Caroline Sihol Movies

Inspired by director Vittorio De Sica's 1952 neorealist classic Umberto D., Francis Huster's sentimental drama stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as an aged retiree who is forced out onto the street with his dog after his relationship with a wealthy widow falls apart. A cinematic comeback for Belmondo, who previously retired from acting after suffering a major stroke, un homme et son chien tells the story of Charles, an older man who was invited by his lover to stay in the maid's room in her sprawling home. When the woman decides to marry again, however, Charles and his faithful four-legged companion are promptly shown the door. With no place to call home and no means of earning a living, Charles wanders the streets of Paris with his dog as their pair drift towards an uncertain fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Writer/director Olivier Dahan (Crimson Rivers II) helmed La Vie en Rose, the screen biopic of tragic French songstress Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard portrays Piaf, the superstar once raised as a young girl by her grandmother in a Normandy bordello, then discovered on a French street corner -- as a complete unknown -- by cabaret proprietor Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu). The film segues breezily between various episodes from Piaf's life -- such as her lover, French boxer Marcel Cerdan's (Jean-Pierre Martins) championship bout in mid-'40s New York; her period in Hollywood during the '50s; Piaf's abandonment as a young girl by her contortionist father (and earlier by her mother, a street singer); her brushes with the law as an adult; and her 1951 car accident and subsequent morphine addiction that caused her to age well beyond her years and left her barely mobile; and, through it all, her ability (like Billie Holiday) to funnel personal tragedy and emotional struggles into her vocalizations -- dazzling audiences in the process. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

French filmmaker Thierry Binisti directs the mystery drama The Over-Eater, based on the graphic novel by Jacques Ferrandez and Tonino Benacquista. Soccer player Eric Cantona stars as Richard Selena, a lonely 350-pound police investigator in Marseilles. His doctors tell him that he has a year to live unless he loses weight, but he continues to eat and struggles to breathe. He and his partner Marc Brisset (Jocelyn Quivrin) are assigned to investigate the death of a powerful industry leader. Richard suspects the guilty party is the victim's niece Elsa (Rachida Brakni), a beautiful young artist who runs a cafe with her father Emile Lachaume (Richard Bohringer). Instead of turning her in, Richard makes her come to his house and watch him eat. Meanwhile, Marc believes someone else is responsible for the murder after receiving a tip from the victim's widow, Anne Lachaume (Caroline Silhol). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Klaus Maria Brandauer stars in this gorgeously photographed French-German-Dutch biopic on the life of 17th century Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn. Told in flashbacks from the point-of-view of the aged artist, the film opens as the young van Rijn arrives in Amsterdam. Soon after establishing his career as a painter, he marries the radiant Saskia (Johanna ter Steege). As he makes a name for himself, he can soon afford to buy a large house by teaching wealthy aristocrats how to paint. However, the couple's happiness is short-lived; Saskia dies soon after bearing their son, Titus. Crushed, van Rijn seeks comfort first in the arms of his maid Geertje (Caroline van Houten) and then with his second wife, Hendrickje (Romane Bohringer), who gives birth to a daughter. In spite of his genius, van Rijn's determinedly eccentric behavior alienates the very members of the elite who were paying his bills. At one point, the artist's home and belongings, including many of his paintings, are seized and sold for humiliatingly low prices in a rigged auction. Rembrandt was directed by painter-turned-director Charles Matton. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This French tale, set in the 17th century, chronicles the marriage between an errant knight and a beautiful spinster. The tale begins in 1629, and the knight is Nathan Le Cerf who joins the regiments of Count Anchire after he loses his entire family to the plague. Nathan's first assignment is to kill the gambling rival of the count in a duel; Nathan obeys, but gets wounded in the process. Still he makes it back to his master and is expecting a generous reward. Instead, the count reviles the knight, invokes Louis XIII's ban on dueling, and orders Nathan beheaded. Nathan will have none of that. Despite his bleeding abdominal wound, he escapes into the countryside. Initially he finds shelter with his lifelong friend, a chalk maker; he then goes on to one of his patrons, an artist. Nathan is relegated to living in a humble hut in the wilds. Eventually he meets an impoverished noblewoman, Marhte de Lairac. She is a rare vision of beauty with her flowing red hair and wide eyes. She and Nathan decide to wed and she begins living with him in the simple cottage. At first the two are quite formal with each other, but soon a real sexual chemistry develops between them. Marthe seems to be terribly excited by Nathan's desire for vengeance against the treacherous count and she eagerly helps him train. The count eventually shows up and Nathan gets revenge. Unfortunately his actions create a disturbing change in his relationship with Marthe. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This artistic French film is director Charles Matton's account of the time he spent as a 9-year old living with German soldiers who overtook his home during WW II. The story begins with the camera, from above, panning a set on a sound stage and moving downward into an artist studio where Matton explains the coming scene. He points to the painting of a lawn, and the painting becomes real. Within the large, charming house of the scene, young Charles lives with his religious older sister, his psychic mother and their two female servants. One day in June, 1940, Charles' father Pierre bursts in after walking 200 miles from Paris to announce that the Germans have arrived. Pierre hates war, so when a group of soldiers demand housing, he acquiesces, unaware that the Germans would remain in their home for the next two years! Charles befriends Karl, one of the soldiers who speaks French and who hates killing. As their friendship grows, Karl gives Charles a scale model of a zeppelin and a notebook about the stars. From his Jewish tutor, Charles learns about light and shadow, and life is peaceful until Germans come and throw out Charles's Jewish neighbors and burn their home. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jazzman-turned-director Alain Corneau brings his extensive musical savvy to All the Mornings of the World. Jean-Pierre Marielle stars as legendary 17th-century baroque composer and cellist M. de Saint Colombe. Believing the only "true" music is that which is written down, Sainte Colombe is vehemently opposed to performing in public. This stance is challenged by the composer's protégé, Marin Marais (Gerard Depardieu), a man of more commercial sensibilities. Leisurely and luxurious, All the Mornings of the World deservedly swept France's Cesar Awards (the Gallic equivalent of the Oscars). Watch for Gerard Depardieu's real-life son Guillaume Depardieu as the younger Marin Marais. All the Mornings is better known by its original French title, Tous les Matins du Monde. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Claire (Marianne Basler) has her vacation go from dream to nightmare in this prison melodrama. Claire is arrested by the puritanical cop Kasta (Vittorio Mezzogiorno) after she is seen by him topless and necking with her boyfriend on a secluded beach. When Claire refuses to sign a confession, Kasta frames her for drug dealing. Clair is sent to an island prison where she contends with the usual women-in-prison problems of leering lesbians, murderers, drug addicts, and sadistic guards. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this light, sometimes tongue-in-cheek mystery based on a Charles Williams thriller -- with snippets of Hitchcock, Kubrick, and even Victor Hugo -- director François Truffaut showcases one of his favorite actresses, Fanny Ardant, as an enterprising secretary in love with her boss but up against clearing him of murder. Julien Vercel (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a real estate dealer accused of killing his wife and her lover. He hides in his office while his secretary, Barbara (Ardant), sets out to discover what really happened and why. When Barbara starts looking into the dark past of her boss' wife, she comes across illicit love affairs, a prostitution ring, and shady private detectives, until, finally, her suspicions turn toward Julien's lawyer himself. Tragically, Vivement Dimanche was to be Truffaut's last film; the great French director died of a cancerous brain tumor in 1984. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi