Dominique Blanc Movies

A middle-aged woman who gives her young lover his freedom is surprised when he begins seeing someone much like herself in this psychological drama from filmmakers Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic. Anne-Marie (Dominique Blanc) is an attractive woman in her mid-forties who makes her living as a social worker and keeps an eye on an elderly woman with a drinking problem, Madame Schneider (Anne Benoit). Anne-Marie has been dating Alex (Cyril Guei), a man nearly twenty years her junior, but while he's eager to make a commitment, she isn't interested in marriage or a long-term affair. Anne-Marie gently breaks off their relationship, urging Alex to play the field a bit, and they remain friends. But Anne-Marie's feelings change when she learns that Alex has found a new girlfriend -- and she's the same age as Anne-Marie. Alex doesn't want to tell Anne-Marie much about his new lover, which makes her all the more eager to know everything about her, and before long Anne-Marie is consumed by jealousy, slowly sinking into madness as she obsesses over a woman who seems very much like herself. Dominique Blanc's performance in L'Autre earned her Best Actress honors at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A middle-aged man studying the Mur des Noms in modern-day France recalls the time 20 years prior when he and his mother were viewing the trial of Klaus Barbie with rapt attention in this introspective drama from director Amos Gitai. The year was 1987, and Rivka lived with her son, Victor, in a disheveled apartment littered with antiques and memorabilia. The opening session in the trial against the so-called "butcher of Lyon" is being televised, and Rivka is struggling to keep her emotions under control as she prepares dinner. Meanwhile, Victor sits in his office attempting to assemble his family tree. But he too is watching the trials, and doesn't seem to hear a word spoken to him by his secretary. As mother and son sit down for dinner together, the mere mention of Barbie's trial is enough to cause Rivka to excuse herself from the table. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Abandoned by the world and left to fend for himself as the Nazis continue their march across Europe, one-time bohemian turned Catholic convert Max Jacob finds help coming from the most unlikely of places as he awaits the train that will take him to a Concentration camp. The year is 1944, and as the Gestapo storm the abbey of Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire to arrest the Max Jacob (Jean-Claude Brialy), it appears as if the homosexual Jew who had previously rubbed elbows with Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau during the Bateau-Lavoir years will now become just another victim of Hitler's murderous regime. Later, as Jacob sits in Drancy awaiting deportation, a young orphan whom he had once saved from the streets sets out to return the favor by any means necessary. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Actor Vincent Perez makes his feature-film directorial debut with the romantic drama Once Upon an Angel, which he cowrote with his wife, Karine Silla, and Jerome Tonnerre. Young Angèle (Morgane Moré) sets out to find work in order to ease the burden for her poor, debt-ridden parents and finds a job as a maid. By chance, she meets Gregoire Berthelot (Guillaume Depardieu), who takes a carnal interest in the young woman and seemingly nothing more. Intensely attracted to Gregoire and against all reason, Angèle spends an evening with the fiery stranger who promptly leaves her the next morning -- but he comes away from the tryst with more feelings toward Angèle than he hoped. For her part, Angèle is also left with more than fond memories of her experience with Gregoire and she eventually tracks him down -- but discovers that a couple of major complications may prevent them from developing a meaningful relationship. Once Upon an Angel was chosen as a competing film in the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Inspired by Lawrence Durrell's collection of interrelated novels, The Alexandria Quartet, Lucas Belvaux's trilogy--the violent noir On the Run, the romantic comedy An Amazing Couple, and the melodrama After the Life, examine many of the same characters from three distinct perspectives. In On the Run, taciturn leftist revolutionary Bruno (Belvaux) escapes from prison with the help of one of his former comrades. When his partner is killed by the police, Bruno tracks down another former member of his gang, Jeanne (Catherine Frot), who is now living a quiet, respectable life as a schoolteacher, with a husband and a young son. Bruno is determined to get revenge on the powerful man who betrayed his revolution. Jeanne doesn't want to live in the past. She offers Bruno enough help to get rid of him. Trying to trap his prey, Bruno follows a drug dealer who works for the man. He meets Agnes (Dominique Blanc), a junkie who happens to be the wife of the cop, Pascal (Gilbert Melki) who's hunting Bruno. Bruno ends up helping Agnes avoid the police and cop a fix. In return, she takes him to the vacation home of her co-worker, Cecile (Ornella Muti), where he hides out. But when his plans for revenge go horribly awry, Bruno turns to Jeanne again, and she has to weigh her family's safety against her allegiance to her old friend. While On the Run focuses on Bruno and Jeanne, An Amazing Couple is centered on the paranoid Cecile, who hires Pascal to watch her husband, while After the Life deals with the damaged marriage of Agnes and Pascal. The trilogy was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

After Life is the third film in Lucas Belvaux's ambitious Trilogy, following On the Run, a thriller, and An Amazing Couple, a romantic comedy. After Life features the same characters as the other two films and happens over the same time period, but it's a melodrama, and the focus is on Pascal (Gilbert Melki), a cop, and his wife, Agnes (Dominique Blanc), a teacher, who is also a morphine addict. Agnes depends on Pascal to supply her with morphine, and he in turn has an arrangement to procure the drug from a nefarious local businessman, Jaquillat (Patrick Descamps). When a violent radical leftist, Bruno (Belvaux), escapes from prison and kills an associate of Jaquillat's, Jaquillat threatens to withhold Pascal's morphine supply until Bruno is dead. As his wife's mental and physical health deteriorates, Pascal feels compelled to subvert his moral qualms about turning the criminal over. His investigation leads him to detain Jeanne (Catherine Frot), a co-worker of Agnes' with past ties to Bruno. Cécile (Ornella Muti), another of Agnes' co-workers, begins to suspect that her husband, Alain (François Morel), is having an affair, and asks Pascal to look into it. Pascal finds his interest in the case is more than professional when he begins to develop feelings for Cécile. Meanwhile, Agnes, feeling neglected and desperate, goes out into the street to try to find her fix. She ends up running into Bruno, and the two forge an unlikely alliance. Belvaux's Trilogy was shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A man who traded in his artistic ambitions for commercial success now finds himself at a personal and professional impasse in this drama. Jacques (Jean-Pierre Leaud) is a filmmaker who in the 1970s directed a number of top-grossing porno movies; more than two decades later, Jacques's struggles to get out of adult movies into something more satisfying have not borne fruit, and his efforts to make porn films that are more sensual and less obvious don't go over well with his producers. Jacques would just as soon get out of the business and complete a more personal project he was forced to abandon in the mid-'80s, but directing porn is the only work he can find that pays enough to put a dent in the debts he's racked up, as well as those of his wife Jeanne (Dominique Blanc). As Jacques tries to decide what to do with his career, he gets a surprise telephone call from his son Joseph (Jeremie Renier); Joseph turned his back on his father years ago when he found out what he did for a living, but the boy, now a college student and a political activist, has decided it's time to reconnect with his dad. Le Pornographe features Jean-Pierre Leaud's character directing two real-life French porn stars, Ovidie and Titof, in an explicit sex scene for one of Jacques' films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The son of actor Bernard Blier, director Bertrand Blier is known throughout France for his documentaries and dark depictions of sex and its impact on society. Though his influences and personal opinions clearly shine through, Les Acteurs is a satirical take on the ups, downs, and numerous implications of life in showbiz as told by a variety of real-life French actors. Among the featured cast are André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jacques Villeret, Claude Rich, and Pierre Arditi, all of whom play themselves. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Patrice Chereau (Queen Margot) directed this French drama about a train trip to an artist's funeral. Friends of painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich (Jean-Louis Trintignant, seen in flashbacks) gather at a Paris railroad station for a four-hour journey to Limoges, where Emmerich wanted to be buried. The dozen travelers include art historian Francois (Pascal Greggory) and his lover Louis (Bruno Todeschini), who develops an interest in teenage Bruno (Sylvain Jacques). Traveling parallel with the train is a station wagon with Jean-Baptiste's body, and this vehicle is driven by Thierry (Roschdy Zem), husband of Catherine (Dominique Blanc), who's on the train with their daughter. Francois plays a taped interview with Jean-Baptiste, revealing his sexual appeal to both men and women. Lucie (Marie Daems) is convinced that she was his main love. Also on board is his nephew, Jean-Marie (Charles Berling) and Jean-Marie's estranged wife, Claire (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), After the funeral in "Europe's largest cemetery," the storyline continues in the mansion of Jean-Baptiste's brother, Lucien (also played by Trintignant). With hand-held camerawork for almost two-thirds of the film, the production involved two extra cars connected to a real scheduled train, headed one way in the morning and returning in the afternoon, with cast and crew logging some 12,000 kilometers over two weeks. Source music runs the gamut from James Brown to Jim Morrison. The title refers to the dying words uttered by the painter -- which actually are the last words spoken by filmmaker Francois Reichenbach who died in 1993 (and appropriated here by his friend, co-scripter Daniele Thompson). One of Francois Reichenbach's best-known films (and subject of an entire book) is the documentary Medicine Ball Caravan (aka We Have Come for Your Daughters,1971), a curious effort to duplicate the success of Woodstock (1970) by simply inviting a large number of musicians, hippies, and counterculture types aboard a cross-country train and filming the result. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

When 12-year-old Tonin's teacher announces that he is looking for volunteers to house one of several orphan African refugees for a month during their visit to Paris, the exuberent, well-meaning youth immediately offers his own abode. His classmates cheer and he feels happy until he broaches the subject with his parents. Daniel, the boy's father is delighted by his son's humanitarianism, but still says no. Not wanting to lose face at school, Tonin decides to take the visitor anyway and just keep him hidden for the next few weeks. This family-oriented French comedy follows his efforts to keep his new African guest, Moussa, a secret. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Zena (Dominique Blanc) lost her parents as a very young girl, and though she was born in Albania, only knows about life in Paris. She was raised by her uncle Selman (Sulejman Pitarka), whom she is about to leave behind in order to start a new life in New York. Just before she leave, however, she hears of an Albanian who is being detained by French authorities for want of the proper paperwork. Ordinarily, that would not capture her attention. However, Vladimir (Timo Flloko), who is the man in question, claims to have information that Zena's father is not dead, and could be located. Zena postpones her trip to speak with Vladimir and, once he is free to travel, they begin to try and explore his information. There is only one problem in their traveling around France together: he doesn't speak a word of French, and she doesn't speak a word of Albanian. Somehow, they manage to communicate, and they eventually become lovers. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Flo is just thirteen and is away from home on vacation. Her mother Clo, her sister Jo, and her relative Do, are all very liberated women, very wealthy, and very determined to have their way. When they catch sight of Guillaume de Burlador (Pierre Arditi), a handsome, well-educated and somewhat needy young man, they lure him into their peculiar ménage by offering him the job of becoming Flo's tutor. What they really want is to take him to bed in the crudest possible way. Unfortunately for the young man he is a true romantic and wants to be wooed in addition to having lots of hot sex. Since this feminist bedroom comedy turns many conventions on their ear, it is completely in keeping with the spirit of the piece that all the bedroom scenes, while occasionally quite erotic, take place between people who are fully clothed. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide