Dominique Blanchar Movies
- 1981
Louis (Gerard Lanvin), an advertising executive in a Paris department store, is not the world's most ambitious man, but he has a good marriage and is content with his job -- until his world is turned upside-down by a new, manipulative, controlling manager (Michel Piccoli) who slowly starts to dominate his life. Once given privileged entry into the inner circle of the boss' confidantes, Louis does everything so as not to lose his advantaged position: he works overtime, he fawns, he fetches, his house is at the manager's disposal. His wife (Nathalie Baye), who sees right through the arrogant manager, is getting fed up with her husband's behavior but is not able to make him aware of the extent of his own personality changes. In a pique of anger, she leaves him -- and it looks as though Louis cannot "unlearn" his lesson, especially when the manager disappears as mysteriously as he came. Michel Piccoli won the "Best Actor" award at the 1982 Berlin Film Festival for his role in this film. The film itself also won the Louis Delluc award for the "Best French Film" of 1981. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Nathalie Baye, (more)
This ground-breaking film won a Special Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and established its director, Michelangelo Antonioni, as a major international talent. The plot concerns a yachting trip by a small group of jaded socialites, including Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), an aging architect who sold out for easy money long ago, his mistress Anna (Lea Massari), and her friend Claudia (Monica Vitti), who doesn't fit in with the wealthy jet-setters' dissolute ethics. When Anna disappears during a tour of a volcanic island, Claudia initially blames Sandro's emotionally barren behavior toward her. As they search the island, however, Claudia and Sandro grow closer and -- when it is apparent that Anna is gone forever -- become lovers. Unfortunately, Sandro cannot find anything decent inside himself and betrays Claudia with a local prostitute. Caught in the act, Sandro has a heartrending breakdown on a desolate beach, but Claudia silently forgives him. L'avventura caught many audiences who were expecting a mystery by surprise; as in La notte (1961), The Eclipse (1962), and Red Desert (1964), Antonioni is interested less in developing a logical story than in exploring states of feeling and breakdowns in human connection. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, (more)
- 1952
Though the title translates literally to Sister Unafraid, Sor Intrepida was released in English-speaking regions as Path to the Kingdom. Dominique Blanchar plays a popular singer who forsakes fame and fortune for the life of a nun. She has a few doubts about her calling, but all these are swept aside when she champions the cause of a young paralytic boy who has been numbed into utter helplessness by his judgemental parents. She also saves a few other souls, fortuitiously just in time for the Christmas holidays. A few moments skirt the edge of irreverence, but otherwise Sor Intrepida was eminently suitable for audiences of all religious inclinations. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dominique Blanchar, Julia Caba Alba, (more)
With the Third Reich disintegrating, several members of the German army are defecting to the Americans and offering their services as spies. US officer Gary Merrill trusts none of these last-minute "converts", but German prisoner Oskar Werner seems to be sincere. Werner insists that by helping the Americans, he is saving Germany from destruction. Merrill sends Werner behind enemy lines for counter-espionage with an American officer (Richard Basehart), who still isn't convinced that the German expatriate means what he says. At several critical junctures, it seems as though Werner had been lying about his mission, but at the last moment he saves Basehart's life at the cost of his own...but was this act of bravery intentional? A thoughtful World War II drama, Decision Before Dawn was filmed on location in Europe. Watch for a young and sickly-looking Klaus Kinski as an overeager defector. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Basehart, Gary Merrill, (more)
- 1948
The tragic 19th-century romance between Austria's Crown Prince Rudolph and his teenaged mistress Marie Varetska served as the basis for the classic 1937 film melodrama Mayerling. This 1951 remake was held in high regard by critics when first released, but has since been strangely forgotten. Jean Marais stars as Prince Rudolph, who after an abortive attempt to topple his father from the Hapsburg throne is exiled to his summer home in Mayerling. Here he continues his romance with the "socially unacceptable" Marie Varetska, played by Dominique Blunchar. The lovers enter into a suicide pact, but Rudolph's political foes beat him to the punch. This denouement is a controversial one; historians still argue over who was responsible for the deaths of Rudolph and Marie. Mayerling would be given a third cinematic treatment in 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Dominique Blanchar, (more)
