Roland Blanche Movies

In this fast-paced French comedy, a gambler, anxious to escape the thugs who pursue him after her reneged on a bet, mistakenly agrees to enter the safety of the Amazon jungle with an ethnologist's son to search for the missing soul of an ailing Indian. Perrin's ordeal begins in an elevator where he encounters Campana, the French scientist who was raised in the distant jungle, and his companion Wanu, an Amazon shaman who has left his remote home to help Campana campaign on the rain forest's behalf. When Wanu, wearing little more than feathers, skins and a plate in his lip, suddenly tweak's the nose of Perrin and proclaims him the "chosen one," Perrin is naturally surprised. He is more surprised when Wanu shows up in his lavish apartment that night, drugs him and covers him with ritual markings thereby creating a magical link between them. The next day Wanu suffers a heart attack that he interprets as the theft of his soul. He beckons Perrin beside him and insists that he go to the jungle and find his soul, which has taken the form of a jaguar. Unfortunately for Perrin, the dense jungle proves to be far more dangerous than any gambler's henchmen and comical chaos ensues as he struggles to survive. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This sumptuous French drama offers episodes from the notorious life of 18th century socialite and playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. The story begins in the 1770s with a rehearsal of his "The Barber of Seville." Young friend of Voltaire, Philipp Gudin introduces himself to the great playwright and offers to become his personal secretary. He then becomes the adventurous Beaumarchais' keeper as the author gets involved in a variety of situations including a duel with an angry husband, his battle with the corrupt French government and a serious long-term affair with Marie-Theres de Willer. It all comes to a climax when King Louis XV assigns the playwright a secret mission to London. There he must find and retrieve a damning document from transvestite aristocrat Chevalier D'Eon. Unfortunately, Beaumarchais gets tangled up with supporting American rebels and ends up tossed in jail. Louis XVI sees that he is finally released and then the writer becomes an arms smuggler for American revolutionaries. All of his activities bankrupt him and so Beaumarchais must return to writing plays. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This fluffy French romantic comedy chronicles the love lives of several lovers and relatives. Margeau has just arrived in Paris from New York. Twenty years before, she left her husband, a painter and many years her senior and her daughter Jess, who now sells classic cars with her partner the clumsy Mario. Jess is recovering from an accidental overdose on sleeping pills. Her hospitalization brought Margeau home. Jess has a young boyfriend, a musician not terribly interested in sex, and a 17 year old son from her ex- husband Pierre. A restaurateur Pierre now lives with a very young African student. The hospital shrink helping Jess ends up having an affair with her son. Before the film ends and Margeau returns home, Jess comes close to death three more times. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

If this engaging costume adventure is perhaps just one notch shy of being a full-fledged swashbuckler, it is only because it so lovingly recreates the era in which its story takes place. In the film, it is 1685 and a baby is being left on the steps of a monastery, but not before the mysterious cloaked horseman who brings it bites off the infant's nose and leaves a coin in its swaddling clothes. The baby, a boy, is fortunate to be placed with a loving woman and her able husband, a former pirate who still retains a lively spirit. The cheerful and charming boy learns to fence, to read, and to joust, all the while sporting a wooden nose. Eventually a local nobleman deigns to notice his existence, and sends him to attend a seminary which is grim beyond all imagining. Rather than suffer endlessly in the study of material he already knows with no prospect of being ordained (he is, after all, mutilated), Justinian (Pierre-Oliviar Mornas) runs away, and thereafter has one dashing, hair-raising adventure after another, eventually discovering his parentage. The story is based on the novel Dieu et nous seuls pouvons by Michel Folco. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Like the factory boss in The Full Monty, Berthier (Gérard Jugnot) is a former executive who finds it easier to pretend to his family that he wasn't fired than to suffer their concern and pity, and possibly the loss of their love. He goes off to "work" each day and returns home with presents for his family. Instead of a regular job, however, he has fallen in with an informal association of amateur thieves and con-men, led by the charming and even occasionally genuinely helpful Toubib (Richard Bohringher). Each of the men is touchy about something and may fly off the handle if not approached in the right way. Though the leader Toubib will double-cross any one of them for fun, when things get really serious, he exerts himself to help out. These lads are not sweethearts, and they do some pretty awful things, but there is a fundamental innocence about them which their unlawful and sometimes violent deeds cannot sully. Eventually, Berthier disappears into the streets for several months and must finally cope with his fears when he returns to his wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this detective and crime comedy, the heir to a large fortune is an unknown, and nobody knows him or where he can be found. An occasional musician, Fred plans to pass himself off as that man. It's a goofy idea, but maybe it will work. However, before he can set up the con properly, he learns that his loser of a brother has, inexplicably, just gotten his first job in years as one of the detectives who is searching for the heir. At one time, the two brothers played together in an amateur rock band, but as a result of a heated disagreement about how to play the Ray Noble standard "Cherokee", the two haven't spoken in years. It's going to take a lot of persuading to pull this scam off. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Bertrand Blier's films have explored the sometimes misogynistic sexuality of younger men, but here he offers an absorbing, funny, and moving take on a middle-aged man's adulterous affair. Gerard Depardieu stars as Bernard, an affluent car dealer who finds himself in the grip of a violent passion for his new secretary, a rather plain-looking, middle-aged woman played by Josiane Balasko. Seemingly a happily married man with a beautiful wife (Carole Bouquet) and children, he can't understand what is happening as his life is turned upside down. While it may seem that Blier simply enjoys tweaking convention, he's clearly after far more than laughs given the tenderness he finds in the scenes between the adulterous lovers. Bernard's age has suddenly made him more vulnerable, a state of emotion that he realizes Colette grasps intuitively. Depardieu and French comedienne Balasko make a completely believable couple, and the photography of the great Philippe Rousselot is stunning. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

La Soule is the name of a once-popular and now long-forgotten extremely violent sport with an ancient history, which somewhat resembles rugby. It was not uncommon for players to be left on the playing field after a game, dead or maimed. In this unusual drama, Pierre Cursey (Christophe Malavoy), a former officer in Napolean's army, seeks revenge against Francois Lemercier (Richard Bohringer), one of his soldiers, who betrayed him to the English. His plan is to track the soldier (now a village cobbler) down and humiliate him completely in a game of Soule, preferably one which results in grave injuries. It seems that the soldier's whole sense of pride in himself is invested in participation in this game. Pierre has one difficulty, though, as the nefarious soldier is not only a very good Soule player, but is the captain of a championship-winning Soule team. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Based on a novel by Gilbert Tanugi, who co-wrote the screenplay, this noirish French drama is set within the Paris music scene and centers on the attempts of a dangerously indebted record producer to scrounge up a fortune to pay back the vengeful loan shark who is trying to destroy him. Producer Sam Friedman thinks his salvation is finally at hand when he hears Joe and Puppet Bennet, two African American jazz musicians, singing and playing the blues in local night club. Desperate to have them, he pays their manager with money borrowed from his American jazz-addicted stepfather. Unfortunately, the deeply religious Puppet only wants God as her producer and refuses to sign. Friedman finally persuades her to sign, but only after he swears to watch over the flighty sax playing Joe. Unfortunately for poor Friedman, Joe turns out to be a psychopathic killer and has killed a prostitute. Knowing that he will be dead if he does not produce the couple's record and make some quick money, Friedman decides to shoulder the blame for the death himself. Though he is sent to jail, Friedman is at peace because he plans on telling the truth as soon as the Bennets cut their record. Things take a darker turn when the Bennets suddenly vanish, leaving poor Friedman stranded in prison. Desperate once again, Friedman escapes from jail and violent tragedy follows as he tries to save himself and clear his name. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A female job counselor tries to find work for two very different unemployed men in this comedy. She is in love with a man who would rather climb mountains than work for a living. The second man is a former bank clerk who is embarrassed to admit he lost his job. Roland Blanche co-stars with Henri Deus and Sabine Haudepin. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Francis Veber directs this hilarious comedy about Francois (Pierre Richard), a desperate, novice, bumbling bank robber who takes an ex-con hostage during his attempted hold-up. They are both chased by the police. Jean (Gerard Depardieu) plays the convicted bank robber just released from jail and forced to escape with Francois. Anais Bret portrays Francois' 6-year-old autistic daughter, and is the reason why he needed money so badly that he would steal for it. An inventive series of farcical situations and witty dialogue keeps the two men moving one step and several missteps ahead of the police. This comedy was so successful that Veber repeated it in 1989 for English-speaking audiences as Three Fugitives, starring Nick Nolte and Martin Short. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Insurance investigator Ronald Fox Terrier (Michel Serrault) looks into a questionable claim of disability feigned by Papu (Jean Poiret) in this situation comedy. When both men are dunked into the waters at a holy shrine, the faking Papu finds himself unable to get out of his wheelchair, while Ronald's mute voice is miraculously restored. Terrier has an affair with the vamp Sabine (Jeanne Moreau) before returning home to his emotionally detached wife (Sylvie Joly). ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi