Jean-Louis Trintignant

Patrice Chereau (Queen Margot) directed this French drama about a train trip to an artist's funeral. Friends of painter Jean-Baptiste Emmerich (Jean-Louis Trintignant, seen in flashbacks) gather at a Paris railroad station for a four-hour journey to Limoges, where Emmerich wanted to be buried. The dozen travelers include art historian Francois (Pascal Greggory) and his lover Louis (Bruno Todeschini), who develops an interest in teenage Bruno (Sylvain Jacques). Traveling parallel with the train is a station wagon with Jean-Baptiste's body, and this vehicle is driven by Thierry (Roschdy Zem), husband of Catherine (Dominique Blanc), who's on the train with their daughter. Francois plays a taped interview with Jean-Baptiste, revealing his sexual appeal to both men and women. Lucie (Marie Daems) is convinced that she was his main love. Also on board is his nephew, Jean-Marie (Charles Berling) and Jean-Marie's estranged wife, Claire (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), After the funeral in "Europe's largest cemetery," the storyline continues in the mansion of Jean-Baptiste's brother, Lucien (also played by Trintignant). With hand-held camerawork for almost two-thirds of the film, the production involved two extra cars connected to a real scheduled train, headed one way in the morning and returning in the afternoon, with cast and crew logging some 12,000 kilometers over two weeks. Source music runs the gamut from James Brown to Jim Morrison. The title refers to the dying words uttered by the painter -- which actually are the last words spoken by filmmaker Francois Reichenbach who died in 1993 (and appropriated here by his friend, co-scripter Daniele Thompson). One of Francois Reichenbach's best-known films (and subject of an entire book) is the documentary Medicine Ball Caravan (aka We Have Come for Your Daughters,1971), a curious effort to duplicate the success of Woodstock (1970) by simply inviting a large number of musicians, hippies, and counterculture types aboard a cross-country train and filming the result. Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Irony abounds in this French comedy that tells the tale of an unsophisticated, rather dim-bulbed country lad who follows the advice of a former French freedom fighter and tries to change himself into a hero of the recently ended French Resistance. Poor Albert is no stranger to deceit. For his first 12-years, his mother led him to believe that his father was a war hero. He is devastated to learn that his father really died of alcoholism. During the war, Albert does all he can to avoid fighting for the Resistance, even though the Nazis control his village. He marries and moves in with his wife's family, innocent of the fact that the whole time he is there, they are concealing downed British fliers. The night their town is freed, Albert leaves for Paris where he meets Dionnet, "The Captain," a bona-fide Resistance hero. It is he, who teaches Albert how to successfully change his identity. After much practice and memorization, Albert finally has a new identity and goes to work as a secretary for Mr. Jo, a former double agent. Albert stays in a boarding house, where a resident prostitute teaches him about lovemaking. Meanwhile, Albert becomes recognized as a courageous patriot, a role he manages to sustain only a little while before it all falls apart and the painful truth is finally revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A young aristocratic military cadet gets a dose of reality that shakes his high ideals to the core when he is called to fight in the Spanish Civil War in this French anti-war drama. Rafael, is the boy. He comes from a prominent Spanish family of military heroes and has spent his teens studying in a prestigious French military academy run by Dominicans. By October, 1936, Rafael had become a lieutenant; his life forever changes when he is suddenly called back to France to fight against the Communists and defend Franco. He is assigned to report to Col. Masagual, an outwardly tough officer who is flamboyantly effete in his private life. Masagual orders Rafael to first serve on the firing squad to prepare him for the atrocities of the front. In this capacity, the innocent Rafael is forced to slaughter all manner of prisoners, including women and children. It takes a heavy toll upon him and while he and the others shoot the guilty, the colonel and his aristocratic guests, who have come to watch the festivities, gaily sip tea and chat. Soon Rafael has become a literal killing machine, with little emotion. His first experience with sex degenerates into brutal rape. Then Rafael is ordered to kill a renegade priest. Suddenly he remembers his ideals and double-crosses the cruel colonel. This leads to a moral sparring match between the priest and the colonel. The gist of their argument is to demonstrate the stupidity of war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The concluding chapter in filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy, Red stars the luminous Irène Jacob as Valentine, a young student and fashion model who befriends a bitter former judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant, his character a proxy for Kieslowski himself). Their accidental meeting is just one of the many chance encounters woven through the narrative fabric of this feature, the most accomplished effort in Kieslowski's highly ambitious series. Like its predecessors, Red corresponds to a color of the French flag, as well as the color's symbolic attributes. The subject here is fraternity, and indeed, its central characters are all closely connected, their destinies locked on a collision course. The film's final scene even ties up the trilogy by bringing together the protagonists of the other features. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

As directed by Richard Dembo, the period adventure drama L'Instinct de l'ange (Angel's Wing) unfurls in early 20th century France, where Henry, a wealthy young Frenchman from an aristocratic family, undergoes an extensive cure for tuberculosis at a sanitarium and gets released soon afterward. He longs to join the French flying corps of the Great War - then raging across Europe - but is promptly rejected given the checkered history of his health. Never one to swallow such rejections, Henry - who learned to fly years earlier of his own accord - promptly joins a local fighting squadron and racks up a litany of air victories, which piques the suspicion of his military colleagues. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

In this frequently surrealistic romp, a satire on sex, politics, and the business of filmmaking, two young women get together after discovering sufficient provocations in their lives to deliberately set out to wreak havoc in the world around them. Joelle (Anouk Grinberg) has just been thrown out of a moving car by her abusive man-friend, when Camille (Charlotte Gainsbourg) encounters her. Joelle's bitter exclamation Merci la Vie, or "thank you, life" echoes something of Camille's feelings, and the two decide to go on a rampage, picking up and seducing numerous men and then doing things like destroying their cars. Eventually, they set their sights on a "higher" goal and decide to do in an entire town. Meanwhile, it becomes evident that a sinister medical researcher, Dr. Worms (Gérard Depardieu), has infected promiscuous Joelle with a sexually transmitted disease he invented for the sole purpose of becoming the man who finds its cure, which he hopes will make him beloved, famous and rich. At some point, an elaborate series of flashbacks enter the story, and in one sequence, Camille attempts to persuade her feuding parents to get back together long enough to conceive her. Reviewers noted that logic is not a strong point in this film, but they found its fast pace and bright performances vastly entertaining. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This uneven drama concerns the efforts of an aspiring filmmaker to include an unwilling female in his production. Paul (Jean-Louis Trintignant) finds difficulty deciding on a location for his film and angrily throws out his script. Jean (Jacob Berger) is the film student who is sent by Paul to track down Dara (Laura Morante) and recruit her for the feature. All three end up in Brooklyn, where Dara's father believes Paul and Jean are only interested in having sex with his daughter. A must for fans of director Alain Tanner. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

It is possible to enjoy Claude Lelouch's Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later on its own merits, though we advise that to fully appreciate the film, it's best to catch Lelouch's 1966 blockbuster A Man and a Woman first. True to its word, the 1986 film brings us up to date with the protagonists of the earlier picture. One-time movie script girl Anouk Aimee is now a producer, suffering a slump due to a string of box-office bombs. Former race car driver Jean-Louis Trintigant now books races for younger drivers. His love affair with Aimee long in the past, Tritignant is startled to receive an out-of-the-blue phone call from his former amour. She wants his permission to film a musical version of their romance, but with more "suitable" younger leads. Alas, Aimee has been part of the Studio System too long, and can't help but include a pointless subplot involving an escaped lunatic. Aimee must give up her show-biz excesses, and Tritignant must forsake his much-younger mistress Marie-Sophie Pochat, in order to clear the decks for a happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy-drama about human foibles, the aftermath of war undoubtedly has something to do with the behavior and feelings of the people living in a small Hungarian village. The lives of the villagers are seen through the eyes of David (Laszlo Mate), an orphaned Jewish boy who has come to settle here. Dukay (Istvan Bujtor) is the official who handles remnants of live ammunition and weapons left over from the war -- a danger that is brought home later when some innocent children begin playing with an unexploded shell. Other characters include Mr. Fodo (Jean-Louis Trintignant), an ill-tempered schoolteacher whose wife leaves him; Lajos Acsi (Jean Rochefort) a friend who once owned land in the region and now just wanders aimlessly; Peter Fekete (Miklos B. Szekely) and his wife, the owners of the two black buffalos; and a particularly vicious cemetery caretaker. One of the casualties in this story is the script, which provides a wealth of characters and details but not much to cogently tie them together. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Juliette Binoche teams with Lambert Wilson in this erotic drama. Binoche plays Nina, the young lady friend of timid Paulot (Wadeck Stanczak). Though she intends to be true to Paulot, Nina falls hard for his roommate, Quentin (Wilson), a thoroughly self-centered actor who performs in live sex shows. After a torrid affair with Nina, Quentin dies under questionable circumstances. Nina's search for answers to Quentin's sudden death leads her to Scrutzler (Jean-Louis Trintignant), the theater director who'd once cast Quentin in Romeo and Juliet. Scrutzler has likewise suffered a terrible loss in his life: his Juliet was also his wife, who also died unexpectedly. Apparently, it was the wife's death that led to Quentin's demise. On impulse, Scrutzler casts the inexperienced Nina as Juliet -- and before long, both unhappy souls find a common emotional ground. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide