenchman as he searches for meaning in his life. Jean (Cyril Collard, who also directed), a successful photographer, dates women but has furtive sex with men on the side. When he meets Samy (Carlos Lopez), an aimless, half-Spanish young rugby player, Jean easily steals him right from under his girlfriend's watchful eyes. Just months after learning that he's HIV-positive, Jean only practices safe sex with his male partners. The same isn't true of his relationship with Laura (Romane Bohringer), an intense 17 year old whose combination of youthful exuberance and world-weary cynicism captivates him. The first night they make love, Jean struggles to warn Laura of his HIV status, but her emotional nakedness and his own confusion prevent him. When he finally does tell her, she's more concerned about living life without him than she is about the danger into which he has put her. Laura's mother (Corine Blue) struggles to steer her daughter toward a more suitable match, especially after Jean stops hiding his liaison with Samy. Vacillating from one extreme and one lover to the other, Jean unwittingly wreaks emotional havoc in Laura's life. Meanwhile, Samy finds himself slowly drawn into Jean's orbit and seems to have no problem with the ambiguity involved. He also dabbles in violent sex and even racist nationalism -- all reactions to his complex, troubled family life. As Laura spins out of control and Samy drifts away, Jean tries to make some sense of his own destructiveness; all the while, his illness progresses. Adapted from director Collard's own novel, Les Nuits Fauves won the filmmaker a French Cesar for Best Debut Director just days after he died of AIDS-related illness. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide