Karin Viard Movies

Recalling such prior successes as The Big Chill, Peter's Friends and Return of the Secaucus 7, director Daniele Thompson's seriocomedy A Change of Plans follows a group of four French couples who converge in an apartment over the course of one lengthy summer's eve and spend the time chatting about life, personal goals, relationships and sex. The said event unfurls during the perennial "Fete de la musique" in the City of Lights. Attendees include: the shark-like divorce attorney who owns the apartment, M.L. (Karin Viard) and her out-of-work husband Piotr (Dany Boon); slick, unctuous attorney Lucas (Patrick Thompson) and his slightly stuck-up homemaker wife Sarah (Emmanuelle Seigner); gynecologist Melanie (Marina Fois) and her oncologist husband Alain (Patrick Bruel); and M.L.'s sister Juliette (Marina Hands) and her much older boyfriend Erwann (Patrick Chesnais). As the night unfurls, it becomes readily apparent that none of the partners are happy and that virtually all have cheated or are planning on cheating on each other, which turns the film into an extended meditation on dissatisfaction and infidelity among the Parisian upper-crust. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Three couples wrestle with temptation and fidelity in this tart romantic comedy from France. Anne (Karin Viard) is a producer at a local television station in Lyons; she's edging into her forties and is wound a bit tighter than she needs to be. As Anne struggles to get ahead at work, she finds herself growing tired of her husband Thomas (Sam Karmann, who also directed the film), a laid-back academic. Before she met Thomas, Anne was married to Marc (Francois Cluzet), a workaholic real estate man who left her to wed younger and prettier Caroline (Julie Delarme). But now that Caroline is pregnant with his child, Marc finds he's not as attracted to her, and begins having disloyal thoughts about other women. And Vincent (Andre Dussollier) is a successful writer who is involved with a man who is young and handsome; however, Vincent's lover doesn't always trust him, and is convinced Vincent will be playing the field when he goes out on a promotion tour for his next book and researches a biography of once-famous jazz singer Pauline Anderton (Ginette Bellue). True Enough (aka La Verite ou Presque) was based on a novel by author Stephen McCauley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

First-time director Carine Tardieu's gentle and evocative coming-of-ager La Tête de Maman concerns Lulu (Chloë Couloud), an adolescent girl whose mother (Karin Viard) sits perpetually on the brink of illness and radiates unhappiness; she is resolutely unhappy with her husband, unhappy with the present state of her life. Concerned about her mom's emotional condition, Lulu discovers an old photograph that suggests the source of her dissatisfaction: a love affair gone sour with a young man who abandoned her, several years before Lulu's birth. To win back her mother's "smile," Lulu sets out to locate her mom's old boyfriend - now a middle-aged veterinarian - and bring him back to her mother's side. She also discovers, over the course of this mission, that her mom is now suffering from a terminal illness and sits at death's door. The character of Lulu narrates throughout, and periodically defers, in the midst of dilemmas, to her heroine, the model-turned-actress Jane Birkin (who appears from time to time, playing herself). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Director Danis Tanovic picks up where the late-Krzysztof Kieslowski left off by taking on the second installment of Kieslowski's "Heaven," "Hell," and "Purgatory" trilogy (the first was adapted by Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer) with this tale of a family whose dark past returns with a vengeance. Loosely modeled by screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz on the second act of Dante's Inferno, Hell tells the story of sisters Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart), Céline (Karin Viard), and Anne (Marie Gillain), whose lives were turned upside down when their father was imprisoned and their mother was rendered a wheelchair-bound mute. As the estranged sisters are slowly brought back together by a mysterious and handsome stranger who is somehow involved with the tragic events of the past, the questions that had for years gone unanswered slowly begin to drift into focus. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A group of friends and mutual acquaintances embark on a number of vacations -- concealed or otherwise -- for relaxation and unexpected romantic hijinks in French actor/director Michel Blanc's fourth directorial effort, the romantic ensemble comedy See How They Run. While hosting a dinner party, the well-to-do Elizabeth (Charlotte Rampling) and Bertrand Lannier (Jacques Dutronc) learn that their neighbors Veronique (Karin Viard) and Jerome (Denis Podalydes) -- who used to be successful but are currently hiding their financial woes -- will be vacationing in the same resort town at the same time. Impulsively, Elizabeth invites her friend, and fellow dinner party guest, Julie (Clotilde Courau), to join them and thus make a party out of the event. However, Bertrand backs out of the trip while claiming to have to work -- only to schedule a rendezvous with his lover, his transsexual secretary (Mickael Dolmen), instead. Meanwhile, the Lannier's teenaged daughter, Emilie (Lou Doillon), has been planning a parentally endorsed vacation to the United States with one of her friends, but is in actuality going on a romantic retreat with one of her father's employees, Kevin (Sami Bouajila). As the separate excursions commence, a number of romantic couplings spring up -- as well as a number of new friendships -- that will have long-lasting effects on all of the vacationers' lives. See How They Run received the honor of being selected for inclusion into the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

This is a dark, sinister second feature from the director of the 1995 film The Rock of Acapulco, featuring Charles Berling and Karin Viard as a married couple in Paris enjoying the fruits of their careers. He works in an executive post and she works out of a spacious Paris apartment she has inherited from her parents. Their son Julien (Alexandre Bongibault) and daughter Aude (Camille Vatel) are mostly in the care of babysitter Daphnee (Ludvine Sagnier). One day, an unkempt older couple (Manuela Gourary and Pierre Julien) ring their doorbell and introduce themselves as "the Worms," a sibling pair that evidently lived in the building years before. Marianne welcomes them in to look around. Their behavior seems courteous at first, but upon their departure, the family is affected. The house begins to do things on its own, Marianne's depression comes back to haunt her, and Daphnee's sweet demeanor turns sour without warning. A moody thriller from France, this is the first production of Bee Movies, a genre-based company known for such fare.
~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

While pioneering pre-feminist author George Sand has been the subject of several film biographies focusing on her ten year relationship with Frederick Chopin, Les enfants du siècle looks at an earlier period in Sand's life, in particular her stormy romance with poet Alfred de Musset. In the early 1830's, Baroness Dudevant (Juliette Binoche) has abandoned her husband and arrives in Paris with her children in tow as rioting divides the city. The Baroness decides to reinvent herself and pursue a career as a writer; she renames herself George Sand, begins wearing clothes modeled after men's suits, and smokes cigarettes while penning manifestos denouncing marriage and affirming a woman's right to sexual satisfaction. Alfred de Musset (Benoit Magimel), a noted author, finds her brash nature fascinating, and they become first friends, then lovers as he helps her craft her literary efforts. However, Sand is six years older than de Musset, which leads to a severe conflict with his family; the couple heads to Venice in search of escape and inspiration, but Alfred decides that he prefers the city's brothels to George's company and that they should keep separate rooms from now on. George makes the acquaintance of an Italian doctor, Pagello (Stefano Dionisi), with whom she has a passionate affair; the realization that he's driven her into the arms of another man proves too much for Alfred, who returns to France. Eventually, George leaves Pagello and gives Alfred another chance, a decision she comes to regret. Les Enfants du Siecle had its world premiere at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

La Nouvelle Eve is a bittersweet comedy about an independent woman, thirty-ish and single, and her unexpected need for the affections of a forty-ish balding family man with no interest in acquiring a mistress. Camille (Karin Viard) works as a lifeguard at an indoor swimming pool in Paris. The idea of domesticity bores her to tears; she would rather see herself having kinky sex in elevators or restrooms than carrying a baby in her arms. But something has been missing in her life, and she's absent-minded and irritable. When she trips on the street and falls, Alexis (Pierre-Loup Rajot) offers her his handkerchief. Camille is self-destructive in her obsession to possess Alexis. But Alexis is not totally indifferent, either. Acting is quite remarkable, particularly the performance of Karin Viard as a modern woman who is completely confused with her old-fashioned emotions. The film pokes fun at the bourgeois family life as well as the singles scene. La Nouvelle Eve, which was produced by Paolo Bronco, was screened as part of the Panorama section of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

A quartet of Parisians embark upon a guided hike in Corsica and end up working through the sometimes comical chaos of their individual lives while becoming lost and contending with such obstacles as bad weather and aching bodies. Both of the female hikers are seeking love, though one of them is involved with their married guide and tries to push him into getting a divorce. The other, a former actress, simply wants the perfect mate. Neither of the two male hikers, one who is involved with an Australian and the other is in love with making money, qualify for her affections. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this snappy French comedy, a young man goes on a quest to find the enigmatic fast-food woman with "the hair the color of French fries" who gave him his first taste of l'amour. The fellow is the naive, amiable orphan Jean-Louis who spent his life with his elderly and very strict grandfather. Jean-Louis was a 25-year old virgin when the free-spirited young Parisian woman was temporarily stranded in his village after a bus broke down. She left him a changed man, and she also left a match book from a fast food restaurant called Fast Burger. Soon after his grandfather passes away, the innocent rube Jean-Louis hops on his bike and embarks upon a quest to Paris to find this enigmatic woman. But he is not prepared for the size of Paris, and instead ends up working at a Fast Burger outlet himself. Jean-Louis is a simple soul and freely expresses himself without guile. For some reason this endears him to the staff and management; soon he has been promoted into the upper echelons of the company. One day he meets a rather ditzy Metro security guard, Henriette, who is also at sea in the big city. The kindred spirits click and a sweet romance ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

While to most outsiders Paris seems the very picture of beauty and civility, France has had a long and unfortunate history of intolerance toward outsiders, and this powerful drama from filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz takes an unblinking look at a racially diverse group of young people trapped in the Parisian economic and social underclass. Vinz (Vincent Cassel), who is Jewish, Hubert (Hubert Kounde), who is Black, and Said (Said Taghmaoui), who is Arabic, are young men from the lower rungs of the French economic ladder; they have no jobs, few prospects, and no productive way to spend their time. They hang out and wander the streets as a way of filling their days and are sometimes caught up in frequent skirmishes between the police and other disaffected youth. One day, a street riot breaks out after police seriously injure an Arab student; the three friends are arrested and questioned, and it is learned that a policeman lost a gun in the chaos. However, what they don't know is that Vinz picked it up and has it in his possession, and when Vinz, Hubert, and Said get into a scuffle with a group of racist skinheads, the circumstances seem poised for tragedy. Actress Jodie Foster was so impressed with La Haine when she saw it at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival that she helped to arrange American distribution for the film through her production company, Egg Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide