Michel Subor Movies

Claire Denis' elliptical drama L'Intrus was inspired by a short book written by philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy about his heart transplant. In the film, Michel Subor (Le Petit Soldat) stars as Louis, who lives fairly self-sufficiently in a small cabin in the snowy wilds near the Swiss border. Louis has a son (Grégoire Colin, who also starred with Subor in the director's Beau Travail) whose wife (Florence Loiret-Caille) is a border guard, and they have two young children, but Louis has a strained relationship with his family. He lives a hard, stoic life out in the cold. Mysterious strangers cross the border at all hours of the day and night, and Louis vigilantly -- sometimes violently -- protects his homestead. It soon comes to pass that he needs a heart transplant. Louis quickly and quietly makes some arrangements, and travels to Pusan for the operation. He makes the demand that he be given a young man's heart, and not a woman's. His health still failing, Louis then travels to Tahiti, hoping for a final reunion with another son, whom he abandoned years before. The footage of the young Subor in Tahiti was taken from an uncompleted adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson story directed by Paul Gégauff. L'Intrus also stars Béatrice Dalle, Katia Golubeva, and Alex Descas in smaller roles. The film was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of 2005's Rendez-Vous With French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Maverick auteur Andrzej Zulawski directs this flamboyant adaptation of classic French novel La Princesse de Cleves, complete with dirt bike races, hot sex, and naked hockey players. Talented Canadian photographer Clelia (Sophie Marceau) lands a financially lucrative job in Paris at a rumor-mongering tabloid called La Verite run by Rupert MacRoi (Michel Subor). Though she finds most of her coworkers to be disillusioned and perverse, she happens upon Cleve (Pascal Greggory), a bumbling middle-aged children's book publisher. Cleve is days away from marrying MacRoi's daughter to bolster his flagging publishing house. Nonetheless, Clelia and Cleve retire to his office to make love almost immediately upon meeting. Though MacRoi has already bought his company, Cleve breaks off his wedding plans and proposes to Clelia. Enter Nemo (Guillaume Canet), a sexy young photographer who promptly propositions her upon their first encounter. In spite of her ferocious sexual attract to Nemo, Clelia marries Cleve and resolutely keeps to her wedding vows in the face of her suitor's continued advances. Madame de la Fayette's novel, from which this film draws inspiration, has already been adapted twice: the 1961 version was directed by Jean Delannoy and starred Marina Vlady, and the 1999 take, entitled The Letter was directed by Manoel de Oliveira and featured Chiara Mastroianni. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this political drama, freedom of the press, government intrigue, and the murder of an Arab diplomat form the knots of tension that challenge two crime-fighters: Yves Dorget (Philippe Noiret), a newspaper reporter, and Catherine Carre (Nicole Garcia), a TV anchorwoman. Both Yves and Catherine independently start to investigate the assassination of the Arab leader, who opposed the sale of two French nuclear reactors to his country. The reporter and news broadcaster are soon working together and along the way, heating up their past romance. The pair become convinced that the French Secret Service is involved in the assassination, and just as they are getting a little too close to the truth, Catherine's boss is ordered to basically shut her probe down. In the meantime, Yves has published a story about a man who saw the assassination, and now Yves is in some serious trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In July of 1976, the Societé Générale of France was robbed of well over $10 million dollars by a group burrowing through the sewers of Paris. This movie is based on a book by the thieves' mastermind, Albert Spaggiari. The famous theft won the nickname, "the great drain robbery," and this romanticized cinematic retelling of the true story stars Francis Huster as Spaggiari. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Lieutenant Herman (Michel Subor) is a poor Russian officer who tries to get a countess (Dita Parlo) to tell him why she always wins at gambling in this moral drama from the story by Alexander Pushkin. She had previously been given the secret that she can never reveal, and Herman tries to force her hand with tragic results. The story has been done many times, with the 1949 version by director Thorold Dickenson being the best of the bunch. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This light comedy finds a pretty teenage girl stealing jewelry for fun rather than dating boys. Agents from the insurance company catch up with the felonious female on the Riviera. She returns the loot and parlays the experience into a job at the company. Eventually, her attention turns to boys as she leaves behind her life of crime. Partial nudity marks the film as an exploitation item abroad. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, voluptuous Parisian model Sophie (Brigitte Bardot) is angered when she learns that her boyfriend Phillipe, a photographer, has been playing around with Barbara, an American heiress. Alain, another man, who has secretly loved her for years, suggests she get even by making love to him. Sophie has a better idea, she will follow her Corsican family traditions and simply shoot him. Alain warns the photographer who takes his new girl and flees for the Alps with Sophie and Alain in hot pursuit. In the scenic mountains, Sophie and the 'other' woman meet. Together they decide the men are not worth the effort and begin to despise them. This film contains the once-controversial "nude" dance scene with Bardot (who actually wore a body stocking). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmed on locations ranging from Denmark to the Universal backlot, Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz is based on a novel by Leon Uris. Frederick Stafford, a veteran of European-filmed James Bond rip-offs of the 1960s, is cast as Andre Devereaux, a French secret agent assigned to snoop around Cuba in the months prior to the 1962 missile crisis. Someone is supplying Castro -- and, by extension, Moscow -- with NATO secrets; it is up to Devereaux to liquidate the "mole." Aiding Devereaux is CIA agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe) and aristocratic anti-Castro Cuban Juanita (Karin Dor), who happens to be the girlfriend of pro-Castroite Rico Parra (John Vernon). The director seems to be in awe of the fact-based storyline, and as a result, the film is more cut-and-dried than most Hitchcock efforts. Three different endings were filmed for Topaz; the Laserdisc version carries all three, as does the print available to the American Movie Classics cable service. According to the MPAA, the film was originally rated M but later changed to PG; however, a number of home-video issues of Topaz officially list it as "Not Rated." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide