Véronique Silver Movies
- 2005
Michel Blanc stars as Aymé, a grumpy recently widowed farmer, in writer/actress Isabelle Mergault's directorial debut, the romantic comedy You Are So Handsome. When Aymé's work partner and wife dies suddenly in an unfortunate accident, he quickly realizes that he needs someone around to help him with the womanly half of the chores. An unsentimental sort, within days he's contacted a service to find him a new wife. This brings him to Romania, where he's introduced to a lot of much younger women, most of whom take the wrong tack, dressing skimpily and telling Aymé how handsome he is. Elena (Medeea Marinescu), a single mother, is as eager to move to France and make some money as the next girl, but she takes the time to assess the situation, puts on a sweater, and tells Aymé, in her charmingly broken French, how much she's always wanted to live on a farm and work with animals. Her strategy works, and Aymé decides to bring her back to France, but, embarrassed about what he's done, he comes up with a lame cover story to fool his best friend, Roland (Wladimir Yordanoff), and the rest of his neighbors. He tells them she's a distant relative who's visiting the farm as an "intern," and has Elena pretend that she speaks no French at all. Elena expects them to have a real marriage, and is disappointed when she realizes that Aymé just wants her to work. Eventually, Aymé realizes his feelings for Elena go deeper than expected, but by then, her frustration and homesickness are becoming too much to bear. You Are So Handsome was shown as part of The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in 2006. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Blanc, Medeea Marinescu, (more)
- 1999
- NR
The thoughts and dreams of a group of people riding a subway in Paris provides the springboard for Jean-Claude Guiguet's drama Les Passagers/The Passengers. As the train rolls along, various characters either talk among themselves or address the camera on a variety of subjects. A mathematician (Bruno Putzulu) speaks with one of his students (Stephane Rideau) about the statistical implications of the spread of AIDS. A nurse (Fabienne Babe) meets with a security guard she's infatuated with (Philippe Garziano), while her friend enjoys a daydream about the joys of life as a rural housewife. A man rants about problems with sex and the virtues of masturbation, while another person debates the relative merits of the films Savage Nights and The Mother and The Whore. Les Passagers/The Passengers was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" series at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabienne Babe, Philippe Garziano, (more)
- 1996
A hangdog, middle-aged painter falls in love with a tender young college student after he leaves his philandering wife and his children in this romantic French drama. To console himself, the fundamentally bohemian Phillippe finds comfort in the arms of various prostitutes, especially Valeria. It is while searching for her that he meets lovely Justine, the student. Sparks fly and they move into together. Things go well until Phillippe begins pining for his children. This makes insecure Justine terribly jealous and tumult erupts until the aging artist is able to discover the true source of his anxieties. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luis Rego, Aurelia Alcais, (more)
- 1994
In this sensitively executed French drama, a young woman befriends a young Down's Syndrome patient and finds his companionship preferable to that of her serious lover the painter. Vero is the lively girlfriend of Alex, an artist who dwells in a remote country manse. He is frustrated with his work and is just finished burning his most recent paintings when Vero arrives. Vero meets 24-year old Leo who is mentally retarded. Leo is supposed to be spending the summer at a special camp, but he keeps sneaking away. Leo begins hanging around the ever-grouchy Alex after Alex sends Vero away so he can create. It is Leo who helps Alex overcome his block. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Agostini, Philippe Ducroizet, (more)
- 1991
The coming-of-age ritual of young Alexina (Valerie Stroh) is complicated by an unforseen circumstance. How can a girl become a woman if she isn't a girl in the first place? Alexina confirms this biological fact by entering into a confusing relationship with an older woman. If, after watching Alexina, you're as mixed up as the heroine/hero, rest assured you're in good company. English-language prints are unrated, but you've probably gathered that this one isn't for the kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Bertille (Giuletta Masina) has a lovely home in the French countryside -- and plenty of grab-happy children and relatives who want a piece of the inheritance they expect from her. That's why, even though she's not their favorite relative (nor they hers) they all appear at one final reunion on the estate before she sells it. However, truth will out, and in little ways and large ones, the disagreeable relatives show cracks in their "let's make nice" facade. Meanwhile, Bertille is hoping that her youngest son might appear, since the event was advertised in the local papers. He has been in prison for the past dozen or so years on a bank-robbery charge. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giulietta Masina, Véronique Silver, (more)
- 1990
In this somewhat odd exploration of human romantic difficulties, the people in the film are all put under extra stress by the fact that on the day in question, they have lost an hour to daylight savings time. In addition, it is a full moon. Neither factor improves their response to the mild stresses they experience, which have been building up for several years. The beginning of the film shows a number of couples getting married, and follows them and a few others a few years later, on the day of the time change. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Patrick Chesnais, (more)
- 1988
Jane Lambert (Jacqueline Bisset) is a middle-aged novelist whose marriage has ended in part because of her inability to bear children. She falls for Bernard (Vincent Perez), the self-centered businessman who is not yet 30. Jane ignores her career and follows her heart as she and Bernard begin a passionate love affair. Several months into the romance, Bernard begins to withdraw his affections for Jane and reveals he is seeing another woman. Jane tries to kill herself when Bernard tells her of his desire to have children. She eventually recovers and buries herself in her work as she begins a heartbreaking, romantic novel based on her ill-fated love affair. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacqueline Bisset, Vincent Perez, (more)
- 1987
Simon Blount (Bernard Giraudeau) is a weary cop who takes solace in the bottle after his wife leaves him for another man. His spirit is lifted when he meets Violet (Fanny Bastien), the wispy, mysterious female he considers somewhat of an angel. Simon is unaware she has systematically murdered the police, attorneys, and officials who were linked to the death of her prostitute mother. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Giraudeau, Fanny Bastien, (more)
- 1986
This provocative French drama is based upon the true story of Herculine Adelaide Barbin, a person who lived in the 19th century and grew up assuming that she was a woman. The character in the film is named Alexina. She had been raised in a convent and at 22-years-old, became the town school teacher in La Rochelle. There she is embraced by the locals who quickly befriend her. The trouble begins when she begins having sexual feelings for her roommate, a teacher named Sara. Their bedroom is divided by a curtain and at night, it is pure torture for Alexina who is deeply confused by the lust she feels. Eventually the two embark upon a lesbian romance until Sara remarks that Alexina loves as if she were a man. Their love affair causes a scandal amongst the townsfolk who find it disgusting. Later, Alexina is examined by a physician who discovers that "she" is also a "he," in short, Alexina is a hermaphrodite. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillippe Vuillemin, Valerie Stroh, (more)
- 1984
This is a rather complex thriller that fails to deliver very much suspense or fear, in spite of the requisite shock scenes and mystery over who is perpetrating them. The story opens with a pending marriage, tragically aborted when the groom dies under suspicious circumstances, and continues several years later when Nathalie (Carole Laure), a single mother, receives "breather" phone calls and finds the bloody heart of an animal on her car seat. That is followed by another such donation sent to her workplace and labeled as the heart of her little daughter. Although gruesome, these incidents alone are not enough to create an atmosphere of foreboding, anxiety, or apprehension -- as Nathalie seems just a few steps from unconcerned. If she is not affected, any tension created by the scenario is diffused, leaving the audience in neutral. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Laure, Guy Marchand, (more)
- 1984
Grotesque and artless, this repugnant sexploitation film is about two unbalanced brothers who try to force an itinerant bum to rape their mother, and then all three men go after the promiscuous woman who lives next door. When it is revealed that the homeless man is none other than the father of the two brothers, the plot slides even further downhill. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Micheline Presle, Véronique Silver, (more)
With Life is a Bed of Roses, filmmaker Alain Resnais wanted to create a lighthearted tribute to three important French directors, each of whom defined a particular era in his country's cinema Melies (the first French filmmaker to use narrative--his most famous film is A Trip to the Moon), the impressionist L'Herbier (most famous for his inspirational avant garde work during the '20s) and Rohmer (most famed for his sextet of "Moral Tales" during the '60s). To present his chronicle of the human quest for a utopia of personal happiness and fulfillment, Resnais created two distinct narratives representing the past and present, and then interspliced them with a third more fantastical tale to provide contrast. Representing the past, the first tale centers on a monied eccentric who creates a "temple of happiness' in his chateau. There, guests are given a special potion, laid inside enormous cribs and surrounded by pleasant sensations to help them return to the blissful state of infancy. The second story takes place in the same chateau where a symposium on the techniques and philosophies of the eccentric are hotly debated and elaborated upon. Weaving its way between the two tales is the third, which represents the medieval fantasies of children in a forest who imagine the struggle between a wicked king and a brave good-hearted warrior. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Ruggero Raimondi, (more)
- 1983
In a simple story engagingly and carefully unveiled before one's eyes, director and co-writer Aline Issermann focuses on Juliette (Laure Duthilleul), a young woman who has grown up on a farm that is now under economic siege. In order to save her farm and her family, Juliette is forced into a marriage of convenience with Marcel (Richard Bohringer), a morose and laconic railway worker whom she does not even know. Now that her own life is permanently changed, her sacrifice does not ultimately help her family and with that sorrow added to her lonely existence, she is trapped into remaining married because of social pressures and soon enough, the birth of a child. There must surely be a way out for her at some point, but when and how that will happen seems completely up to fate alone. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laure Duthilleul, Richard Bohringer, (more)
- 1982
The English-language title of Toute Une Nuit is All Night Long, but don't confuse this film with the like-titled 1981 Gene Hackman-Barbra Streisand comedy. Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman uses a fragmentary approach to explore a series of personal relationships among a largely nonprofessional cast. It all takes place during one long, hot, stormy summer night. Dialogue is at a premium: Akerman tells her "stories" with objects, background noises, shadows, and subtle, seemingly unrehearsed shifts of facial expression. As in many of her earlier films, Akerman benefits from the extensive creative input of cinematographer Babette Mangolte. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angelo Abazoglou, Natalie Akerman, (more)
- 1982
- R
Dirty Dishes is a Bunuel study in alienation, but look again: that's Joyce Bunuel, not Luis, so Dirty Dishes is more user-friendly. French housewife Carol Laure isn't satisfied with her lot, but what else is there? One day the monotony is too much; she snaps, and goes on a one-woman rebellion against the world. At first it's a hilarious orgy of self-discovery--and then Laure goes off the deep end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Laure, Pierre Santini, (more)
- 1981
- R
François Truffaut's The Woman Next Door continues his fascination with obsessive love. It was also his first collaboration with Fanny Ardant, who would become his favored leading lady for the last phase of his career and offscreen love for the last years of his life. Bernard Coudray (Gerard Deparidieu) is a happily married man living in the village of Grenoble; his life is knocked askew when Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard move in next door, and Mathilde (Ardant) proves to be Bernard's long-ago lover. Truffaut and his screenwriters deftly allow the couple to slide into an affair, slowly revealing that their previous relationship ended without a firm resolution. Mathilde, married more recently than Bernard, to a devoted man some years older than her, senses the futility of revisiting the past, but her attempts to break off the relationship inflame Bernard. When Bernard begins to regret his own reckless behavior, Mathilde's understandable confusion leads to a nervous breakdown. Poorly received by critics who had written off Truffaut as irrelevant, The Woman Next Door is very much the work of the man who made Jules and Jim, Mississippi Mermaid, and Two English Girls. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, (more)
- 1981
The pain of writer's block is examined in this drama that centers around the daily anxieties of a frustrated writer who can't. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1976
In this complex chronicle of the evolution of a provincial family's life, the story follows three generations of at least two neighboring families from the 1890s to the 1970s. In one of many related tales, a man who was engaged to the older daughter of a farmer elopes with the younger one. After many years and the birth of five children, the man leaves his wife and family for the bright lights of the city but continues turning up from time to time, until he is finally taken into the home of one of his sons when he is a quite old man. The complex interactions of the legitimate and illegitimate children of a womanizing miner give rise to yet another set of related stories. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Bouchery, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1973
Unable to put a single word on paper, a youngish man with one novel to his credit finds that his life is crumbling to ruins around him because of his severe case of writer's block. He tries every remedy known to man and makes up a few new ones in this comedy. All his efforts are futile: he loses his girlfriend and his apartment and has a succession of misadventures until finally, homeless and hospitalized, he rediscovers his inspiration. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernadette Lafont, Jean-François Stévenin, (more)
