Alexandra Van Der Noot Movies

Robert Dornhelm's epic-length period tragedy The Crown Prince takes as its dramatic inspiration the heart-rending and irrepressibly romantic tale of Rudolf (Max von Thun), Crown Prince of Austria heir to the Habsburg monarchy during the late 19th Century. The young man's story culminated in the notorious Mayerling tragedy of January 1889; Dornhelm travels back to the years immediately prior for an operatic exploration of the events leading up to Mayerling. The film begins with Rudolf's marriage - an arranged marriage that leaves the young man miserably unhappy and emotionally isolated. In time, the dissatisfied Rudolf commences a tempestuous affair with Baroness Mary Vetsera (Vittoria Puccini), and the two promptly fall in love with one another. Yet the crowned royals frown upon this forbidden romance, forcing young Rudolf into an emotional corner - and leaving two desperate acts of violence as his only escape. The film's supporting cast includes Omar Sharif, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Christian Clavier. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Danish auteur Lars von Trier directs the documentary-of-sorts The Five Obstructions (De Fem Benspænd). In 2001, von Trier convinces veteran filmmaker Jørgen Leth to create five remakes of his 1967 short The Perfect Human. Calling himself the Obstructor, von Trier orders Leth to make his films in various parts of the world with extremely specific demands. For instance, the first film must be shot in Cuba with no set with only 12 frames per shot. The five remakes-within-the-film are "The Perfect Human: Bombay," "The Perfect Human: Brussels," "The Perfect Human: Cartoon," "The Perfect Human: Cuba," and "The Perfect Human: Avedøre, Denmark." Each has its own set of ridiculous limitations created by von Trier. The Five Obstructions was shown at the Sundance Film Festival as part of a special screening. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Can a man find true love with a woman who could easily do a lot better? Octave (Patrick Chesnais) would seem to fit most people's working definition of a loser -- even though he's over 50, he doesn't have a steady job, still lives with his mother (Micheline Presle), and spends most of his time with his friends Achille (Bernard Crombey) and Hector (Jean-Francois Balmer), with whom he plays in a none too impressive jazz combo. But Octave has self-confidence and charm to spare, and he decides to put them to work when he meets Esther (Alexandra Vandernoot). Octave is immediately smitten with Esther, though she's hardly taken with him at first, probably owing to the fact that he'd just run is car into hers. Esther is a successful artist about two decades Octave's junior, and she has a stylish flat and a handsome boyfriend (Samuel Labarthe), hardly needing someone like Octave in her life. But Octave isn't about to give up, and his willingness to do almost anything to get Esther's attention -- including jumping into the Seine -- eventually makes her warm to her curious new suitor. Charmant Garcon was the first feature directed by noted actor Patrick Chesnais, who also starred as Octave. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Francis Veber wrote and directed this film adaptation (with animated opening credits) of his own play, Le diner de cons, about a competition among a group of friends to see who can find the stupidest person to bring to dinner (as indicated by the original French title, since "con" means someone who's a total dumbbell). The dinners are held each Wednesday night, and French publisher Pierre Brochant (Thierry Lhermitte) has found a world class nincompoop -- Finance Ministry accountant Francois Pignon (Jacques Villeret) who uses matchsticks to build small-scale replicas of monuments. Things quickly go awry after Pierre wrenches his back at golf. He nevertheless makes an effort to attend the dinner with his prize dunce. Francois arrives at Pierre's luxury apartment, but Pierre is in such pain they never exit the apartment for the dinner. Instead, Pierre is trapped in a situation where Francois' stupidity turns his life into a comic hell. In 1993, Villeret created the role of the dimwit onstage during 600 performances of a 27-month run, and the play also had a 1994 London production. In addition to Veber's Oscar-nominated screenplay adaptation of Jean Poiret's La Cage aux Folles (1978), reworked into The Birdcage (1996), other American comedies originated in French screenplays by Veber -- The Toy (1982), The Man with One Red Shoe- (1985), Three Fugitives (1989), and Fathers' Day (1997). Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Corruption on the boxing circuit at the turn of the century provides the basis of this French drama. The story centers on a talented young fighter, a logger that Abel Ginoux and his Italian partner Zipolino, a crooked doctor, discover during a fight in a woodland town. The logger, Passe Partout, is in a fight with Ginoux's best fighter and ends up accidentally killing the pugilist. Ever the opportunist, Ginoux lures Partout into the ring to replace the late fighter. Partout proves to be the classic provincial innocent with high, rugged ideals and little knowledge about the modern world. Ginoux takes him to town for the first time and the logger is delighted to discover amenities such as electricity and silent films. He soon falls in love with the beauteous Camille who works in her late father's cafe with her mother. Her father made many of the films, most of which are boxing matches, because he believed that the presence of a camera rendered a fight unfixable. Ginoux forces Partout to make a difficult decision when he demands that Partout take a dive in the ring during a filmed match. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this period thriller set near the turn of the century, Jan Thoreau (Gabriel Arcand) is a Canadian trapper who lives with his wife Marie (Alexandra Vandernoot) in a small community in the wilderness not far from Hudson Bay. Blake (Michael Biehn) is a disturbed drifter who has murdered a man and has found a way to frame Jan for his crime. Jan is out tending to his traps when an Indian friend with psychic talents tells him Marie is in grave danger. Jan hurries back, but he has no idea just how serious matters are until he arrives home -- Jan is wanted by the law for a crime he didn't commit, while Blake is hiding out in his home, and has taken Marie hostage. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Grace Candel (Julia Stemberger) is a good Immortal, working tirelessly for the betterment of mankind. Alas, Grace's former lover Carlo Sendaro (Georges Corraface) is the embodiment of evil -- and insanely jealous in the bargain. Murdering Grace's mortal sweetheart, Carlo frames her for the crime. But never fear: Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) is not about to let Grace suffer for someone else's perfidy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fabien's father must go where the work is; he is an unskilled laborer, and work isn't always nearby. Fabien (Mathias Leny) grew up mostly in the south of France, but now he must move with his father to the colder climes of the north. There, his countrified southern ways make him the subject of ridicule even by his teachers, and as an outsider, he is a natural object for bullying by the boys. As a form of abuse, they call in "gypsy." It is evident that this is a form of racism. However, when he becomes friends with some actual gypsies, he discovers what racism is in far more depth. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Duncan's Immortal friend, Michael Moore (Geraint Wyn Davies), wants to avenge the murder of his girlfriend that happened 30 years ago. This would seem to be a pointless vendetta, inasmuch the girl's killer, Quenten Barnes, was arrested and put to death for the crime. But Quenten has escaped from his tomb and is busily bumping off everyone responsible for his execution -- with Moore next on his list. This is the situation that, in the end, forces Duncan (Adrian Paul) to make an extremely difficult decision. Philip Akin makes his first series appearance as gym owner Charlie DeSalvo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of Highlander gets under way as Immortal Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) returns to Canada, still searching for the murderers of his mentor, Darius. Using a book given to him by Darius as a clue, Duncan shows up at the bookstore run by Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes, in his first series appearance). Dawson, it turns out, is a member of the Watchers, a group of mortals who have been keeping track of Immortal activities for hundreds of years. At first believing that Dawson was in on Darius' killing, Duncan is finally guided toward the genuine culprit. This episode includes "flashbacks" from the first-season Highlander installments "Mountain Men" and "The Hunters." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of Highlander begins as handsome 400-year-old Immortal Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) leaves Paris and returns to Vancouver, determined to destroy the killers of his mentor Darius at the end of Season One. The trail leads Duncan to a bookstore run by Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes), who turns out to be a member of The Watchers, a secret organization that has been hunting down and eliminating evil mortals for centuries. Tragedy trikes Duncan when his mortal sweetheart Tessa (Alexandra Van der Noot) and his friend Richie Ryan (Stan Kirsch) are shot down by a mugger. Tessa dies, but Richie survives, thus revealing something he had never known: He too is an Immortal, unable to be killed unless beheaded by another Immortal. Giving up his antique shop, Duncan purchases a martial-arts store owned by a mercenary named Charlie DeSalvo (Philip Akin) but sells it back to Charlie upon making his annual pilgrimage to Paris. By the end of the season, Duncan, weary of four centuries of death and violence, prepares to embark on a worldwide odyssey of self-discovery with Charlie as his traveling companion -- but this may not be possible when an old enemy of Duncan's resurfaces foresworn to destroy the Immortal and everyone and everything he holds dear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A spin-off of the popular movie, Highlander: The Series follows the exploits of immortal Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), another member of the Highland clan that produced the older Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert), who was the focus of three feature films and a supporting character in the first episode of the new series.
Also appearing in the series: Stan Kirsch as the headstrong Richie Ryan; Alexandra Vandernoot as Duncan's love interest, Tessa Noel; the late Werner Stocker as Darius; Jim Byrnes as Joe Dawson, a member of the Watchers; Elizabeth Gracen as Amanda, another immortal; and Peter Wingfield as Methos (a five-thousand-year-old immortal masquerading as a Watcher.)
While the first season suffered from a lack of diversity in story lines (the basic theme involves immortals beheading each other in a process called "The Game" -- the survivor receives the energy of the loser via "The Quickening"), the producers finally managed to provide some interesting twists via the introduction of the Watchers, a secret society of mortals dedicated to observing the lives of the immortals. Vandernoot, homesick for Paris (where the series filmed half its episodes, due to a co-production deal), chose to leave the series at the start of the second season, with her character being killed off and Richie being revealed as an immortal at the same time. Blues artist Jim Byrnes became a regular during the second season. The Watchers were featured in many episodes, with the existence of the organization (and of immortals) sometimes on the verge of being revealed to the world. In the fifth season, Duncan was revealed as a Champion for Good, eventually resulting in an ultimate battle against the evil Ahriman and the death of Richie at the end of the fifth season and the beginning of the abbreviated final season. After six seasons, production on the show was ended, with Adrian Paul signed to appear as Duncan in the fourth movie (several movie-length videos were released during the course of the series) and producers Davis/Panzer planning a new television spin-off, this time featuring a female immortal. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide