Richard Bohringer Movies

Cult science-fiction author Philip K. Dick's novel of 1950s suburban California, Confessions of a Crap Artist, is adapted to present-day France in this quirky comedy-drama. Hippolyte Girardot portrays the title character, who is known by the nickname "Barjo" -- a moniker loosely translatable as "nutcase." After accidentally burning down his house during a scientific experiment, the extremely eccentric and socially naive Barjo is forced to move in with his twin sister, Fanfan, and her husband Charles, an aluminum factory owner. In his new home, Barjo continues his odd habits: cataloging old science magazines, testing bizarre inventions, and thinking about the end of the world. His main pursuit, however, is typing up a journal of "scientific" observations of his life, with a particular focus on the other people around him. Through this journal, Barjo chronicles Fanfan and Charles' increasingly frequent encounters with a younger couple and the marital tension that soon results -- eventually driving Charles into the hospital. Director Jerome Boivin (Baxter) uses Barjo's viewpoint to present an unusual perspective on marital and sexual difficulty, with his narration analyzing his sister's marriage fluctuating between the embarrassingly naive and the unexpectedly observant. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this very light romantic comedy, two young men who are in search of the hypothetical perfect woman believe they have found her at a wedding reception. There, they see Lisa. Alexandre is the shy one, but he is also the one with the greatest yen to meet such a woman. He and Romain track Lisa down the next day and, though she is already dating someone, when Romain approaches her, she agrees to meet the two of them at a restaurant. They are dismayed when the part-Italian girl brings her mother with her as a chaperone. Other difficulties arise as well, and they resolve that this quest is less important than their friendship. Besides, Alexandre has by now discovered the charms of Romain's younger sister. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The conflict in question is World War II; even though hostilities have all but ceased, the Germans and the French are not precisely reconciled. German soldier Richard Bohlinger, absent without leave, is befriended by a couple of pre-teen boys (Antoine and Julien Hubert, sons of director Jean-Louis Hubert). Despite the fact that they seem to have found a lasting peace, the adult world doesn't see things the boys' way, and Bohlinger is put to death. Apres le Guerre is the second felicitous collaboration between director Hubert and veteran character-actor Richard Bohlinger; the first was the popular Le Grand Chemin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Charles (Charles Vanel) is a 100-year-old perfume magnate who decides to marry the equally ancient Emmanuelle (Denis Grey) in the French sex comedy. Company executives and family members scramble for position in the wake of the surprising announcement. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Simon (Richard Bohringer) is a veteran cop who suspects his boss Tramoni (Pierre Arditi) is on the take in this dramatic thriller. When he orders Simon off the job of tracking some notorious thieves, the detective begins to gather more evidence by hanging out in the seedy gambling dives. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Directed by French filmmaker Jean-Loup Hubert, Grand Chemin stars the director's young son Antoine Hubert. The lad plays a sickly eight-year-old who is shipped off to visit his country relatives while his mother has her baby. The boy's subsequent adventures run the gamut from delightful to terrifying, with a little "coming of age" (via a few glimpses of nudity) thrown in. Veteran French character actor Richard Bohringer, best known for his star turn in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, plays a pivotal role. Grand Chemin was released in the U.S. as Grand Highway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With ingenious camera work, witty dialogue, and a setting that almost never wanders from the cavernous interior of a mod cafe-bar, this drama by Michel Deville has a lot of pluses. A woman (Jeanne Moreau) and a man (Michel Piccoli, the "nonentity" of the title) jointly run the vast cafe and every night play host to the same four men as they sit around a card table -- a doctor, a journalist, a merchant, and a professor. A seductive woman (Fanny Ardant) lounges around in a hammock nearby. When the police commissioner starts investigating a murder, the four card players become suspects. Charming bits show an irritable "paltoquet" shoving the opening credits off the screen so the story can get going. He also sits around reading the novel from which the screenplay was adapted and provides music with a portable record player. These inventive touches allow the movie to work on several levels at once. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

"Boodle" is illicit money, which is the objective of the young couple at the heart of this loose, uneven crime-comedy by Jean-Pierre Mocky. The couple pull off a robbery of a supermarket and escape with the cash, but their dreams of a life in the sun are dashed by an arrogant man who knows what they did and demands the money for himself. It turns out he is a police inspector also looking toward early retirement, and with an expensive wife at home. As these unlikely associates wrangle over the loot, the story segues into a fairly predictable path toward the final accounting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Coming in on the heels of his internationally acclaimed first film, Le Dernier Combat, 26-year-old director Luc Besson created this tongue-in-cheek look at filmmaking and at the denizens in the tunnels of the Paris Metro -- a new kind of underground movie. Fred (Christopher Lambert) has just stolen some major documents from a birthday celebration given by the Paris elite for one of their kind, Helena (Isabelle Adjani). He takes off into the Metro just as it is shut down for the remaining few hours of predawn darkness and once in the Metro encounters several characters in the tunnels. There is a bodybuilder who works out with subway parts, a purse-snatcher, and a flower seller of dubious ethics. Inspired by the moment, Fred decides to recruit a few of the ubiquitous musicians who perform (some of the best music around) on the Metro's byways, and he creates a rock band. Through all of these encounters and activities, the police and others -- including Helena -- are after Fred for their own reasons, none of which coincide. As Fred discovers, going underground can be risky. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide