Christine Boisson

Director Jonathan Demme filters the classic Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant vehicle Charade through the influence of the French New Wave in this stylish romantic thriller. Regina Lambert (Thandie Newton) has been having second thoughts about her marriage to the often enigmatic art dealer Charlie (Stephen Dillane), and decides to take a vacation without him, where she meets Joshua Peters (Mark Wahlberg), a handsome and charming American who seems quite taken with her. When Regina returns home to Paris, she receives the startling news that her husband has been murdered; however, even more disturbing is her discovery that her husband had a secret life which involved several passports under different identities, and a missing six million dollars. Police official Commandant Dominique (Christine Boisson) seems to believe that Regina is somehow involved in the crime, while U.S. embassy representative Mr. Bartholomew (Tim Robbins) breaks the news to Regina that her late husband was actually a secret agent involved in some very shady operations. Three mysterious and dangerous figures who had ties to Charlie -- Emil Zadapec (Ted Levine), Lola Jansco (Lisa Gay Hamilton), and Il-Sang Lee (Joong-Hoon Park) -- also arrive in Paris, convinced that Regina knows where her husband stashed the money and determined to get their hands on it. Meanwhile, as Regina's life becomes increasingly chaotic and dangerous, Joshua arrives in Paris and a romance begins to blossom between them, but while he seems determined to do whatever he can to help her, Regina soon has reason to doubt that Joshua's motives are as pure as they seem. Shot on location in Paris, The Truth About Charlie also features cameo appearances from a number of legendary French actors and filmmakers, including Charles Aznavour, Anna Karina, and Agnès Varda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Mathias Ledoux directs this atmospheric erotic thriller. Author Jean Dorset (Jean-Hugues Anglade) has suffered from a bad case of writer's block since his first novel became a bestseller. He lives in a small apartment in Paris with his wife Michelle (Clotilde Courau) and, in spite of their ostensible success, the couple are having trouble making ends meet. One day they receive the utterly unexpected news that they are the sole inheritors of a wealthy neighbor, M. Guillemet, whom they have never met. Guillemet has left them his old townhouse along with all of his belongings, but with two conditions -- the first is that the dead man's papers be left untouched, and the second is that his live-in maid Clemence Richbourg (Christine Boisson) remain employed at the estate. The Dorsets soon learn why they were the recipients of such strange generosity. Guillemet had set up a camera with a massive zoom lens pointing to their bedroom window. The couple is shocked and disgusted, but not enough to give up their new tony digs. Clemence proves to be a more unnerving presence. Her steely, impassive demeanor coupled with her penchant for wearing Mao jackets (and, it turns out, naughty underwear) gives her an air of menace. Soon the Dorsets speculate that Clemence poisoned her former employer's food in an ill-fated attempt at inheriting his property. Later, Jean decides to write his next novel on his curious benefactor. When he starts digging around the old man's files, he begins to suspect that his wife not only did know Guillemet, but frequented his place. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

According to reviewers, an expert cast of character actors make this bedroom farce eminently watchable, despite glitches in the storytelling. In the story, a group of old friends and relations gather each year to celebrate Christmas together on the ski resort of Chamonix. They don't do much skiing, however, but mostly explore their own and their friends' and relations' romantic quandries. In the story, the widower family patriarch Leo (Daniel Gelin) announces his engagement to Francoise (Anouk Aimee), which provokes all sorts of reactions in his sons Max and Simon (Gerard Lanvin and Andre Dussollier) and their families, because their own marriages are really rocky. Among the complications: Simon's son is infatuated with Max's daughter, Max is trying to make time with a woman who works locally, Simon has brought along his mistress, family friend Stephane is having trouble with his girlfriend, who threatens suicide if he won't marry her, and a difficult time is had by all during this merrymaking season. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this somewhat broad comedy, guaranteed to offend (at a minimum) feminists and homosexuals, Albert has always dreaded visits by his beloved wife's five highly dysfunctional girlfriends, who are forever complaining about the absence of any real men for them to date or marry. When he loses his job, however, the gals rally 'round, and he couldn't have found a more loyal or helpful group. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This very brief (76 minute) melodrama devotes much of its time to Sandra's (Christine Boisson) affairs d'amour. One of her lovers is diplomat Christophe Odin. The other is photographer Jean-Michael Martial. Something is bound to snap -- and it does, in a most violent fashion. Sandra was originally released as Un Amor de Trop ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This fast-paced mystery is in part based on a novel by Yves Ellena and is at least equally based on the 1943 classic Le Corbeau, which in 1951 was produced in English by Otto Preminger as The Thirteenth Letter. In this movie, someone is using a pirate radio broadcast to dish the dirt on the lives of the elite of a small French town. Among the suspects for this increasingly damaging activity are a cynical journalist and an unusually honest cop. The story proceeds to a climax in the town's church, while the increasingly vituperative townspeople clash with one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this tumultuous post- WW I drama, a Viennese doctor and her lover migrate, with many other European Jews, to Israel where they dream of setting up a peaceful egalitarian society. Their dreams are soon shattered by the violent Bedouins who forcefully object to their presence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In one of the oddest personifications of Death found in the cinema or elsewhere, first-time director (Rene Manzor) creates a Grim Reaper with his own control room, replete with high-tech wizardry in this sci-fi drama. Jean Diaz (Alain Delon) is a filmmaker working on an animated feature that would speak out against violence, when he is suddenly killed in an accident. Diaz comes around after death only to face Death personified, who wants to strike a bargain with him. Diaz can return to life if he agrees to make his film according to Death's plan for the annihilation of the human race. If Diaz does not agree to these terms, then his young son -- now in a coma from the accident -- will also die. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide