Marie Trintignant Movies

First-time director Samuel Benmchetrit's 2003 debut Janis et John (Janis and John) follows the comedic exploits of a down-on-his luck insurance salesman as he attempts to make up for some very poor financial decisions. Pablo Sterni (Sergi Lopez), the aforementioned insurance salesman, has, until recently, been an honest business man. As of late, though, Pablo had been siphoning money from one of his more successful client's accounts -- one that covers a very expensive sports car. When that client, Mr. Cannon (Jean-Louis Trintignant), turns in a loss claim for that car for a half-million francs, Pablo finds himself in a tight spot. Inspiration strikes when Pablo learns that his hippy-dippy cousin Leon (Christopher Lambert, billed as Christophe Lambert) has just inherited a million francs from his recently deceased father. Leon, a perpetually stoned record store owner, lives solely for the day his 1973 vision of John Lennon and Janis Joplin's Christ-like return to Earth is fulfilled. After visiting with his cousin, Pablo decides to assist Leon in reliving his dream -- as well as parting him with much of his inheritance -- by convincing his wallflower wife, Brigitte (Marie Trintignant, murdered mere weeks before the film's debut, thus marking her final film appearance) and an out-of-work actor (François Cluzet) to impersonate Janis and John. Janis et John was selected for inclusion in the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Several star-crossed couples experience both the thrills and the disappointment of romance over the course of one evening in this romantic comedy. Reporter Marcello (Giancarlo Giannini) has a brief encounter with Irene (Marie Trintignant) while waiting for a train. A young woman who has lost her sight (Silvia De Santis) finds herself falling for the voice of a ship's captain (Yari Gugilucci) she hears over a radio broadcast. Egle (Ornella Muti), a massage therapist who is soon to be married, finds herself pursuing one last fling with Gabriele (James Thierree) -- though the odds are not in her favor, since he happens to be gay. Elena (Isabelle Pasco) is a young woman with a child who wants to abandon her husband. And Carla (Marina Confalone) wonders if she has any future at all with her lover -- who is married to someone else. Una Lunga Lunga Lunga Notte D'Amore was directed by veteran filmmaker Luciano Emmer, who was 83 when the film opened in Europe in the spring of 2001. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

French director Elie Chouraqui adapts the novel of the same name into this drama, that, although set in 1991, became tragically topical in the weeks before its release due to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah, a photo editor for Newsweek and the happily married wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn). Harrison has been reconsidering his career of covering the world's war zone "hot spots" in order to spend more time with his family, and is accused by his colleague, Kyle (Adrien Brody), of playing it too safe in his risky profession. Harrison elects to accept one more combat assignment to cover the simmering tensions in Croatia, a conflict that quickly erupts into a full-scale, genocidal Civil War. Informed that Harrison is believed to have been killed in the fighting, Sarah refuses to accept her husband's death and becomes convinced that she's seen him, alive, in a news broadcast. She travels to Croatia on a quest to find him, and is eventually aided by Kyle, as well as two of Harrison's other colleagues, Yeager (Elias Koteas) and Stevenson (Brendan Gleeson). The group, armed with cameras instead of weapons, witnesses the horrors and atrocities unfolding in the region, while tracing the elusive path of Harrison, who may well be dead already. Harrison's Flowers was distributed by Universal Focus, the art house division of Universal Pictures that previously released Mulholland Drive (2001) and Billy Elliott (2000). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Pierre Salvadori, who made The Apprentices (1995) and Wild Target (1993), returned for his third feature with this quirky comedy filmed in Paris and Corsica. After an argument with her fiancé, Jeanne (Marie Trintignant) flies to Paris, talks her way into someone else's chauffeured limo, sleeps with a guy she picks up, is hired to deliver pizzas, works as a tea-salon waitress, creates lies about her wealthy family, and goes home with elderly Madeleine (Blanchette Brunoy), who accepts her as an au pair. Clean-cut crook Antoine (Guillaume Depardieu) takes both women to dinner, while burglar Barnaby (Serge Riaboukine) robs Madeleine's house. Madeleine mentions Jeanne's rich parents, prompting Antoine to join with Marcel (Jean-Francois Stevenin) in a scheme to collect a ransom on Jeanne. But the plan begins to collapse when Jeanne and Antoine find they are attracted to each other. The original French title is part of the French phrase "elle ment comme elle respire" ("lying comes to her as naturally as breathing"). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A little philosophy can be a dangerous thing. Especially if it comes from the sudden blinding insights of the none too bright. Such insights, based upon totally illogical conclusions form the basis of this devilishly dark, distorted French absurdist comedy. At the beginning of the eccentric tale, a noted author deliberately drives his car into a brick wall, a suicide method employed by the protagonist of his last novel. Taxi driver Evangila and her brother North are deeply upset their favorite author's sudden death. They discuss the deeper implications of his act, and deduce that the author killed himself because he was increasingly obsessed with the notion that he was actually a character in someone else's novel. Finding their conclusion perfectly sound, the duo make the next logic leap and decide that they too are literary characters in someone else's book. That being the case, then all responsibility for their actions lies on the writer's shoulders, not theirs; therefore, they can do whatever they want with no consequence. Meanwhile the writer's bereaved widow, Karenina, decides she wants to join her husband in death. She makes several sucide attempts, but someone always 'rescues' her at the crucial moment. In desperation, she decides to simply leap from a tall bridge. As Karenina plots her demise, North and Evangela continue to wrestle with their newfound philosophy. The newest twist is that the author of their lives is in reality their god. Since he is the tangible, living being who dictates their every move, they decide to consult a priest in the hope that he can convince their Creator to meet them and answer a few burning questions. Unfortunately the priest can't help them and suggests that perhaps someone near death could provide more insight, someone about to commit suicide perhaps? Evangela and North, figuring a tall bridge is a good place to encounter a suicide immediately go to a certain bridge and end up meeting Karenina. When a spiritualist and God Himself get involved the story really goes off the deep end and that is when the fun really begins. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Two people with a similar fetish for the exotic Asian fabric have an odd relationship in this off-beat French romance set in 1914. In the beginning, Marie enters a Paris department store and carefully heads for the fabric part. With cat-like caution she moves beside a bolt of silk, suddenly pouncing upon it, slashing the fabric with a straight razor and the pressing its cool satiny smoothness to her body until she faints with pleasure. Upon regaining consciousness, Marie finds herself booked for shoplifting and sent to a psycho ward where she meets Doctor Gabriel who asks her surprisingly intimate questions about her fetish for stealing silk in public. He seems to relish every erotic detail. Knowing that she is unable to control her passionate urges, she decides that she needs to be imprisoned. While serving her time and finally leaning to read and write, Dr. Gabriel fights the Germans in North Africa. A wound prompts his discharge and this gives him the chance to pen his case study of Marie, "The Scream of the Silk." The newly literate Marie reads the article, sees herself and sends him a heartfelt letter of thanks. Gabriel responds, confessing that he too is a 'silko-phile' with a similar obsession. Via their letters, the two slowly fall in love while Gabriel's doting housekeeper watches over him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this comedy, layers and layers of personal lies provide the glue that holds a trendy, shallow group of Parisians together. The story centers on Ada, a deeply indebted, but promising young fashion designer who has just purchased an apartment with her lover and holds a housewarming party to celebrate. The bulk of the story unfolds episodically as assorted neurotic characters come to call and begin to intermingle. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Two losers find an especially bad way to beat the high cost of living in this off-beat comedy from France. Antoine (Francois Cluzet) aspires to write plays, but in the meantime he scrapes together a living writing articles for a martial arts magazine and creating crossword puzzles; he spends his spare time talking with his friend Sylvie (Judith Henry) about the sad state of his love life. His buddy Fred (Guillaume Depardieu), on the other hand, doesn't do much of anything; on those rare occasions when he rises from the couch, it's to plot new schemes to pick up women, which are usually doomed to failure. However, this routine is shattered when Antoine and Fred discover that their apartment is being sold and they need to come up with some money to get a new flat. With little cash on hand and few prospects, Antoine gets an idea: rob the offices of the magazine for which he's been writing. Co-star Guillaume Depardieu is the son of French superstar Gérard Depardieu. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Victor Meynard (Jean Rochefort) is an assassin for hire, and he's proud of it. It's part of his family's business. However, in this comedy, there are occasions when he simply cannot bring himself to pull the trigger and make a "hit." Instead, he adopts the boy (Guillaume Depardieu) who would have fallen to his gun, and trains him in the niceties of the assassin's game. He is assigned to kill an art forger (Marie Trintignant) who is much too cute for such a fate. When he adopts her as well, things really start to get out of hand. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Amnesty International produced this film, which features more than two dozen greats of French cinema making pleas for the lives of political prisoners around the world. Each filmmaker speaks passionately on behalf of an individual whose life has been warped by political intolerance, imprisonment, torture or murder, as the lives of those prisoners or sufferers are documented onscreen. A variety of directors contributed shorts with this theme, and the ways in which the appeals are dramatized differ markedly from one to the next. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

As this film opens, Louis (Jean-Hughes Anglade) and Emilie (Marie Trintignant) have just finished making love. Emilie has brought him to her apartment for just that purpose. Theirs is a new relationship, and this is the first time they have made love together. Throughout the movie, naked and relaxed from this encounter, they chat about their lives, their previous lovers, their plans, they have small arguments and reconciliations, and they generally do what people do in those circumstances to get to know one another better. They also caress one another a great deal, preparatory to another bout of lovemaking (never shown). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In 1966, a famous actor (Peter O'Toole) is taken by a rowboat to a fabulous old hotel on an island in the middle of a lake. He comes to find out that time stands still here -- and the reason is that he is dead. He discovers that all the residents of the hotel are famous but dead people, including Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway. It seems that as public interest in a dead celebrity fades away, the celebrity is given smaller and smaller rooms, until finally they are thrown out. Among the famous people that the actor meets is the writer who killed him -- for a good reason. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi