Jean-Claude Bouillon

Gallic writer-director Eric Barbier borrows Hitchcock's old premise of an innocent unjustly accused of lurid and brutal actions - with all evidence pointing inconveniently to him - for the Parisian-set thriller Le Serpent. Yvan Attal stars as Mandel, a slightly introverted photographer careening toward an ugly divorce from his affluent German wife. Back into his life waltzes Plender (Clovis Cornillac), a psychopath obsessed with obtaining vengeance on Mandel for a long-ago trauma that he believes the photographer caused during childhood. The revenge takes the form of a model who falsely accuses Mandel of rape and then turns up dead in the photographer's car - making him the number one suspect. At the same time, Plender begins to inveigle himself into the confidences of Mandel's unsuspecting family. Barbier also authored the screenplay, adapting a novel by Ted Lewis (Get Carter). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Is there such a thing as an amicable divorce? This French drama, explores the subject in depth as it examines the post marital relations between Jeanne, Romain, and their ten year old daughter Mado. Jeanne and Romain had been married ten years before they mutually agreed to call it quits. Mado lives with her mother and her father has ample visitation. She has adjusted well to the situation, in part because her parents appear to be cooperative and friendly toward each other. But as time passes, cracks begin appearing in their facade. Romain begins to resent Mado's happiness with her mother. Jeanne must balance between work and single-parenthood; she is doing a good job of it. Romain though very strict and controlling really wants the best for Mado, but his wife's success eats at him. To get revenge, Romain tries to instill doubts as to Jeanne's competence in those she loves and works with, eventually he tries to create self-doubt in Jeanne herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A six-hour adaptation of Danielle Steel's best-selling novel, the ABC miniseries Crossings began on board a transatlantic ocean liner in 1938. In the course of a truly eventful sea voyage, a torrid romance developed between powerful American steel magnate Nick Burnham (Lee Horsley) and Liane DeVilliers (Cheryl Ladd), the wife of French ambassador Armand DeVilliers (Christopher Plummer). This indiscretion would ultimately embroil both characters in the political intrigues leading up to WWII, with a rousing denouement in Nazi-occupied France just after America's entry into the war. To give the project a semblance of verisimilitude, several prominent historical figures flitted in and out of the action, notably Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and France's Marshal Petain. Even so, most of the audience's interest was focused on the antics of Nick Burnham's hot-to-trot wife Hilary, played by Jane Seymour. Billed near the bottom of the huge cast was future Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer as "Craig Lawson." Partially filmed on the old British liner Queen Mary (then dry-docked as a tourist attraction), Crossings originally aired from February 23 to 25, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This psychological drama turns into a horror story, creating a strong dichotomy that is not easily reconciled. A divorcee (Florence Giorgetti) and a widower (Renaud Verley) meet in a psychiatric hospital where they are both undergoing treatment. She is having a hard time after her divorce, and he feels responsible for the accident that killed his wife and child. Since they are both artists and mutually sympathetic, a tentative liaison starts up between them. He also has a fascination with snails. After her ex-husband kills himself, the divorcee breaks off her relationship with the widower, and he has to be institutionalized again. Just when she begins to recuperate and decides to renew their relationship, everything takes another turn for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this rambling comic tale about a man and a wife, with four children, who calmly announce to the children that they want to divorce one another, it is impossible to tell who is dissatisfied with whom about what. They had seemed to be a perfect couple. Their flabbergasted children have mixed feelings, and the most difficult thing about the divorce, besides understanding why it is taking place at all, is deciding what will happen with the couple's numerous pets. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this political drama, the dirty undercover machinations behind the international arms trade are exposed when Angela (Monica Vitti) unsuspectingly accepts some documents from a friend. She becomes the object of a hunt by French government forces, headed by Leroi (Jean Yanne).The government feels that it is vitally necessary that the public not get wind of the truly distasteful aspects of this large international industry. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this softcore sex-comedy, a young man achieves sexual maturity under the tutelage of older women while on vacation in Switzerland and Italy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Despite his best efforts, Julian (Bruo Bradei) cannot resist goading his younger brother Fabrice (Didier Haudepin) into doing something dumb. They are returning together to their mother's country home for a holiday break. Julian fought in Indochina when it was still French, and the war still haunts him. His brother isn't out of school yet and has yet to bed his first woman. These two make poor company for their mother, who is about to lose her heart over yet another man. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

On a Spanish island, a young French woman has died after falling from a cliff. The local police inspector is charged with solving the case quickly and quietly, so as not to disturb tourism. From here on, the tale is largely told in flashbacks as the detective seeks to find out whether this was an accidental death, murder, or suicide. If it was a suicide, her disaffected ex-soldier boyfriend might have contributed to her death. Perhaps the local inhabitants, resentful of tourists (and especially hippies), somehow caused her to fall. Maybe a local peasant was too persistent in his attentions, and she died escaping him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A young physician becomes lonely when his workaholic wife ignores him to concentrate on her professional career. He is befriended by an older female artist who is fond of hallucinogenic mushrooms. When his wife is late for their anniversary celebration, he drinks and takes mushrooms with the artist. He wakes up to find she has died and is fearful he may have accidentally killed her in this offbeat comedy. Jean-Claude Bouillon is the doctor distracted by his wife's inattentive nature. Mylene Demongeot is his wife married to her job, and Alida Valli is the older hipster artist who turns the doctor on to the magic mushrooms. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The end of the world as we know it has come and gone, and only a very few people are still alive. In fact, only a man, his wife, and another woman whom he once desired still live. Oddly, the events which brought about the end of the world have had no effect on the man's morality: he still wants to cheat on his wife with the other woman. This doesn't bode well for whatever diminished future humanity has, however. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide