Wadeck Stanczak Movies

The bitter legacy of the French/Algerian War set the stage of this drama from director Alexandre Arcady, himself a Frenchman of Algerian birth. Pierre Nivel (Antoine DeCaunes) is a noted French television journalist and network anchorman. One day, he receives an unexpected visitor, an Algerian man with a message from someone named Leila. Pierre was born in Algeria, and he lived there until he was 17, when the French were forced to leave after Algeria won its independence in 1962. He's kept his Algerian past a secret from most of his friends and colleagues, but the note from Leila, his teenage sweetheart, leads him back to the land of his birth. It turns out that Leila now has a grown daughter, Amina (Nozha Khouadra), and Leila needs Pierre's help to smuggle her and her daughter out of the country. A defiant woman, Amina's refusal to go through with an arranged marriage to a fundamentalist and removal of her veil in public has put both herself and her family in great danger. La Bas ... Mon Pays/Return to Algiers was the first French production to be shot on location in Algeria since the nation won its independence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this provocative, suspenseful drama, a penniless aspiring painter receives an offer he cannot refuse and ultimately finds himself making a devil's bargain. Essentially a variation on "Faust," the tale is set in Rome and begins at an art show. Like the other artists, Nicolas Morgan hopes that the show will bring him success. The mysterious and dapper Bellisle sees his work, realizes that Morgan will do anything for wealth and fame, and offers to help him out. That night Bellisle calls Morgan and demands he witness a teen's fatal leap from a window. The tragedy inspires the artist and the resulting painting makes a splash in the Roman art world. Next, Morgan is at a sporting event and witnesses a terrible accident which he also captures on canvas. More gruesome coincidences occur and each results in a painting. Soon he finds himself the toast of wealthy art patrons. Meanwhile, police detective Marc Lauzon becomes interested in the artist's relationship to the sudden string of tragedies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Wadeck Stanczak, Michele Barbara Pelletier, and Michael Lamport star in this adventure story in which heroic Smoke Belliou stands accused of murder in the midst of a gold strike. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two couples traveling together in the same car are forced to take refuge at the country manor of a hermit-like old man when their car breaks down. In a star turn, Michel Piccoli plays the old man, who skillfully manipulates these virtually spineless people, destroying relationships between them and forging new ones on a whim. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

An old man (Francisco Rabal) living in a Greek seaside village is enjoying a walk and the magnificent scenery when he strikes up a conversation with a young man looking out of his hotel room. At that moment, an earthquake demolishes the hotel, and when the authorities arrive, they are prepared to write everyone in it off as having been killed. The old man is not prepared to do that, and his stubborn unwillingness to accept that leads to their searching for, and finding, the younger man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

An urban gigolo on the run from a mobster hides out at the remote cabin of a female novelist in this plodding romantic drama. Her neighbors include an elderly man with a penchant for growing sunflowers and an unhappy neighbor girl with emotional problems. Love blossoms for the unlikely couple who somehow realize their liaison is doomed to failure. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

After serving his apprenticeship as a screenwriter for director André Techiné, former movie critic Olivier Assayas wrote and directed this film. In the story, a penniless girl and two similarly impoverished boys with ambitions of becoming a successful rock group are sorely in need of some instruments to play on. They decide to break into a music store and manage to get their hands on the instruments they need -- killing the proprietor in the process. Though the police never catch up with them, something else waylays these "tough" kids -- their consciences. Despondent over the killing, one of the young men commits suicide. The others are then confronted with their own feelings about their crimes and each other and cannot easily give themselves over to their quest to become musicians. One of the film's musical highlights is a performance of the Woodentops. This teen drama won the critic's prize at the 1987 Venice Film Festival. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Marie (Marlene Jobert) is a pretty female physician who attracts the strong romantic interest of two brothers during World War I in this uninspired drama by Gérard Vergez. The brothers meet her when she is on duty in Turkey -- one brother is stationed there and the other becomes her ambulance driver. Since Marie has just lost her husband in combat, she is not at first open to another relationship but finally begins an affair with the older brother. Jealousy rears its ugly head, and the younger and older brother start to compete for her favors. She is eventually separated from the two brothers after the oldest -- imprisoned for supposed sympathy with the Russians -- is sprung from jail. Marie is later imprisoned herself, and it will be a long time before she is able to find out the fate of those she knew during the days of combat, including the two brothers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide